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Where is this? A real place?


Philip

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6 minutes ago, Philip said:

Does anyone have an idea which lock and canal scene this jigsaw picture depicts please, if a real place at all?

 

I thought possibly Cowley lock on the Grand Union, but maybe not.

 

 

Well its an MG so there would be a link to the name if it is.

 

 

Edited by The Happy Nomad
Insert missing letter.
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The configuration of the canal, lock and bridge could put it as Cowley, but the buildings are wrong, especially the house on the off-side. It would be Cowley in Middlesex of course, not Cowley in Oxford where cars were made.

 

Tam

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53 minutes ago, The Happy Nomad said:

 

Well its an MG so there would be a link to the name if it is.

 

 

Well, obliquely. MGs were made in Abingdon. The Cowley factory in Oxford produced Morrises. But both companies became part of B.M.C. (later British Leyland).

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29 minutes ago, Athy said:

Well, obliquely. MGs were made in Abingdon. The Cowley factory in Oxford produced Morrises. But both companies became part of B.M.C. (later British Leyland).

 

Wiki suggests that for a (short time) time MG's were produced in Cowley. But then Wiki isn't always 100% accurate of course.

 

Demand soon caused a move to larger premises in Bainton Road in September 1925, sharing space with the Morris radiator works. Continuing expansion meant another move in 1927 to a separate factory in Edmund Road, Cowley, Oxford,[2] near the main Morris factory, and for the first time, it was possible to include a production line.

 

They moved to Abingdon in 1929.

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3 minutes ago, The Happy Nomad said:

 

Wiki suggests that for a (short time) time MG's were produced in Cowley. But then Wiki isn't always 100% accurate of course.

 

 

They moved to Abingdon in 1929.

That's good research, and of course M.G. stands for "Morris Garages" anyway.

So (says he through gritted teeth) you are right.:D

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Hi,

A bit of a mish mash. and not sure about cars on the towpath, there is a nice Triumph TR2? by the lock. The scene has 'something' of the Marsworth flight about it, by the style of the cottages, but there are not 2 at one lock.......or a bridge like that on the flight. Nice pic, but a lot of artistic licence incorporated?

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4 minutes ago, Athy said:

That's good research, and of course M.G. stands for "Morris Garages" anyway.

So (says he through gritted teeth) you are right.:D

 

Though just to add to the mix, and MG T series of that era 40's/50's (not the later one!) would have been manufactured in Abingdon so if there is a link to the Cowley name it's probably very tenuous.

Edited by The Happy Nomad
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9 minutes ago, The Happy Nomad said:

 

Though just to add to the mix, and MG T series of that era 40's/50's (not the later one!) would have been manufactured in Abingdon so if there is a link to the Cowley name it's probably very tenuous.

To add more to it: after the company's take over a few years ago, MGs were built in China and then sent to have a few bits glued on at Longbridge - which is the former Austin factory!

13 minutes ago, LEO said:

Hi,

A bit Pof a mish mash. and not sure about cars on the towpath, there is a nice Triumph TR2? by the lock.

Perhaps an Austin-Healey Sprite (note "bug eye" headlamps).

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25 minutes ago, Ray T said:

A classic car mini (not the car) gathering? 

The boat is too modern for it to be a "period piece."

 

I think this is Cowley Lock - stand correction?

 

 

 

$_57 (3).jpg

$_57.JPG

 

Cowley has a bridge just above the lock, so these pictures must be elsewhere.

 

The photo I posted is a mish mash of periods, but the cottages and the lock both look too 'real' for the entire scene to be fictional. The lockside steps look very 'Grand Unionesque'

Edited by Philip
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I'm sure I must have a photo of Cowley somewhere amongst my junk, but all I have immediately is this 1905 postcard. On the towpath side is a bugalow and the toll house, both CRT property (unless they are now sold off) and then the Shovel pub next to the bridge. On the off side there are paddles that used to empty the lock back into the river unless boats had come from over the Tring summit - in that case they were using water from the company reservoir which was let down into the long pound below. Certainly it is fairly definitely a GU lock - the handrails are shaped to allow mast lines to be used to tow the bottom gates open. No house though.

 

Tam

Cowley copy.jpg

Edited by Tam & Di
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41 minutes ago, Ray T said:

A classic car mini (not the car) gathering? 

The boat is too modern for it to be a "period piece."

 

I think this is Cowley Lock - stand correction?

 

 

 

$_57 (3).jpg

$_57.JPG

Cowroast probably but not Cowley.

The Cow bit is correct ?

Edited by Loddon
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1 hour ago, matty40s said:

Which it wouldnt need to be being a classic car registration?

 

With Classic tractors they are still required to have 'road tax' but the rate is zero £s

 

I thought so :

 

From the .Gov website.

 

 

Historic vehicle tax exemption

You can apply to stop paying for vehicle tax from 1 April 2020 if your vehicle was built before 1 January 1980. You must tax your vehicle even if you do not have to pay.

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2 hours ago, LEO said:

Hi,

A bit of a mish mash. and not sure about cars on the towpath, there is a nice Triumph TR2? by the lock. The scene has 'something' of the Marsworth flight about it, by the style of the cottages, but there are not 2 at one lock.......or a bridge like that on the flight. Nice pic, but a lot of artistic licence incorporated?

 

My immediate thought was that it was Marsworth with some artistic licence on the right hand side, this is a picture from 2013

 

 

0147 Marsworth To Cowroast 17th February 2013_2.JPG

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4 minutes ago, Tim Lewis said:

 

My immediate thought was that it was Marsworth with some artistic licence on the right hand side, this is a picture from 2013

 

 

 

This is probably the key here - artists often add or subtract details to enhance the balance of their composition.

There's certainly a resemblance.

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