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Charles Hadfield


Heartland

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As it happens I did have an ex working boat brought direct out of trade from bwb and also a josher from Willow wren. I was lucky in that as I lived at Braunston I knew many ex boating families and learnt a lot from them. We never tried to ape them or dress up in period costume but we worked our boats as they had to pay for themselves. I’m proud to call the Brays as friends and when Arthur sent Ernie along to tidy the boat because I hadn’t got the strings right or the fenders to his liking I didn’t take offense but learnt the right way. It’s good that young people are still interested in the structure and history of our waterways but sadly to many see them as a cheap place to live and not a place to explore.

Those of us who tried to keep carrying and working our boats back in the 70s did so for the love of canals and boating and our pioneering is still being carried on by the fuel boats and long May it continue

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7 hours ago, frangar said:

I’ve lived aboard for close on 30 years now…my attitude is you need to stay and uphold as many traditions as you can.
 

It’s interesting that I’m often told I can’t be a liveaboard as my roof isnt full of clutter & junk….it’s not always tongue in cheek either. 

It's a fair point. We had left the housing chain to move afloat and have not been able to return. We rent, and on a state pension and precious little else, a return to boat ownership is out of the question. Further, individual commitments to family prevents any constructive involvement - then there's the chickens . . .

 

First book I read on canals? I think it was 'Hold on a Minute', followed by Narrow Boat, though Landscape With Canals has to be a favourite. Many others followed. We cruised from Guildford to Gargrave, Southend on Sea (Dutchman) to Chester, and still missed a lot.

Edited by Derek R.
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2 hours ago, Heartland said:

The Atherstone wedge seems to be a method of letting water into the lock. It would be of interest to know of the history?

The Atherston flight were and still are notoriously slow fillers. Going up, once the water was over the cill boaters would nudge the gate with the boat. A crew member would then insert the wedge in the resulting gap allowing water to flow  in around the gate, thus filling the lock faster. I think the origins have been lost in the mists of time.

 

Edited by Ray T
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On 09/08/2021 at 22:14, Derek R. said:

Charles Hadfield forgotten? Not a bit. I have several of his books on my shelves - and one I lent and never got back!

i have many of Charles  hadfield's books i like the Canal Man & more joseph boughty forwarded by Sonia Rolt .

We all have the books lent out & never returned  & it is norm the one that is hard to replace 

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On 10/08/2021 at 11:44, Ray T said:

 

Matty, this book:

 

Short History of the Narrow Boat

 

 

 

I believe that is the 2nd edition of Tom Chaplin's book, published in 1979.  I have a copy of the original booklet published in 1967. As far as I remember, it was basicly a published version of the study Tom undertook for the Interest section of his Duke of Edinburgh's Gold Award. I bought my copy at the 1967 Earls Court Boat Show.

 

                                           183416850_TomChaplin(2).jpg.353517f0a2204462929beebe61abc22c.jpg

 

 

Edited by David Schweizer
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Charles Hadfield wrote the Foreword in my book Working Boats published by David & Charles in 1988, they got taken over by I think Readers Digest, they are now back in a reformed management buyout but not in Newton Abbot.

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On 11/08/2021 at 23:01, David Schweizer said:

 

 

 

I believe that is the 2nd edition of Tom Chaplin's book, published in 1979.  I have a copy of the original booklet published in 1967. As far as I remember, it was basicly a published version of the study Tom undertook for the Interest section of his Duke of Edinburgh's Gold Award. I bought my copy at the 1967 Earls Court Boat Show.

 

                                           183416850_TomChaplin(2).jpg.353517f0a2204462929beebe61abc22c.jpg

 

 

There’s been a few incarnations of it over the years. Here’s my collection 😃

C89EDCFC-ABF4-4EB5-B982-F3E3D0C0B79C.jpeg

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2 hours ago, IanM said:

There’s been a few incarnations of it over the years. Here’s my collection 😃

C89EDCFC-ABF4-4EB5-B982-F3E3D0C0B79C.jpeg

 

There were quite a few more incarcerations of the book over the years, which progressively corrected the glaring factual errors. The 3/6d copy illustrated in your collection is, I believe, the 1968 version of the original 1967 edition.

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On 12/08/2021 at 10:35, J R ALSOP said:

Charles Hadfield wrote the Foreword in my book Working Boats published by David & Charles in 1988, they got taken over by I think Readers Digest, they are now back in a reformed management buyout but not in Newton Abbot.

Just picked up a copy of Working Boats which is signed by you to Bill, Berkhamsted July 89.

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4 hours ago, Rob-M said:

Just picked up a copy of Working Boats which is signed by you to Bill, Berkhamsted July 89.

That would be Bill of N/b Janus not sure when he passed away, He and his wife Shiela had a fish and chip shop in Matlock.

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