Dav and Pen Posted August 10, 2021 Report Share Posted August 10, 2021 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 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek R. Posted August 10, 2021 Report Share Posted August 10, 2021 (edited) 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 August 10, 2021 by Derek R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heartland Posted August 11, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2021 The Atherstone wedge seems to be a method of letting water into the lock. It would be of interest to know of the history? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty40s Posted August 11, 2021 Report Share Posted August 11, 2021 Probably introduced by frustrated boatmen experimenting after the gate paddles were removed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray T Posted August 11, 2021 Report Share Posted August 11, 2021 (edited) 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 August 11, 2021 by Ray T 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heartland Posted August 11, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2021 Thank you, looks a bit like a Calder and Hebble Spike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray T Posted August 11, 2021 Report Share Posted August 11, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, Heartland said: Thank you, looks a bit like a Calder and Hebble Spike Atherstone wedge & Calder & Hebble spike. Edited August 11, 2021 by Ray T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeannette smith harrison Posted August 11, 2021 Report Share Posted August 11, 2021 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Schweizer Posted August 11, 2021 Report Share Posted August 11, 2021 (edited) On 10/08/2021 at 11:44, Ray T said: Matty, this book: 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. Edited August 11, 2021 by David Schweizer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek R. Posted August 12, 2021 Report Share Posted August 12, 2021 (edited) And the enlarged and revised 1974 version was 19/- (95p - by the mid eighties). Edited August 12, 2021 by Derek R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J R ALSOP Posted August 12, 2021 Report Share Posted August 12, 2021 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heartland Posted August 12, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2021 Charles Hadfield and David St John Thomas were responsible for the books. Later David St John Thomas produced publications at Nairn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanM Posted August 13, 2021 Report Share Posted August 13, 2021 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. There’s been a few incarnations of it over the years. Here’s my collection 😃 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Schweizer Posted August 13, 2021 Report Share Posted August 13, 2021 2 hours ago, IanM said: There’s been a few incarnations of it over the years. Here’s my collection 😃 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob-M Posted August 18, 2021 Report Share Posted August 18, 2021 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J R ALSOP Posted August 18, 2021 Report Share Posted August 18, 2021 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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