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North Oxford - Questions/Advice etc!


RebeccaM

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Newbold Tunnel was the prototype for the Netherton Tunnel, and was built wide enough to allow two boats to pass and had towpaths on each side (one is now used for the defunct Divali lights).

 

Many moons ago I entered the tunnel whilst another boat was in it. He went mad, shouting at me that it was only wide enough for one boat, despite the fact I was now alongside him and neither of us touched either the side or the other boat! 🤣😂

 

Nowadays the overhanging vegetation at the southern end makes it difficult to see if it is clear unless you are already on the towpath side.

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18 hours ago, Athy said:

The daftest use of metric must be in the motor trade, where the dimensions of cars tend to be given in piddling little millimetres, making them almost incomprehensible. Why do they do it? If they must usemetric, why not centimetres, or metres and centimetres?

 

The motor industry tends to work to tolerances of microns (1/1000th of a millimeter).

 

If the built engines to tolerances of centimetres, their engines wouldn't run very well or for very long.

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1 hour ago, Athy said:

. Laziness is not a factor. Efficiency is.

Where's the efficiency saving? You higlight the first bit of text you want to respond to and click on 'Quote' which opens the reply box with the quoted text, you add your reply, you then scroll up to the original post, highlight the next bit of text you want to respond to and click 'Quote' again, and the quoted text is added to the reply box, add your second comment. Repeat as necessary and finally click 'Submit Reply'.  Works just as well with multiple sections quoted from one post, or with bits from several different posts. And it's clear to readers who has written what, and no need for bold or coloured text.

Edited by David Mack
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14 hours ago, cuthound said:

 

The motor industry tends to work to tolerances of microns (1/1000th of a millimeter).

 

If the built engines to tolerances of centimetres, their engines wouldn't run very well or for very long.

 Quite so. But the mode of a car's construction and the mode of its presentation to the potential customer are entirely different matters. Joe Public doesn't give a hoot about the number of microns in the engine's stroke, but he does care about whether the car will fit into his garage. It's similar to buying a telly: the average consumer isn't interested in what circuit boards, microchips or whatever go into its construction, he just wants a nice big 32" screen and a clear picture.

Edited by Athy
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1 hour ago, Athy said:

 Quite so. But the mode of a car's construction and the mode of its presentation to the potential customer are entirely different matters. Joe Public doesn't give a hoot about the number of microns in the engine's stroke, but he does care about whether the car will fit into his garage. It's similar to buying a telly: the average consumer isn't interested in what circuit boards, microchips or whatever go into its construction, he just wants a nice big 32" screen and a clear picture.

Microns? They're massive, nanometers (1000x smaller) are where it's all at nowadays... 😉

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18 hours ago, cuthound said:

Newbold Tunnel was the prototype for the Netherton Tunnel, and was built wide enough to allow two boats to pass and had towpaths on each side (one is now used for the defunct Divali lights).

 

Many moons ago I entered the tunnel whilst another boat was in it. He went mad, shouting at me that it was only wide enough for one boat, despite the fact I was now alongside him and neither of us touched either the side or the other boat! 🤣😂

 

Nowadays the overhanging vegetation at the southern end makes it difficult to see if it is clear unless you are already on the towpath side.

 

When you say Newbold was the prototype for Netherton do you mean that it is simply of similar construction and pre-dates it, rather than it was a test piece? Is it established that is was the first such tunnel?

 

Coseley Tunnel - eight years newer than Newbold - is of the same configuration and precedes Netherton by 20 years.

 

(Desperately trying to revert to the subject at hand cos this thread shows the good and bad sides of the forum).

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18 minutes ago, Captain Pegg said:

 

When you say Newbold was the prototype for Netherton do you mean that it is simply of similar construction and pre-dates it, rather than it was a test piece? Is it established that is was the first such tunnel?

 

Coseley Tunnel - eight years newer than Newbold - is of the same configuration and precedes Netherton by 20 years.

 

(Desperately trying to revert to the subject at hand cos this thread shows the good and bad sides of the forum).

 

My Nicholson's guide of the early 80's states that it was the prototype for Netherton. However I accept this may not be an authoritative source. 

Edited by cuthound
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2 hours ago, cuthound said:

 

My Nicholson's guide of the early 80's states that it was the prototype for Netherton. However I accept this may not be an authoritative source. 

 

Prototype has a double meaning and can just refer to the first of type built whether or not it was a test for something that was intended to follow. So if it was the first tunnel with two towpaths then it is the prototype of that design. The fact there was a quarter of a century gap between Newbold and Netherton and they were built by different engineers for different companies makes it seems doubtful there was any knowing link between them.

 

It does beg the question why Newbold was built that way as the north Oxford never had two towpaths, was it an aborted intention or was it simply built to a symmetrical design?

 

 

Edited by Captain Pegg
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23 minutes ago, Captain Pegg said:

 

 

 

It does beg the question why Newbold was built that way as the north Oxford never had two towpaths, was it an aborted intention or was it simply built to a symmetrical design?

 

John Todd's "Cruising the Oxford Canal" says:

 "This new tunnel has a towpath on either side.  The tunnel portals were built with long ramps at either end.  Thus they could be used as huge turnover bridges to access the tunnel's 'offside' towpath."

 

Presumably (assuming he's correct) once horses were no longer in use these were no longer maintained as access to the offside was no longer needed. 

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4 minutes ago, RebeccaM said:

John Todd's "Cruising the Oxford Canal" says:

 "This new tunnel has a towpath on either side.  The tunnel portals were built with long ramps at either end.  Thus they could be used as huge turnover bridges to access the tunnel's 'offside' towpath."

 

Presumably (assuming he's correct) once horses were no longer in use these were no longer maintained as access to the offside was no longer needed. 

 

So it allowed horses to pass which isn't possible/easy in a tunnel. Seems a bit extravagant for such a short tunnel.

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19 hours ago, cuthound said:

 

Also most of the visitor between the bridge and the ex-bridge that used to lead to the pub garden have been given over to long term moorings.

 

Ansty now only has room for perhaps four to six visiting boats, where's before it was tens of boats.

Thanks for this information; when I was tweaking the overnight stops on CanalPlan a day or two back I actually ended up putting in Hopsford Valley Aqueduct as our stopping point - it seems like it might be okay, Google Maps satellite view shows a couple of moored boats!  It seems to be about a twenty minute walk along the towpath to Ansty from there so we can always moor up and then the husband can be despatched to look for possible mooring sites in Ansty itself if we're not too happy with it.  But we do prefer the quieter moorings anyway. 

8 minutes ago, Captain Pegg said:

 

So it allowed horses to pass which isn't possible/easy in a tunnel. Seems a bit extravagant for such a short tunnel.

The reasoning behind the realignment on the Oxford was all about trying to speed things up though wasn't it, after what is now the Grand Union started providing a slightly faster route?  So they may have felt it was worth the expense. 

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16 minutes ago, RebeccaM said:

he realignment on the Oxford was all about trying to speed things up though wasn't it, after what is now the Grand Union started providing a slightly faster route?  So they may have felt it was worth the expense. 

Yes, its construction as a contour canal meant that it had ludicrous loops which were of course time-consuming, so these were later ironed out to speed up the traffic. You'll enjoy loop-spotting, as the entrance brides have been well preserved. Some of the cut off sections slumber undisturbed, but at least one (two now, I think) is/are now a small marina. Oh, and if you walk down the lane to the Barley Mow in Newbold, you'll be walking along the original course of the canal.

Edited by Athy
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1 hour ago, RebeccaM said:

Thanks for this information; when I was tweaking the overnight stops on CanalPlan a day or two back I actually ended up putting in Hopsford Valley Aqueduct as our stopping point - it seems like it might be okay, Google Maps satellite view shows a couple of moored boats!  It seems to be about a twenty minute walk along the towpath to Ansty from there so we can always moor up and then the husband can be despatched to look for possible mooring sites in Ansty itself if we're not too happy with it.  But we do prefer the quieter moorings anyway. 

 

It's a pleasant mooring. We've stopped there several times and there's always been plenty of room. I wouldn't call it particularly quiet though, as it's pretty close to a fast railway line, and there is a background hum from the motorway further away. If it's been at all wet the towpath through the woods to Ansty from there can be a bit of a quagmire, so I'd avoid walking that if it has rained heavily recently.

Edited by alias
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1 hour ago, Captain Pegg said:

 

Prototype has a double meaning and can just refer to the first of type built whether or not is was a test for something that was intended to follow. So if it was the first tunnel with two towpaths then it is the prototype of that design. The fact there was a quarter of a century gap between Newbold and Netherton and they were built by different engineers for different companies makes it seems doubtful there was any knowing link between them.

 

It does beg the question why Newbold was built that way as the north Oxford never had two towpaths, was it an aborted intention or was it simply built to a symmetrical design?

 

I have a friend who refers to his first daughter as "prototype"... 😉

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54 minutes ago, alias said:

 

It's a pleasant mooring. We've stopped there several times and there's always been plenty of room. I wouldn't call it particularly quiet though, as it's pretty close to a fast railway line, and there is a background hum from the motorway further away. If it's been at all wet the towpath through the woods to Ansty from there can be a bit of a quagmire, so I'd avoid walking that if it has rained heavily recently.

I was thinking quiet in not-many-other-people terms rather than noise terms, but it is a good point.  (The person who left the comment on CanalPlan mentions the railway so I was aware it was near)  We coped fine when we moored at Dudswell where the railway was quite close by so hopefully it won't be too bad - although to be fair on that trip we had rather more locks so we were conking out at 9:30pm and sleeping like the dead, though we did wake early most mornings.  Husband usually takes earplugs anyway and after some serious issues with neighbours some years ago I've generally only been able to sleep with some form of white noise going. 

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4 hours ago, Captain Pegg said:

 

Prototype has a double meaning and can just refer to the first of type built whether or not it was a test for something that was intended to follow. So if it was the first tunnel with two towpaths then it is the prototype of that design. The fact there was a quarter of a century gap between Newbold and Netherton and they were built by different engineers for different companies makes it seems doubtful there was any knowing link between them.

 

It does beg the question why Newbold was built that way as the north Oxford never had two towpaths, was it an aborted intention or was it simply built to a symmetrical design?

 

 

 

Certainly the quarter century gap would have allowed plenty of time for any potential issues to arise... 😂

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On 22/06/2022 at 23:30, Athy said:

Thinking it through, I've realised that two areas which interest me, boats and records, use imperial measurements ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY. yOU'LL OFTEN HEAR A BOATER TALKING ABOUT HIS 45 FOOT BOAT, BUT i HAVE NEVER HEARD ONE SAY THAT HE HAS A 14 METRE (OR WHATEVER) CRAFT.

 

Not here though, see table 1. Just been looking at this as we plan to head down to Oxford and onto the river soon.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/river-thames-boat-registration-charges/river-thames-boat-registration-and-other-charges-1-january-2022-to-31-december-2022

 

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, RebeccaM said:

I was thinking quiet in not-many-other-people terms rather than noise terms, but it is a good point.  (The person who left the comment on CanalPlan mentions the railway so I was aware it was near)  We coped fine when we moored at Dudswell where the railway was quite close by so hopefully it won't be too bad - although to be fair on that trip we had rather more locks so we were conking out at 9:30pm and sleeping like the dead, though we did wake early most mornings.  Husband usually takes earplugs anyway and after some serious issues with neighbours some years ago I've generally only been able to sleep with some form of white noise going. 

 

I don't remember noticing the road noise but do remember the railway noise. I don't mind hearing and seeing the trains by day. We've mainly stopped there for lunch but only once overnight. Overnight goods trains are less fun but they didn't keep us awake and they wouldn't put me off stopping in this otherwise quiet spot, especially if the timing fitted nicely into our itinerary

1 minute ago, Lady C said:

This is due to the number of complaints made to CRT if they only publish a metric table. 

Could well be so. It perhaps suggests they would like to do as the EA do but there are so many grumpy old fogeys (like me) on the canals that they took the easy option.

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7 minutes ago, Lady C said:

This is due to the number of complaints made to CRT if they only publish a metric table. 

I asked CRT how many such complaints they received. It was just the one, but as it was from @mrsmelly they felt it best to just do go back to printing imperial measurements as well.

 

(For accuracy, I should point out that I made this up, but it is entirely possible)

 

 

Edited by Sea Dog
​​​​​​​ETA. And then Lily Rose's post above appeared, so I suppose it must be real and there must've been 2 complaints...
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13 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

I asked CRT how many such complaints they received. It was just the one, but as it was from @mrsmelly they felt it best to just do go back to printing imperial measurements as well.

 

(For accuracy, I should point out that I made this up, but it is entirely possible)

 

 

I was most impressed with one of my grandkids only the other day. I asked him how tall he was and he immediately replied six feet seven, without hesitation, as thats what he says whoever asks. It just goes to show that even today some unis at least have kids who know their stuff :) It makes far more sense than two hunderd point seven centimetres anyway ;)

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