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The Flower of Gloster (1967)


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I suspect the 2.5 minutes were just for up or down movement. I used to work the tripboat Lapwing for Peter Froud in 1972, with Charlie Atkins as steerer. Going down, we would reverse into the tank as we were approaching from Runcorn. Once in, the gates would descend, followed by several large handfuls of wet sawdust to ensure a seal. Charlie often used to walk down so he could have a chat with anyone who was around, and I would tell the passengers that he did that because he was sure the lift would collapse. I made sure they looked up at the gearing as it began to move, as if it had been raining, water would have filled the shrouded gears, and this would descend onto anything underneath. At the bottom, Charlie would get back on board so we could continue after winding in the lower basin. I learnt a lot in the time I worked with Charlie, particularly when I got to steer when we were travelling empty. He would spend much of the time telling me stories, which was the traditional way canal knowledge was handed down - the dead body stories were best!

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41 minutes ago, Pluto said:

I suspect the 2.5 minutes were just for up or down movement. I used to work the tripboat Lapwing for Peter Froud in 1972, with Charlie Atkins as steerer. Going down, we would reverse into the tank as we were approaching from Runcorn. Once in, the gates would descend, followed by several large handfuls of wet sawdust to ensure a seal. Charlie often used to walk down so he could have a chat with anyone who was around, and I would tell the passengers that he did that because he was sure the lift would collapse. I made sure they looked up at the gearing as it began to move, as if it had been raining, water would have filled the shrouded gears, and this would descend onto anything underneath. At the bottom, Charlie would get back on board so we could continue after winding in the lower basin. I learnt a lot in the time I worked with Charlie, particularly when I got to steer when we were travelling empty. He would spend much of the time telling me stories, which was the traditional way canal knowledge was handed down - the dead body stories were best!

You were so lucky

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17 hours ago, IanD said:

Just watched all the way up to Episode Seven -- fascinating stuff... 🙂

Anyone figured out where the grotty stone-throwing Wolverhampton "cul-de-sac" they went up by mistake in episode 7 was? Or was it mocked up for the sake of the story?

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32 minutes ago, IanD said:

Anyone figured out where the grotty stone-throwing Wolverhampton "cul-de-sac" they went up by mistake in episode 7 was? Or was it mocked up for the sake of the story?

I think it is Oldbury locks. Cheers Graham 

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41 minutes ago, IanD said:

Anyone figured out where the grotty stone-throwing Wolverhampton "cul-de-sac" they went up by mistake in episode 7 was? Or was it mocked up for the sake of the story?

Spon junction old main line Birmingham 

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8 minutes ago, Graham and Jo said:

I think it is Oldbury locks. Cheers Graham 

That looks possible. Maybe they did look that bad in 1967, but they're *miles* from Wolverhampton, they couldn't possibly have gone that way due to a mapreading mistake...

 

Not complaining, it's a drama series not a canal-accurate travelogue -- I wondered if it was an arm somewhere that had since been closed, but it seems not.

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Episode eight now on YouTube.

I really enjoyed it. Has great shots of the BCN and Birmingham. Includes a cameo performance by a young Graham Wigley of Birmingham and Midland. 

But who is the 'industrial archaeologist' at the beginning of the episode? Bob May perhaps?

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1 hour ago, IanD said:

Anyone figured out where the grotty stone-throwing Wolverhampton "cul-de-sac" they went up by mistake in episode 7 was? Or was it mocked up for the sake of the story?

It is the Spon junction line that joins the Old Main line to the New Main line Birmingham. In the film they are on the New Main line going to Birmingham and by mistake turn left onto the Spon locks.

Edited by Laurie Booth
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21 minutes ago, Laurie Booth said:

It is the Spon junction line that joins the Old Main line to the New Main line Birmingham. In the film they are on the New Main line going to Birmingham and by mistake turn left onto the Spon locks.

I am not sure which bit we are discussing! The bit at 17:09 is Oldbury locks. 

 

Cheers Graham

1 minute ago, Graham and Jo said:

I am not sure which bit we are discussing! The bit at 17:09 is Oldbury locks. 

 

Cheers Graham

The bit at 14:27 is Spon Lane locks.

 

Cheers Graham

3 minutes ago, Graham and Jo said:

I am not sure which bit we are discussing! The bit at 17:09 is Oldbury locks. 

 

Cheers Graham

The bit at 14:27 is Spon Lane locks.

 

Cheers Graham

They seem to magically jump form one to the other!

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4 hours ago, Graham and Jo said:

I am not sure which bit we are discussing! The bit at 17:09 is Oldbury locks. 

 

Cheers Graham

The bit at 14:27 is Spon Lane locks.

 

Cheers Graham

They seem to magically jump form one to the other!

That's the wonder of films and editing... 😉

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Episode eight also includes a section which shows the canal children's boarding school, Wood End Hall Hostel in Erdington. Information online shows that the Hostel operated from 1951 to 1968, and by the time of its appearance in 'Flower of Gloster' only a small number of children were resident there.

Edited by John Brightley
More information found.
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1 hour ago, John Brightley said:

Episode eight also includes a section which shows the canal children's boarding school, Wood End Hall Hostel in Erdington. Information online shows that the Hostel operated from 1951 to 1968, and by the time of its appearance in 'Flower of Gloster' only a small number of children were resident there.

That's a bit of canal history I wasn't aware of. Amazing what you can find by watching kids TV, isn't it? 🙂

 

Now waiting for Episode 9 to see Chocolate Charlie teaching them how to get a boat and butty through a flight of narrow locks, you could see the towline being laid out at the end of Episode 8. I predict some kind of mild peril will follow... 😉

Edited by IanD
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On 30/05/2023 at 20:34, John Brightley said:

Thank you for uploading the Flower of Gloster to YouTube. It's certainly a valuable historic record of places, people and boats which in some cases are no longer with us. 

The lack of continuity in the first few scenes of episode 1 is amazing. Clearly the first scene is at Pontcysyllte, and the third scene at Dutton. Is the second location Preston Brook ?

It's also interesting to see a young Tony Lewery -explaining the details of the boat painting as if it were a documentary rather than a fictional story.

Does anyone know who it is doing the caulking in episode 2 ? 

I can tell you now that as we progress, I think the production ran out of B roll as several scenes of boat life are used more than once or twice ;)

On 02/06/2023 at 21:24, Pluto said:

I suspect the 2.5 minutes were just for up or down movement. I used to work the tripboat Lapwing for Peter Froud in 1972, with Charlie Atkins as steerer. Going down, we would reverse into the tank as we were approaching from Runcorn. Once in, the gates would descend, followed by several large handfuls of wet sawdust to ensure a seal. Charlie often used to walk down so he could have a chat with anyone who was around, and I would tell the passengers that he did that because he was sure the lift would collapse. I made sure they looked up at the gearing as it began to move, as if it had been raining, water would have filled the shrouded gears, and this would descend onto anything underneath. At the bottom, Charlie would get back on board so we could continue after winding in the lower basin. I learnt a lot in the time I worked with Charlie, particularly when I got to steer when we were travelling empty. He would spend much of the time telling me stories, which was the traditional way canal knowledge was handed down - the dead body stories were best!

As someone who has more than just a little interest in, shall we say, the darker stories of canal life, I am intrigued to learn more about these "dead body" stories. That is what fascinates me with the writer Robert Aickman, who I was reading long before I released he co-founded the Inland Waterways Association. I'll leave ghost stories for another topic though ;)

Just to say that I am Loving reading these comment chaps. Its not only entertaining, but I'm expanding my own knowledge of the canal days of yesteryear. Delightful stuff. 

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On 03/06/2023 at 16:53, Graham and Jo said:

I think it is Oldbury locks. Cheers Graham 


I think you’re correct. More specifically it looks like the side bridge where the Crow Arm left the main line between locks 3 and 4. It’s still there.

 

ETA - Main line as in main line of the Titford canal not the Birmingham canal.

Edited by Captain Pegg
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8 hours ago, Major Dolby said:

I can tell you now that as we progress, I think the production ran out of B roll as several scenes of boat life are used more than once or twice ;)

Yes, there are several clips taken in the north-west interspliced in the Braunston episode, notably of the Nixon's on Lindsay and Snipe. Perhaps the most amusing one of these is the view of a sign saying 'Repair Yard' which is actually a shot of Hayhurst Repair Yard, Northwich. However the film crew did manage to get a shot of the Bray family on Nutfield and Raymond which is taken at Braunston. 

We also have the shots in this episode of the boats Belfast and Nuneaton which should be of interest to some members of this forum who are involved with those boats today in 2023.

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Having never seen the series I am enjoying it very much, not least to see the attractive Ann (Annette Robertson) whom many young (male) viewers fell in love with. Although portrayed as an older teenager I was surprised to discover she was in fact around 27 when she played the role (the same age as Richard O'Callaghan) and had many film roles to her credit before this including Barbara in 'Summer Holiday' 

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3 hours ago, John Brightley said:

We also have the shots in this episode of the boats Belfast and Nuneaton which should be of interest to some members of this forum who are involved with those boats today in 2023.

As the current owner of Belfast I was fascinated to see the boat when I got the DVD a few years ago.

This screengrab shows Belfast as she appeared in the 60s - a very basic version of the BW blue and yellow livery without the yellow lining, British Waterways text or fleet number, only the boat name and registration, yet the rear doors carry a small spray of roses, and the swan neck is painted in barbers pole fashion when the standard livery had simple blue and yellow bands. I wonder if the latter were the boatman's personal additions. 

7%20Flower%20of%20Gloster%20Screenshot%2

 

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6 hours ago, Wiltshire Moonraker said:

 including Barbara in 'Summer Holiday' 

 

Actually she played Barbara in The Young Ones, Laurie Peters played Barbara in Summer Holiday.  (I'm not trying to be clever, I looked it up on imdb!) 

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21 hours ago, David Mack said:

As the current owner of Belfast I was fascinated to see the boat when I got the DVD a few years ago.

This screengrab shows Belfast as she appeared in the 60s - a very basic version of the BW blue and yellow livery without the yellow lining, British Waterways text or fleet number, only the boat name and registration, yet the rear doors carry a small spray of roses, and the swan neck is painted in barbers pole fashion when the standard livery had simple blue and yellow bands. I wonder if the latter were the boatman's personal additions. 

7%20Flower%20of%20Gloster%20Screenshot%2

 

 

I see this as a "twilight years" effect, as the boats deteriorate, the money and time run out, so first any redoing of the decorative painting goes by the board (unless, as you say, the steerers did it themselves), then the signwriting reduced to essentials, then no more coach lines etc. My experience in the last years of the camping boat operation at Foxton in the mid 1980s, when the glory days were long since over, felt much the same - in 1987, the final season, the Baldock had plain grey cabin sides, as the woodwork was so bad that if you taped up to paint coachlines you fetched the grey back off when peeling off the tape, it wasn't worth the faff - the back bulkhead and engine room sides retained their colours, as they were not in such a poor state and hadn't needed repainting. Decorative painting - e.g. inside of the cabin doors - survived from previous, better days.

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Last part, episode 13 out now.
Story line throughout the series a bit pants @ times and as I've said before the general charging about looked a bit dodgy, it's a wonder nobody hurt themselves but the camerawork and the shots of boats and places all those years ago more than makes up for that.
All in all a real gem of a period piece.
I thank you Major Dolby sir and your cat.

Edited by Graham_Robinson
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On 10/06/2023 at 13:45, Graham_Robinson said:

Last part, episode 13 out now.
Story line throughout the series a bit pants @ times and as I've said before the general charging about looked a bit dodgy, it's a wonder nobody hurt themselves but the camerawork and the shots of boats and places all those years ago more than makes up for that.
All in all a real gem of a period piece.
I thank you Major Dolby sir and your cat.

And thank you sir, I just wanted to share this wonderful serial and retrospect of what life looked on the canals back in the days

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On 02/06/2023 at 21:24, Pluto said:

 He would spend much of the time telling me stories, which was the traditional way canal knowledge was handed down - the dead body stories were best!

 

Mike H told me a tale when he and his dad, William were coming through Stoke Bruerne top lock. Jack James had fished a male body out of the cut and was going through the pockets of the deceased male. William "What are you doing Jack." Jack, "looking for money, uh, only 13/4d, 'E don't need it now do 'E, at least I can get a pint." He then proceeded to push the body back in the cut.

 

From the Museum at "The Port."

Death and accidents

 

 

Life on the boats was hard and dangerous.

 

The most common death was by drowning, but accidents could be caused by a windlass when it flew off the paddle spindle at speed and broke the operators arm or struck them on the head.

 

The rack and pinion gear of paddles could injure or maim by trapping fingers as the paddles were dropped. Ropes and lines, used to control the boats, could also be hazardous, entangling limbs, fingers and feet as the ropes tightened.

 

Horses and mules could kick of bite without warning; some animals wore muzzles to prevent this. The boats carried heavy cargoes which could crush if they shifted and it was possible to be crushed by the boat if it swung suddenly leaving a lock.

 

The greatest hazard was the water in the canal, incidences of death by drowning seem high and travelling at night and in winter was hazardous.

 

Although a boatman would stop to rescue a drowning person, he would pass a “dead-un” although there was a small fee for reporting and recovery of a body A corpse is beyond help and if he stopped to recover the body, he might be called to give evidence at the inquest which meant his boat would be tied up and not earning.

 

When they died a boat person was always brought home, the coffin placed just back of the mast of their own boat. The boat was worked “fly”, which meant that every boat on the canal gave way as a token of respect and to speed the journey of the dead person.

 

No matter how arduous their life had been, boatpeople always had a good road home.

Edited by Ray T
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