Hinskey Park Oxon 1882

[mark99]

[David Mack]

That picture has featured on the forum before:

 

 

[magpie patrick]

15 minutes ago, mark99 said:

 Anyone fancy doing the risk assessment on that?  

 

Did they use the boats to move the structure or were they just a support? 

 

 

3 minutes ago, David Mack said:

That picture has featured on the forum before:

 

 

 

I thought I'd seen it before, but some shots are so good they deserve their own thread!

[MtB]

1 minute ago, magpie patrick said:

Did they use the boats to move the structure or were they just a support? 

 

I think they must have been using the boats to move it. No other point of building that Jenga tower on them otherwise.

 

Lets hope they didn't have too many locks to go through...

 

 

[David Mack]

6 minutes ago, magpie patrick said:

Did they use the boats to move the structure or were they just a support? 

Moving it into position. You can see one girder already positioned on the bridge supports in the background. There is some discussion about this in the previous thread I linked to.

[Jen-in-Wellies]

15 minutes ago, magpie patrick said:

Did they use the boats to move the structure or were they just a support? 

My guess is that the photo was taken part way along a few hundred yards move downstream. Looking at a map from the time, the gasworks was on the north bank and the gasometers you can see in the pic are on the south bank. There is a railway line upstream, with the junction for the new line and bridge to the works. If the girders were craned off the railway straight on to the crib on the narrowboats, they could be moved the short distance to the bridge site.

 

 

[mark99]

[magnetman]

 

I think its a footbridge now or is it closed ? 

[magpie patrick]

1 hour ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

My guess is that the photo was taken part way along a few hundred yards move downstream. Looking at a map from the time, the gasworks was on the north bank and the gasometers you can see in the pic are on the south bank. There is a railway line upstream, with the junction for the new line and bridge to the works. If the girders were craned off the railway straight on to the crib on the narrowboats, they could be moved the short distance to the bridge site.

 

 

 That wiggly route would give a contractor palpitations even these days! I wonder how many attempts it took and whether profane language was used the process....

[Jen-in-Wellies]

1 minute ago, magpie patrick said:

 That wiggly route would give a contractor palpitations even these days! I wonder how many attempts it took and whether profane language was used the process....

That combination going downstream, even on a quiet Thames must have been  a nightmare to steer! I wonder if the picture was taken while they were trying to get it unstuck from the bank again.

[David Mack]

1 hour ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

If the girders were craned off the railway straight on to the crib on the narrowboats, they could be moved the short distance to the bridge site.

The girder is sitting on wheeled trollies on rails on top of the crib. So more likely that it was wheeled onto the boats from a temporary track, and then jacked up to the height pictured so it could be floated into position.

[Jen-in-Wellies]

1 minute ago, David Mack said:

The girder is sitting on wheeled trollies on rails on top of the crib. So more likely that it was wheeled onto the boats from a temporary track, and then jacked up to the height pictured so it could be floated into position.

Good spot. I didn't see the trolleys.

[magnetman]

Of course precise height for installation could be achieved by flooding the butties.

There is probably about 18 inches available..

[David Mack]

 

And they have entrusted that load to boats that aren't in the best of condition!

[magnetman]

 

 

I don't think the structure in the background which looks like a tunnel is there any more. 

 

I've been through there loads of times always got an industrial feel to it but never realised it was a gas works. 

2 minutes ago, David Mack said:

 

And they have entrusted that load to boats that aren't in the best of condition!

Are they Rickys? 

[David Mack]

1 minute ago, magnetman said:

 

I don't think the structure in the background which looks like a tunnel is there any more.

Isn't that just a couple of masonry arch spans in the approach embankment? Probably hidden by trees now.

[magnetman]

Yes probably. 

I never knew the name of that bridge until now.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasworks_Bridge

[magpie patrick]

7 minutes ago, magnetman said:

 

Are they Rickys? 

 Just rickety I think  

[magnetman]

2 minutes ago, magpie patrick said:

 Just rickety I think  

Yes the stout gentleman standing on the hatches seems very trusting. 

One false move and he'll end up in the bilges! 

 

 

What was the fatality rate like in these sorts of construction jobs? 

 

1 in ten ? 

[Captain Pegg]

6 minutes ago, magnetman said:

Yes the stout gentleman standing on the hatches seems very trusting. 

One false move and he'll end up in the bilges! 

 

 

What was the fatality rate like in these sorts of construction jobs? 

 

1 in ten ? 

 

Heavy construction and boating in the 19th century. Off the scale compared to what would be tolerated today. Thankfully.

 

I think @Jen-in-Wellies suggestion the girder was lifted off wagons on a railway bridge onto boats on moving water is most unlikely. I think @David Mack has a better explanation.

[magnetman]

The variable freeboard of the the boats is useful. I imaging they have rudimentary cabins rather than luxury accomodation. 1886 is a little early for boatmans cabins. 

 

[Captain Pegg]

1 minute ago, magnetman said:

The variable freeboard of the the boats is useful. I imaging they have rudimentary cabins rather than luxury accomodation. 1886 is a little early for boatmans cabins. 

 

They look like retired long distance horse boats to me. Other than perhaps the one on the left they aren’t equipped for normal use. I don’t see a rudder on all of them and it’s debatable it’s hung properly on the ones that do.

[magnetman]

They do have chimneys so presumably have or had stoves of some sort. 

[David Mack]

23 minutes ago, magnetman said:

1886 is a little early for boatmans cabins. 

When did back cabins as we know them today come into existence? George Smith was campaigning about the conditions the boat people lived in before the date of this photo.

[magnetman]

I don't know. 

Its an interesting question which is why I made the comment. 

 

The position of the chimneys on the boats is interesting. The one to the left which also has signwriting looks like it is in the right place but the other one seems more central perhaps a mess room layout rather than accomodation. 

 

 

Edited December 4, 2023 by magnetman