Betelgeuse at Napton Junction 1961

[davidwheeler]

It is a rotten day today so I will add another old photo in case it is of interest to anyone.

This is Napton Junction in the summer of 1961. Which side of the junction I do not know. Perhaps the Oxford side. 'Betegeuse' is passing by us. Ahead is the motor and I cannot remember its name. Perhaps someone will know. Also perhaps the family running the pair. There are I think three children sitting on the back cabin, along, no doubt with mum the steerer. It is towards the end of BW carrying and someone may know what trade the pair were involved in at that time.

The boat alongside the towpath is our 'Somerset'. An early conversion. Not a pioneer, but nevertheless quite early. I know virtually nothing of our boat's history. Alan Faulkner told me, in 1976, that as far as he knew Somerset had always been in FMC's Northern fleet, and she passed into the DIWE NW Division in 1949 where she served for a while with motor Avis. But there is no mention of her in Robert Wilson's 'Too Many Boats' as being one of the ex FMC's butty boats in that Division, nor in the SE Division, albeit her Lees & Atkins sisters Devon and Dorset were. Given that by 1956 when our family bought her she had long since been converted, perhaps the DIWE got rid of her without her ever being in its service. I have already written about our experiences with Somerset. She was quite challenging. Not only was she light in the water, but she had a lot of tophamper. So cross-winds were unwelcome. Her Cone propulsion system, which I have described earlier was such that the flow of water across and thus into the inlets was critical. Set in the middle of the bottom of the boat, well ahead of the stern, the Cones were prone to cavitation. Particularly when going, or rather not going, astern. The effects of this could be quite alarming, and not only for us. I will dig out a couple of photos of Somerset. They may be of interest

[BEngo]

That certainly looks like the Oxford side of Napton Junction. The turnover bridge is hidden by Somerset, but the house is a bit of a clue.

 

  Thus Betelgeuse and empty motor are coming from Banbury way.  I would hazard a guess that this was a return empty from either a United Dairies or Co-Op coal delivery.  Current destination? Probably Suttons for orders.

 

N

[Ray T]

Definitely Oxford Canal towards Napton Junction.

Towpath hasn't changed much.
Offside foliage leaves a lot to be desired though.  (Please excuse the unintentional pun.)
 

 

Edited February 8 by Ray T

[IanM]

Those trees on the right have been well and truly cut back over the last few years.

[John Brightley]

3 hours ago, davidwheeler said:

It is a rotten day today so I will add another old photo in case it is of interest to anyone.

Thank you David. Yes, your photos and memories are of great interest to many of us. Please keep on posting. I would encourage you to publish them in a book sometime. Alternatively we would be happy to put your photos on the Railway and Canal Historical Society archive website (link to it here: https://www.rchsimagearchive.org.uk/ )