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Seventies boating


antarmike

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bilster4.jpg

Starting off with the first load I put in Bilster.

 

Correct me if I am wrong but 1975? year of the drought and extensive canal closures. I could not get to Gopsall wharf, so we brought the coal down from the Midlands in one of Cross's lorries and loaded just below Grove lock, to take back to Leighton Buzzard, where we were selling retail.

 

bilster1.jpg

with me are younger brother Pete and Miles Tandy

 

Bilsterfirstload.jpg

Same caption

Edited by antarmike
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Correct me if I am wrong but 1975? year of the drought and extensive canal closures. I could not get to Gopsall wharf, so we brought the coal down from the Midlands in one of Cross's lorries and loaded just below Grove lock, to take back to Leighton Buzzard, where we were selling retail.

 

 

Great photos. I think the year of the drought might have been 1976? It was an extremely hot summer.

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croxleyboundJaguar.jpg

probably about 1970-72 Nicholas Hill's Jaguar running down to Croxley

 

Arcusactis1.jpg

Before I owned Bilster, on my way by bus to college, I used to go over the bridge at Two Waters and I always kept an eye out for the BWB Lime Juice boats. If it lokked like they would soon be unloaded and heading down to Brentford I used to jump the bus and lock wheel down Apsley, to Kings Lanley for them. (and I still got my A levels!)

 

Arcusactis2.jpg

Unfortunaely I only have a few pictures of Arcus and Actis. This will be about 1971. Later I started to work for Threefellows carrying, in the hope of getting the lime juice run, but instead they stuck me on the River Trent.

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And without embarassing big Bro (Alan Fincher) he he is stood on Angels roof, with typical 70's hair

FincherFamily.jpg

FincherFamily2.jpg

Angel steered by Kid Brother Pete, also on Angel with Alan is Pam Fincher.

 

And to prove I can cadge a ride too,

I took this from one of Tam and Di's butties, I believe, excuse memory, its Jason steering Stamford???

TamandDi.jpg

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Mid 1970's we moved two Wey Barges from Berkhamastead, to the Globe Inn , north of Leighton.

First shot, Gasworks top lock. (Gasometer long gone now) Richard Hope, editor of Railway Gazette and long time associate of Tallylynn Railway draws paddles

gasworkstoplock.jpg

Tring Summit Tring Station bridge. This bridge has gone now, and a new one stands in its place. Ginny Harris walks Horse with Mike Baldy, This horse is Patience.

TringStationbridge.jpg

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tringsummit.jpg

I get to walk with the horse on this bit of the summit, Richard Hope steers. This Horse is "Selby" We had two crews and two horses and moved both boats at the same time.

 

Good pictures, thanks for posting them. :lol:

 

 

 

 

 

Nice period LV cabbed ERF 68GX, 8 legger too, doubtless with Gardner 150. I've one but with a shorter wheelbase and the full forward cab. And a Gardner 150 it goes without saying.....

 

It didn't look old at the time...

 

 

rudder.jpg

The rudder had to be folded to get a wey barge in a GU lock

 

Aylesburyarmend.jpg

Passing Aylesbury arm end, Ayhno and Ayr lie alonside BWB's concrete pile factory, Behind the boats is their Fordson based Chayside loader, and a Priestman dredger is moored against the Main line side of the Marsworth yard.

 

cookswharfe1.jpg

Overnight stop at Cook's wharf

cookswharf2.jpg

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Fabulous black and whites Mike, thank you so much for sharing.

 

That's how Marsworth Yard ought to look - working.

 

How does that folding rudder get locked in Mike, I see the vertical pin and the eyes into which it would fit. Does it have some kind of lifting lever to pull it right up, straighten, then drop down?

 

Derek

 

I got to say, that side on shot of the cratches at Rose's is just beautiful. Perfectly pin sharp on the cratches with a little fuzz of the background to keep the attention on the main article. Did you work at that, or was it chance?

Edited by Derek R.
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Brantom's wharf, Leighton Buzzard. The Collier Brother Tin and Andy (Elstree and Lyra) fought a campaign to save Brantoms wharf, accesible under the overbridge. The campaign failed, the wharf buildings were flattened and the Wharf filled in. I believe a television company built offices on the wharf site.

 

The two Wey barges make a very wide "breasted pair" at another overnight stop over

brantomswharf.jpg

Horse is again patience, Mike Baldy and Eve Bristowe tend to their baby, Anne Rayner is to their left. She later became my sister in law, marrying younger brother Pete, who walks up the towpath with suitably daft hat!

brantomswharf2.jpg

 

Fabulous black and whites Mike, thank you so much for sharing.

 

That's how Marsworth Yard ought to look - working.

 

How does that folding rudder get locked in Mike, I see the vertical pin and the eyes into which it would fit. Does it have some kind of lifting lever to pull it right up, straighten, then drop down?

 

Derek

Rope over a pulley, and tied to the tiller, just pull on the rope! If I remember correstly the Wey barges were the "Perseverence" and the "Speedwell"

 

Next time I get some time I'll put a few more up. To keep you going, first of a series of life at Leighton Buzzard.

lblife1.jpg

Bilster lies outside Elstree, Angel is against the towpath. Photograh taken from Bicester, which worked as part of the fleet. Kid brother pete stands on Bilster.

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Mike, if you've got many more of this quality, you ought to be thinking about publishing in book form something along the lines of 'A Canal People', Sonia Rolts book on the photo's of Robert Longden - these are good. What camera were you using?

 

Derek

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A slightly belated welcome to the forum - those are truly remarkable photographs from a time when surviving commercial traffic on the GU and Midlands canals went largely unnoticed. Certainly I was unaware of any commercial traffic after the demise of Blue Line and Willow Wren but then that was at about the time that I threw myself 100% into the effort to preserve the Great Central Railway.

 

If you have another 50 or 60 similar photographs like the above I would certainly concur with the view that you should consider publishing a book on the subject - especially if you could include statistics, historical notes and stories about the day to day life on the boats.

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Really fantastic, can't wait to see more.

(And hear all about your PD2)

After Foxton Boat services wrecked my PD2 I modified it. I fitted a strong 12volt solenoid, mounted on the flywheel housing, and connected by a link to the rack on the fuel pump. A low pressure oil switch was added to the oil gallery pipe. Power from the battery was fed to the solenoid, via the low pressure switch. To start the engine there was a timing switch you pressed, this switch bypassed the low pressure switch so that the solenoid was de-energised. I had it set to give 10 second before cutting out, and allowing the power back through the low pressure switch.

 

If I ever lost oil pressure again, (pipe failure or whatever) the solenoid was energised by the low pressure switch, and this pulled the rack to the stop position.

 

samBrooksCambourne.jpg

Sam Brooks shafts Cambourne and mud boat away from bank. This was dredging at Cowroast winding hole. (no marina then) This Priestman dredger was Albert's, also on this gang was Norman Priest. The loaded mud boats were taken across the summit to the top end of the Wendover arm, where "Smiler's" Preistman dredger was out on the bank.

 

Albert would continue dredging on his own, while Sam and Norman took boats across the summit to empty. Sam had one breasted up with Cambourne, and towed a second which Norman steered.

 

Converted wooden Butty across the winding hole was renamed Widdecombe Fair, I can't remember at the moment is original name.

SamBrooksCambourne2.jpg

The two telegraph poles that lay along Cambourne's cross planks were taken down that summer from just above Berkamstead Broadwater lock, and were amongst the last reamins of the telephone wire that ran alongside the lower GU towpath for miles. Cambourne was PD2 powered here.

 

watereaton1.jpg

Elstree and Bilster lie at Water Eaton awaiting two loads of coal (Mick Hall's?? Haulage yard). Again I can't remember the year, but I do remeber the wait. I was here three days.

 

The fact we were loading here, not further north means one of the Tunnels is closed, ( I would guess Blisworth, when Braunstone was closed we did several trips as far as Gayton Arm end and loaded on the BWB Gayton yard wharf)

 

waterEaton2.jpg

I got bored and went and turned Bilster round at the Fernny winding hole. I couldn't see the sense in trying to wind a loaded boat, when I could wind an empty one. I seem to remember it took Tim Collier over an hour to get Elstree winded, with a load on!

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peteBilsrerCowroast.jpg

The only phot I can find of Bilster's original counter. I had bought Bilster earlier that week, and was moving her up from Hunton Bridge, to Leighton, but we had found that when moving the counter plate was leaking. The plan quicly chaged to take her on up to Braunstone, where Balliol Fowden, was going to replate the counter plate. At the time he was working from the drudock, not the slipway. He found the counter plate had been bodged with an overplating, with extremely poor welding. The decision was made that the whole counter was in a bad state, and the best plan was to completely cut off the counter nad go for new.

 

Kid brother Pete looks suitably pee'd off that Bilster was leaking badly!

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peteBilsrerCowroast.jpg

The only phot I can find of Bilster's original counter. I had bought Bilster earlier that week, and was moving her up from Hunton Bridge, to Leighton, but we had found that when moving the counter plate was leaking. The plan quicly chaged to take her on up to Braunstone, where Balliol Fowden, was going to replate the counter plate. At the time he was working from the drudock, not the slipway. He found the counter plate had been bodged with an overplating, with extremely poor welding. The decision was made that the whole counter was in a bad state, and the best plan was to completely cut off the counter nad go for new.

 

Kid brother Pete looks suitably pee'd off that Bilster was leaking badly!

 

I remember Bilster being moored at Cowley after it came out of the UCC fleet in around 1974 IIRC being then owned by someone called Graham Patrick. We borrowed it off him to take a large Indian family for a trip towards Watford and back and I remember it steered beautifully even if I spent most of my time worrying what the authentic curries were doing to my insides. Can't rememeber it leaking though - maybe it was something I did to it on that trip being a bit of a boy racer on the cut at the time.

 

GREAT PICTURES MIKE - KEEP THEM COMING!

 

Paul H

 

PS I have a list which says Widdecombe Fair was originally the big Ricky Coughton

Edited by Paul H
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I remember Bilster being moored at Cowley after it came out of the UCC fleet in around 1974 IIRC being then owned by someone called Graham Patrick. We borrowed it off him to take a large Indian family for a trip towards Watford and back and I remember it steered beautifully even if I spent most of my time worrying what the authentic curries were doing to my insides. Can't rememeber it leaking though - maybe it was something I did to it on that trip being a bit of a boy racer on the cut at the time.

 

GREAT PICTURES MIKE - KEEP THEM COMING!

 

Paul H

 

PS I have a list which says Widdecombe Fair was originally the big Ricky Coughton

Talking of steering reminds me, in this shot Bilster has her original rudder which was pretty tired. A lot of the rivets were loose. and the balance was bent round.

 

I manged to find one in the stop lock, at little Tring. When a lot of the BWB/ Willow Wren fleet were put out to tender, they ended up in the stop, and along the banks by Little Tring Pumping station. They were systematically plundered, and a lot had there rudders dropped off so that it was easier to steal the prop, for weighing in as scrap bronze. Some time later I went looking to see what I could found, and found a very sound welded rudder in the stop lock, which later went on Bilster.

 

I took Bilster up to the stop several times, and in the end found that rather than reversing all the way from Marsworth top lock, it was easier to go to the stop forward. To get back out again, you could then wait for the pumps to be on and a good flow along the Wendover arm, then simply drift out, leaving you free to keep a good line by standing on the front end and shafting it from side to side to keep going staright.

Edited by antarmike
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Fantastic pictures - thanks for sharing them.

I have just found several hundred black and white negatives that never got printed, I am trying to work out what is there, There seem to be some of Gas Strret Basin as it was with the remains of Birmingham and Midland canal caryying fleet, in residence.

 

Also have some more stoppages, and BWB maintenance piccy's from before and during the time I worked for BWB. (which I did twice, once on Tring Section, once on Apsley section, where I was with Sickle and their dredger) However I can only find Tring section photograhs.

 

I will have to investigate getting a negative scanner, because it is impractical to print the wholke lot and then scan the prints.

 

Quite a few shots of Union Canal Carriers, and one series of being with Swan, breaking ice.

 

You will just have to be patient.

Edited by antarmike
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