£185 Windlass

[J R ALSOP]

I like this, show us your windlasses!.

[pete harrison]

I like this, show us your windlasses!.

I have not photographed them but I have two, an alloy Dunton Double and a chromed Grand Union single. The latter was purchased from Warwickshire Fly Boat Company in about 1983, replacing another of the same manufacture that the head snapped off. The second one appears to be of slightly better quality but I do not like using it, although it does look good

 

I think I may have had a couple of ordinary windlasses but they must be in the ex-wife's garage, so they are no longer mine.

[ChimneyChain]

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=261890832174

Now I think this one might be a bit special, 1st one on the left. Under all that rust its looks like it's a GH Cooke one that I used to have.

 

Darren

[Ray T]

I like this, show us your windlasses!.

 

Here's some of the collection at Stoke Bruerne:

 

Edited May 21, 2015 by Ray T

[Archie29]

Yes, Peter, I am prepared to sell it. As I said it is unmarked, no engraving, non magnetic but is not just brass. If someone here can tell me how to attach a photo as I'm not sure what to put in when asked for an URL, I will post it. What would you consider a fair price? You can e-mail me if you like on ted<at sign>meadhouse.co.uk

 

(Mod edit- disguise email address to save from spambots)

Edited May 21, 2015 by FadeToScarlet

[Derek R.]

I like this, show us your windlasses!.

 

Only if you show us yours . . .

 

[pete harrison]

Yes, Peter, I am prepared to sell it. As I said it is unmarked, no engraving, non magnetic but is not just brass. If someone here can tell me how to attach a photo as I'm not sure what to put in when asked for an URL, I will post it. What would you consider a fair price? You can e-mail me if you like on ted<at sign>meadhouse.co.uk

 

(Mod edit- disguise email address to save from spambots)

e-mail sent

Edited May 23, 2015 by pete harrison

[AMModels]

In my grandads old shed there were a few old windlasses lying around, one a single headed type with the name of T&S Elements stamped into the neck. Must have been hundreds of these produced but Ive not seen any about.

[magnetman]

Just checked and was glad to see some of my windlass collection (single socket type) is still pictured in my canalworld gallery - I thought it had disappeared with a software update but still there

 

http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?app=gallery&album=117

 

I do have a few more windlasses than are shown as those are just magnet finds.

[magnetman]

.

Edited May 25, 2015 by magnetman

[Speedwheel]

Just checked and was glad to see some of my windlass collection (single socket type) is still pictured in my canalworld gallery - I thought it had disappeared with a software update but still there

 

http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?app=gallery&album=117

 

I do have a few more windlasses than are shown as those are just magnet finds.

 

I'd still love to buy that Ice Podger from you if ever you would be willing to sell it.

[Janet S]

This is my magic, fantastic multi coloured windlass...bought at an IWA festival several years ago...it was painted up in various colours and cost me a bloody fortune...£3.00 if I remember correctly! Apparently these windlasses had all been rescued from the cut then refurbished for sale to help raise funds. The colours are virtually gone (red, yellow, blue and gold) now as most of the paint has been chipped off with repeated use, but this windlass has done thousands of locks and swing bridges over several years. I'd be lost without it!

 

Edited May 25, 2015 by Janet S

[AMModels]

In my grandads old shed there were a few old windlasses lying around, one a single headed type with the name of T&S Elements stamped into the neck. Must have been hundreds of these produced but Ive not seen any about.

Replying to my own post so excuse me, I now have some of the windlasses from my grandads shed, Thanks to Rufford for these.

One is a Harry Neal which may at one point have had T&S E stamped on the reverse but the person who had them before Rufford, a family member, sandblasted them and then painted them with some sort of silver hammerite concoction. The H Neal is visible just but the other side is just a faint tracing of what might have been... so angry to see them all but destroyed like this in an attempt to flog em off.

Theres another single headed windlass with a large number 3 stamped on one side, no sign of a clay pipe on i so cant say whether its the wheelock Dave Moore once saw.

I will post some pics in the week when I have the camera and windlasses together.

[dave moore]

Hi all

 

I'm a tad confused ....( nothing unusual at my age ) by Andy's post. I have a Wheelock here at home, I acquired it in the 60s, though I can't remember now who or what was the source. It was originally made to fit the smaller spindles of the Trent & Mersy paddle gear in those days. I have to confess to filing out the eye to fit modern spindles, though it rarely gets an outing these days. The clay pipe motif is stamped in to one side of the shank, G H Cooke on the other.

 

From the same time, I also have a Harry Neal No2 windlass. I swapped it for a bottle of Calor Gas with boatman Ronnie Aldridge, he was working for Birmingham & Midland then. Many years later, Andy's uncle Horace helped me move Resolute from Stourbridge to Merry Hill. I had put the Neal windlass on the slide and he recognised it immediately, solving a long standing identification issue.

 

BW used the Neal pattern for single eye cast windlasses in the 70s/80s, I think.....they are handsome beasts compared with modern styles....I also have one which I had chrome plated, or " silver dipped " as boatmen called it.

 

I've no recall of the Cooke possibility Andy refers to, but I'm happy to have my fading memory jogged.

 

Cheers

 

Dave

[MtB]

 

I'd still love to buy that Ice Podger from you if ever you would be willing to sell it.

 

 

What's an 'ice podger'?

 

They sound great. I WANT ONE!

[David Schweizer]

.snip <<<<<<I have a Wheelock here at home, I acquired it in the 60s, though I can't remember now who or what was the source. It was originally made to fit the smaller spindles of the Trent & Mersy paddle gear in those days.>>>>>>snip

 

One day I will get round to finishing and publishing my research on Wheelock Windlasses, but in the meantime I can inform readers that the Pipeclay windlasses known by boatmen as "Willocks", were probably made by at least two (possibly three) generations of the same family over a long period of time, only those with the name G H Cooke on them can be ascribed to one particular man. They were also made in a wide variety of sizes and throws suitable for almost all the different spindle sizes found on canals across the country. I have photographs and measurements of something like twelve different socket sizes ranging from 7/8" x 3/4" to 1 5/16" x 1 7/16" with a throw variation between 7" and 10 1/4"

 

I own a pair with a socket size slightly smaller than 1" x 7/8" which a number of people have suggested were made specifidally for the T & M, but they were sold to me in the late 1960's by a Willow Wren captain who described them as "Oxfords" so who is/was correct?

Edited November 23, 2015 by David Schweizer

[carlt]

 

 

What's an 'ice podger'?

 

They sound great. I WANT ONE!

They are a boat hook type implement for breaking up the ice.

 

If you see Martin on his wooden iceboat Pelican ask him to show you his podger.

 

He won't be offended.

[Derek R.]

Just make sure you don't say todger . . .

[AMModels]

Hi all

 

I'm a tad confused ....( nothing unusual at my age ) by Andy's post. I have a Wheelock here at home, I acquired it in the 60s, though I can't remember now who or what was the source. It was originally made to fit the smaller spindles of the Trent & Mersy paddle gear in those days. I have to confess to filing out the eye to fit modern spindles, though it rarely gets an outing these days. The clay pipe motif is stamped in to one side of the shank, G H Cooke on the other.

 

From the same time, I also have a Harry Neal No2 windlass. I swapped it for a bottle of Calor Gas with boatman Ronnie Aldridge, he was working for Birmingham & Midland then. Many years later, Andy's uncle Horace helped me move Resolute from Stourbridge to Merry Hill. I had put the Neal windlass on the slide and he recognised it immediately, solving a long standing identification issue.

 

BW used the Neal pattern for single eye cast windlasses in the 70s/80s, I think.....they are handsome beasts compared with modern styles....I also have one which I had chrome plated, or " silver dipped " as boatmen called it.

 

I've no recall of the Cooke possibility Andy refers to, but I'm happy to have my fading memory jogged.

 

Cheers

 

Dave

Sorry Dave Im to blame for the confusion, I did a search for H Neal and read through 3 or 4 threads and got confused when answering this one.

 

I think I was talking about this thread - http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=15545

 

I still didnt manage to get photos today though so no more information sorry.

[dave moore]

No problem Andy....I look forward to seeing the photos soon. I don't always recall exactly what I've posted previously, so it could well have been me!

 

Cheers

 

Dave

[Ray T]

Has the bottom dropped out of the windlass market recently?

Got this off eBay for £25 a month or two ago.

 

Bearing in mind Selwyn Jordan windlass were going for getting on to  £200 a few years ago.

 

Edited October 24, 2022 by Ray T

[Derek R.]

Blimey! Perhaps I should chuck this lot back in the cut . . . !

 

[alan_fincher]

1 hour ago, Ray T said:

Has the bottom dropped out of the windlass market recently?

Got this off eBay for £25 a month or two ago.

 

Bearing in mind Selwyn Jordan windlass were going for getting on to  £200 a few years ago.

 

 

I guess I'm missing something, but  based just on tat one picture that looks like a basic cast windlass of about 1970s hire boat vintage.

Are you saying it is forged, as the shaft and handle look too irregular for that, (to me!).

[Ray T]

3 hours ago, alan_fincher said:

 

I guess I'm missing something, but based just on that one picture that looks like a basic cast windlass of about 1970s hire boat vintage.

Are you saying it is forged, as the shaft and handle look too irregular for that, (to me!).

 

I am not saying anything about it. I know nothing of it provanence.

 

All I know is I got it at a good price.

 

Looks a lot like this to me.

Edited October 24, 2022 by Ray T

[fittie]

4 hours ago, alan_fincher said:

 

I guess I'm missing something, but  based just on tat one picture that looks like a basic cast windlass of about 1970s hire boat vintage.

Are you saying it is forged, as the shaft and handle look too irregular for that, (to me!).

No, not forged but cast bronze about £8 back in the day.