Waddington's headlamp?

[Bugsworth Tippler]

One of the better songs about our waterways is "When the Chestnut Blooms in Flower" by David Blagrove (lyrics below from 'Songs of the Inland Waterways' website).

 

One thing puzzles me - Why is the moon referred to as Waddington's headlamp? Any suggestions?

 

 

It's five in the morn, an hour before dawn,

And the frost is riming the bank.

I'm down in the engine hole dipping the sump,

And pumping the oil to the tank.

Then it's swing on the handle, compression taps drop,

And let her run up to full power.

It's just the same way on a morning in May

When the chestnut bloom's in flower.

 

When the chestnut bloom's in flower,

When the chestnut bloom's in flower,

It's just the same way on a morning in May

When the chestnut bloom's in flower.

 

A wet Autumn day, we've been hours on the way,

And I'm feeling knobbed-off with me mates.

We're towing the butty uphill through the locks,

With a hundred foot line round the gates.

The brasses are dull and me overcoat's soaked,,

And the motor's got fast on a scour

But it's just.........

 

A cold winters night, I run by the light,

Of Waddington's headlamp, the moon.

Me fore end is bosting a thin skim of ice,

And I reckon t'will thicken up soon.

The going is slow, there's two miles to go,

And the boozer there shuts in an hour.

But it's just.........

 

A day in July, when the bright swallows fly,

And dragonflies dart in the reeds.

I'm laid on the counter, poking the shaft,

'Cos the blessed things blocked up with weeds.

The cut starts to boil as the thunder rain drops,

Lets hope that it's only a shower.

But it's just.........

And what does 'fast on a scour' mean?

Edited November 12, 2015 by Bugsworth Tippler

[FadeToScarlet]

I believe that Waddingtons ran beer boats fly, I.e. Through the night, so the moon was their illumination.

 

A scour is a bank of silt and muck under an outflow or bywash or in a bridgehole, so "fast on a scour" is stuck fast aground on one.

[Tony Dunkley]

I believe that Waddingtons ran beer boats fly, I.e. Through the night, so the moon was their illumination.

 

A scour is a bank of silt and muck under an outflow or bywash or in a bridgehole, so "fast on a scour" is stuck fast aground on one.

 

"Gordon Waddington's headlamp" was a Northern boatman's nickname for the moon, but from what I can remember it was more to do with the lack of electrics on all the company's boats, right up until the time they stopped running, than anything else.

The term 'scour' was used for isolated shallow spots where streams or land/street drains washed in banks of mud and debris, but more generally meant the the shallow bank that the bottom paddles wash up into a heap in the middle of the cut about a boat's length below the bottom gates of a lock.

These 'scours' could cause problems for the motor in two different ways.

Uphill, at single or double locks, with the locks full you would often get a 'bladeful' of leaves and such when 'holding back' as the fore-end was coming into the gates, because the stern end of the motor was right over the 'scour'. Downhill loaded, in single locks round long(ish) pounds, using a 'lock' line to pull the butty in, the motor's stern end would again be right on top of the 'scour' once the butty was all the way into the lock.

To be strictly accurate the words in the song quoted in Post #1 should have been talking about towing a butty downhill through single locks, rather than uphill.

Edited November 12, 2015 by Tony Dunkley

[Bugsworth Tippler]

Thanks to the two posters who have provided valuable information. Unless I hear of your objections I'd like to add this info to this song's page on the 'Songs of the Inland Waterways website - http://www.waterwaysongs.co.uk/chestnuts.htm

 

As a collector of vinyl lps and now CDs I have always enjoyed reading the sleeve notes while listening to the recordings. The additional info and explanations always added to the enjoyment. That's why I like to add the additional info on the canal song website. It's good to tap into the expertise on the CDF.

 

Thanks again.