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Where has all the unthusiam gone, is the heart of preservation now dead?


Laurence Hogg

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I bet it made a lot of peoples days. There will be far more memories for folk connected to such a vehicle than for the more glamorous ones

 

Maybe it's time to start my campaign for historic boat recognition for Tawny again. Ex commercial canal boat, still in original livery...

 

Richard

Absolutely. But I'm sure its occupants do not fit into the category which I mentioned.

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Thanks, I guessed that they hauled "joey" boats, but did not know that they hauled more than one, or at most two, at a time.

it was common the Wyrley and Esssington to have trains of 5 or 6 in tow. Bear in mind the tugs had engines like 5L Gardners and were swinging huge props, also the boats could have included "Hamptons" up to 80ft x 8ft.

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Conserving / preserving a wooden wide boat may not nowadays mean full restoration. Parts could be conserved along with a 3d scan of the remains which would give insight into how these boats were built. If you rebuild to what you think is the original without any drawings then you just get a presentation, ie like "Raymond". Conserving original parts even if incomplete gives a much better feel to the what the builder had in mind.

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Totally agree. It must be a very big leap, but while the enthusiasm is still there, perhaps some new people will make it.

 

Yoyr comment about unglamorous restoration subjects reminds me of the time that I went to see the start of the London to Brighton Vintage Commercial Vehicles run in Hyde Park some years ago. Along came the gleaming 'buses, the burnished lorries, the lovely steam waggons....then came an odd swishing sound. As the vehicle in question approached, I saw that it was a 1940s road-sweeping lorry which some laudable loony had loved and cared for. I think that seeing it made my day more than any of the more prestigious vehicles. We need more loonies like that!

And lets not forget that an old road vehicle once restored cost less to maintain than the average wooden narrow boat; assuming it only used occasionally - even less if properly long term stored..

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The already rich thread gets richer still, thanks to these marvellously evocative photos, thanks so much for showing them to us Plutio and Jeannette.

 

This is making me almost forget that I spent five hours today painting trellis bloody fences in the garden.

  • Greenie 1
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A few more trains of boats: L&LC near Adlington 1935, with BI boat in the distance.

gallery_6938_2_103037.jpg

 

 

 

Great photos Mike, just 1 question, this flyboat has a fairly high cabin, is this to house the big engine underneath, or is this living accomodation ?

 

Peter.

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Great photos Mike, just 1 question, this flyboat has a fairly high cabin, is this to house the big engine underneath, or is this living accomodation ?

 

Peter.

It's a steamer, so it houses the boiler, coke and engine. The boatmen used the cabin under the bow deck, which had two bed holes, though steamers could have a crew of three, or four when working non-stop. Some of the steamers had a raised bow cabin, which may have allowed four bunk beds, though I have never found any information suggesting that.

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Thanks for that information, seven or eight boats in a train must have taken some skilled handling. Would every boat have had a steerer on board, or just the motor and the last in line, or what?

 

 

Trains of lighter carrying timber or sometimes copper we still in use on the lower Lea in the 1970s.

 

In theory there was a steerer on the tug and at least some of the lighters. In practice, often all the crew were in the cabin of the tug playing cards and keeping warm. It ws interesting if you met the train when its tail was wagging bank-to-bank - particularly if you were in a fragile craft.

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I gather very long trains of boats used to be taken through Harecastle tunnel. Are there any photos of these entering or emerging from the tunnel?

 

LCx

 

Tony Lewery gave a talk at Ellesmere Port this year. Apparently trains of boats in tunnels could be longer than the tunnel itself.

 

Richard

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I gather very long trains of boats used to be taken through Harecastle tunnel. Are there any photos of these entering or emerging from the tunnel?

 

LCx

 

There are some pictures of the Harecastle electric tunnel tug with boats in tow in this series of Arthur Watts photos on the BW Digital Archive.

 

(You need to scroll left and right through the photos)

 

No particularly long trains in evidence, though I suspect it would be hard to get in one photo.

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Absolutely. But I'm sure its occupants do not fit into the category which I mentioned.

 

Have you never met Richard? If you had....

 

I can't quite match Tawny Owl with her original livery and almost unaltered layout (although I could beat it hands down when I had Ripple - ex-Clifton!) but Lutine was built as a hire boat in 1972, her shell was typical of the time with a fibreglass top and I'm proud to have a little bit of leisure boat history. If anyone has a brochure from Gordon's Pleasure Cruisers (Napton) from that era I'd love to find out which one of the fleet she was, as Lutine was not her original name as far as I know.

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Have you never met Richard? If you had....

 

I can't quite match Tawny Owl with her original livery and almost unaltered layout (although I could beat it hands down when I had Ripple - ex-Clifton!) but Lutine was built as a hire boat in 1972, her shell was typical of the time with a fibreglass top and I'm proud to have a little bit of leisure boat history. If anyone has a brochure from Gordon's Pleasure Cruisers (Napton) from that era I'd love to find out which one of the fleet she was, as Lutine was not her original name as far as I know.

 

A friend of mine has one of these from 1970. When I helped with sanding down for a repaint we found the ghost of "Gordon's Pleasure Cruisers, Southam 3664" signwritten beneath the later layers of paint. If it helps this boat was originally called Ledbury, so I guess that could be crossed off your list of 'possibles'. The name was on both sides of the bow and the stern - maybe there's a telltale left under the paint on yours too?

 

LCx

Edited by Lady Cassandra
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A friend of mine has one of these from 1970. When I helped with sanding down for a repaint we found the ghost of "Gordon's Pleasure Cruisers, Southam 3664" signwritten beneath the later layers of paint. If it helps this boat was originally called Ledbury, so I guess that could be crossed off your list of 'possibles'. The name was on both sides of the bow and the stern - maybe there's a telltale left under the paint on yours too?

 

LCx

 

LCx

 

Also, you have met me

 

Richard

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I gather very long trains of boats used to be taken through Harecastle tunnel. Are there any photos of these entering or emerging from the tunnel?

 

LCx

Yes we have some in the archive will try and post tomorrow,
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Pluto, on 24 Apr 2016 - 08:46 PM said

 

It's a steamer, so it houses the boiler, coke and engine. The boatmen used the cabin under the bow deck, which had two bed holes, though steamers could have a crew of three, or four when working non-stop. Some of the steamers had a raised bow cabin, which may have allowed four bunk beds, though I have never found any information suggesting that.

 

 

Thank you very much for this information Mike, much appreciated.

 

Peter.

Edited by bargemast
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From previous threads are these boats still in need of rescuing?

 

 

 

And butty Balham & ???? I forget the motors name, on the G.U.

 

 

 

Also another pair at Weedon.

 

I know they may need prising away from their respective owners but at least they are still floating. I would suggest these are in greater need as the condition of them is easy to ascertain. It does seem a shame they are languishing apparently uncared for.

Edited by Ray T
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From previous threads are these boats still in need of rescuing?

 

attachicon.giftaken 2013_2.jpg

 

And butty Balham & ???? I forget the motors name, on the G.U.

 

Also a pair at Weedon.

 

Balham is paired with Edgware iirc - we passed it when we brought Barnet south I think.

 

As we now own Barnet and Kennington which are two ends of the Northern line I remember wondering if there was a boat called Morden (there is but not historic AFAIK?) or Mill Hill East (nobody is that odd) which would be the full set along with Edgware.

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