Braunston to Oxford

[cuthound]

31 minutes ago, Athy said:

I think I have seen 'Slough' and assumed that she was an ex-hire boat; was it the Concoform "Weed Boats" which had that trip-you-over cut-out in the gunwales?

No some of the Napton Narrowboats have them as well, as do several other that regularly pass our house. 

[Athy]

18 minutes ago, cuthound said:

No some of the Napton Narrowboats have them as well, as do several other that regularly pass our house. 

Indeed, but I was thinking of the older boats which I might have confused with 'Slough'.

There were some with lozenge-shaped (trapezoid?) picture windows too.

[Stilllearning]

29 minutes ago, Athy said:

Indeed, but I was thinking of the older boats which I might have confused with 'Slough'.

There were some with lozenge-shaped (trapezoid?) picture windows too.

Jannel of Burton always had those shaped windows, the boats used to be painted orange and white as well!

[Athy]

14 minutes ago, Stilllearning said:

Jannel of Burton always had those shaped windows, the boats used to be painted orange and white as well!

Ah, those were what I called "go faster" windows; Shropshire Union cruisers had them too. The type I mean are narrower at the top than at the bottom.

I remember Jannel's hire fleet as being clad in a blue livery.

[Stilllearning]

7 minutes ago, Athy said:

Ah, those were what I called "go faster" windows; Shropshire Union cruisers had them too. The type I mean are narrower at the top than at the bottom.

I remember Jannel's hire fleet as being clad in a blue livery.

Yes, blue with a nasty gold adhesive coach line.

[David Mack]

18 minutes ago, Athy said:

 

I remember Jannel's hire fleet as being clad in a blue livery.

Yes latterly. But years ago they had bright tangerine orange hulls and white cabins. At the end of the hire season the orange hulls looked very rough!

[Steve Priest]

Regarding the problems with lock 9, I first got stuck there when I first bought Aquila in '93. She had spent years in Oxford and on the Thames and had not had bracing chains in for ages and had spread to 7' 4''  I managed to get a couple of inches off, but she was still well over 7' and we had bother in several places north of Banbury, so I thought little of getting stuck in no 9. 

After Aquila was rebuilt, we went through Napton again at Easter 2012. Heading south, we had no trouble, didn't even touch, but when we returned, coming down the lock, we got stuck. I had a winch with me, and with winching and flushing we got out in about 30 mins. I didn't bother CRT or even report it at the time.

Margaret Clark attempted to take Mercury up no9 last September to see if she could do it, and failed to get in, I think Richard Parry was with her at the time, as was Steve Powell, and some other local CRT men. Margaret then began to campaign for something to be done, and I joined her in this, especially after it was rumoured that something might be done during the stoppage of last November, but wasn't.

My next trip through Napton was last new year. This time, I nipped very slightly whilst going up, but on coming back down I got well stuck. We got through with the same method as before, but it took a good bit longer, with as much strain on the boat as I would want to give it. I reported this to CRT, and Margaret and I had a meeting with Richard Parry at Braunston during the show weekend to discuss it with him

Incidentally, one of the CRT dredgers, Petra, I think, won't go through either

On a personal basis, what would do it for me is that there is a patch of relatively new brickwork just inside the chamber from the offside bottom gate which seems to me to be proud. If this were cut back, I believe I would be ok.

The engineer in charge is Neil Owen, He has said that he is undertaking a series of laser surveys of the chamber to see if it is moving or not, and with that knowledge will decide what could be done. I believe that he completed this series of surveys in July, so he should now be in a position to make that decision, and the more reports of people having problems there, the better the chances that the problem will be resolved. From my experiences I believe that it is moving, and will begin to affect more boats if nothing is done

So, if you have had, or do have, any problems there, please report it to Neil Owen, and copy in Richard Parry, and Mike Carter of the Navigation Advisory Group. Their email address are :-

 

Neil.Owen@canalrivertrust.org.uk

Richard.Parry@canalrivertrust.org.uk

mc@marinesurveysltd.co.uk

 

Steve

[matty40s]

They did laser surveys last year as well. I didn't get stuck but was glad My fenders weren't down as there was only about 2" clear just forward of the centre line yesterday.

The bottom paddles of the Claydon and Cropredy locks are almost impossible for some to work now, much worse than last year......I did see a CRT pair walking up with an oil can and a paintbrush though.....

Anyhow,  Banbury tonight.

 

[Steve Priest]

Although I have not had any contact with Neil Owen recently regarding lock 9, I understood that resolving the problem had been given a higher priority, but with the Middlewich breach I thought it unlikely that the funding would be available.to do anything about it

 

However, it is included in the Winter stoppage programme, the intention is to take down and rebuild the towpath side chamber wall, and the offside approach walls, starting in November. So, perhaps the South Oxford may not be a no-go zone for those of us that have had problems there by next Spring