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The Waterworld Generation


Neil TNC

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I would suggest that most locks were designed to be easily and quickly worked, and that age and poor maintenance has a lot to do with the difficulty of operation. Perhaps when Lady Muck has a few more years under her belt she might have a different outlook.

Things have moved on a bit, today's cruisers don't want to finish a holiday with a hernia or worse.

 

the last lockeeper on a manual lock on the Lee was at Picketts Lock, I once asked him what the trick was to working that lock whose gates and paddles were always really stiff and heavy.

he said that he did not know, the job had given him 3 hernias

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Waterworld is better than Locks & Quays, where they jump off the boat at every

opportunity, and have an army of BW chaps to steer the thing and open every lock gate.

 

me and mrs dogma enjoyed watching them both. but, the negative, is that we never really

get to learn anything about the boat itself. how do they cook? what's the engine like? we

don't see boaters filling up their water tanks, having a pump out, or getting rid of

their suitcases. nobody has a woodburner, or ever has to trek through any mud to get to

the shops. They're both pitched at the "shiny lovely happy jolly" entertainment level,

which can grate a little.

 

I think they are good for the waterways, though.

Better rose tinted, than nothing at all.

 

Respect to Timothy West.

 

:)

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I would suggest that most locks were designed to be easily and quickly worked, and that age and poor maintenance has a lot to do with the difficulty of operation. Perhaps when Lady Muck has a few more years under her belt she might have a different outlook.

Things have moved on a bit, today's cruisers don't want to finish a holiday with a hernia or worse.

 

You'd be right, but easy for a muscular bloke who could have lifted a small building as a warm up,

 

My record is 455 locks in a year, I bet GUCCCo steerers were well into the thousands of locks a year

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Sounds to me that that engine is really having it guts thrashed out!

 

I love the idea of Water Underworld though.

 

Defiantly NOT presented by the Welsh girl even if she can say the name of the Welsh water bridge.

 

Biggles

 

A fake beard and dressing her like Timothy and over dubbing her voice and accent would have helped, I dont think she will be on again

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And Please---- not the woman from the M & S adverts. " This is not just a canal" . or is she the same one? <_<

 

 

Would rather have Timothy in a RAHRAH skirt with fishnet tights. ( Come to think of it ..... :blush:

Edited by sumajan
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You'd be right, but easy for a muscular bloke who could have lifted a small building as a warm up,

 

My record is 455 locks in a year, I bet GUCCCo steerers were well into the thousands of locks a year

We usually do twice that amount :lol:

Sue

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You'd be right, but easy for a muscular bloke who could have lifted a small building as a warm up,

 

My record is 455 locks in a year, I bet GUCCCo steerers were well into the thousands of locks a year

Yes, but they didn't waste time and effort closing gates when they left.

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It was not particularly my cup of tea, it has such a high axle loading, that it cannot work many preserved railawys. I joined the group and became a shareholder as I thought that this was the last chance to be involved in a small (non political...there is plenty of that in railway preservation!!!) group getting a loco out of Woodhams, which might be restored in my lifetime. As it happens, even this small group had it's fair share of ups and downs...but we did get it restored in a reasonable time. The main up was getting a guy on board that was brilliant at extracting money out of the Heritage Lottery Fund, at the time money was available.

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the last lockeeper on a manual lock on the Lee was at Picketts Lock, I once asked him what the trick was to working that lock whose gates and paddles were always really stiff and heavy.

he said that he did not know, the job had given him 3 hernias

 

Haha! You mean Alf surely? He is brilliant. Poor old fella isn't very well these days. For the first few years I went through that lock, every time he used to say, 'is it your first time, love?'

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Haha! You mean Alf surely? He is brilliant. Poor old fella isn't very well these days. For the first few years I went through that lock, every time he used to say, 'is it your first time, love?'

 

The last time we saw him was when he came out and told to make sure his ducks were not lefted "penned" in the chamber!

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Waterworld was a Nice programme to watch,but as you say 'painted with rose coloured spectacles'. Yes, it has brought a lot of newbies to the canals, and I suspect that after the first bad winter, will send most of them scurrying back to terra firma. Not all the canalboat owners give that friendly wave and advice to us newbies, and some can be just downright rude and insolent when we approach 'Their Mooring Spot' along the towpath ? I've been told a few times that '' You have to move further on as this is my spot, been here X weeks now, didn't you see my log pile'' ? I moved on, only to be informed that I had every right to moor there by a BW staff member who also admitted that the boat should have been moved on weeks ago, but they could never get an answer when they went knocking.

'Bloody tourists you shouldn't be allowed in the water/on a boat' is another favourite greeting that I've become accustomed to hearing, this normally from the Shared Boater Old School Tie Brigade. Well a word of warning to them (I Have My Own Boat Now , I've moved on board, and all ready to set off). All thanks to you Real Ccrs and experienced boaters out there.

I respect my fellow boaters, liveaboards etc, and though I may be inexperienced and a bit slow at getting through locks etc, I've worked hard to be able to achieve this,I moved onboard because I want to live the rest of my days on a boat,and not for financial gain, and so I deserve to be respected back.

I cruise single handed, and I mean single, as I lost use of my R.arm 5 years ago, and would gladly help out anyone I see struggling,if I can.

So to all you good guys out there 99.9% of you '' Hi, I hope you all have a great & prosperous year ahead.'' and to that .1% ''PRrrrrrpppp'' to you too. :cheers:;);)

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Well have to be honest and say I was one of those who got interested in the waterways because of waterworld so not going to slag it off.

Although I do agreee about the rose tinted image it portrays.

Thing is though I did not just base my hiring a boat on what I had seen on waterworld although it did play a minor part.

But did some research as well even went to an IWA show and the boat museum at Elsmereport.

before hiring

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