Lllangollen Canal article, 1968

[ditchcrawler]

Wasn't there talk of stopping boaters using gate paddles and they could only be operated by BW or if you did a course.

[Derek R.]

That's something that's missing off University curriculum - degrees in commonsense, or even a passing grasp of it.

[X Alan W]

On 15/03/2017 at 15:29, cuthound said:

My guess is that unbaffled top gate paddles were not much of a risk when the working boats were prevalent, and became increasingly risky as more and more hire and leisure boats with untrained crew took to the system, forcing BW to remove them over a period of time.

A working boat with a deck board & part or complete cratch would not have a problem with unbaffled gate paddles water on the fore deck would hit the board & run off the sides

Edited March 18, 2017 by X Alan W

[Philip]

Just to go back to the original question; any other old pictures or memories of the locks on the Llangollen (or the rest of the Shroppie system) from the 60s and 70s would be appreciated!

[Derek R.]

We inherited some black and white images many years ago from a family named West. They had a succession of small boats with which they cruised the Grand Union and Midlands, whether they ventured along the Llangollen I don't know, but this shot was taken of the entrance. The images are not dated, but the various vehicles in other images would suggest the sixties:

 

 

[Philip]

8 hours ago, Derek R. said:

We inherited some black and white images many years ago from a family named West. They had a succession of small boats with which they cruised the Grand Union and Midlands, whether they ventured along the Llangollen I don't know, but this shot was taken of the entrance. The images are not dated, but the various vehicles in other images would suggest the sixties:

 

 

Thank you. I can see evidence of old paddle gear on the back gates. I notice the BWB sign states 'Llangollen Canal', am I right that it was still called the 'Ellesmere Canal' until the mid-60s?

Edited March 24, 2017 by Philip

[Ray T]

45 minutes ago, Philip said:

Thank you. I can see evidence of old paddle gear on the back gates. I notice the BWB sign states 'Llangollen Canal', am I right that it was still called the 'Ellesmere Canal' until the mid-60s?

It was also called "The Welsh Canal" at one stage.

Edited March 24, 2017 by Ray T

[Joseph]

Hello

I think the "Llangollen Canal" name dated from the mid-1950s - an invention of British Transport Waterways. I'm not sure when the "Maximum draft" sign went up, but I seem to recall it when my Dad moored there in 1965. I also wonder about the "Danger" sign. 

Some further clarification would be interesting!

Joseph

[Derek R.]

It was indeed called the Ellesmere Canal from the outset, and based (if I remember what I read fairly recently - an ongoing challenge) upon Ellesmere being more or less central to the original canals terminal points (stretching it a bit) being the River Dee near Chester, and the Severn at Shrewsbury, but most probably because the original scheme was launched in Ellesmere in 1791.

(Ref. 'Canals of Shropshire' by Richard K. Morriss.)

Edited March 25, 2017 by Derek R.
Added Ref.

[Ray T]

In the 1980s, British Waterways took the decision to rename the surviving central sections of the Ellesmere Canal as the Llangollen Canal. As a rebranding of Britain's industrial waterways as leisure destinations, it has encouraged usage and promoted restoration.

 Hugh McKnight (1987). The Shell Book of Inland Waterways. David & Charles. p. 28. ISBN 0-7153-8239-X.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llangollen_Canal

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellesmere_Canal

 

 

 

Edited March 25, 2017 by Ray T

[NickF]

On 3/15/2017 at 16:04, Derek R. said:

We went up Wigan in '88, and someone cracked open a gate paddle just a little, but enough to send a substantial amount of water that curved up in an arc to land bang into our well deck.

 

I remember Barrow Deep in the 80s, when you cracked a gate paddle slightly the water went up in a high arc but as soon as it was opened slightly wider the water went down. I used the lock pretty much every week so got into the habit of doing the first few turns very quickly to get straight past the curving up in an arc bit. I never did quite work out why that happened.

[Derek R.]

It would be the shape of the bottom where the slide drops into a groove. Just a little would allow water to strike the raised edge chamber side and send it skywards, any more would overcome that tendency and it would behave as desired.

Edited March 25, 2017 by Derek R.

[NickF]

On 2/27/2017 at 10:50, Philip said:

I've found this cutting of a newspaper article about the Llangollen Canal on ebay, dating from 1968. The picture I'm interested is in the top left, showing Hurleston top lock. I can make out a gate paddle on the top gate, but none of the locks on the Llangollen have them now. Does anyone remember gate paddles on the Llangollen Canal into the 70s or 80s, or when they were removed?

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LLANGOLLEN-CANAL-FRONCYSYLLTE-VILLAGE-HURLESTON-LOCKS-ETC-2pp-PHOTO-ARTICLE-1968-/221843495436?hash=item33a6e71a0c:g:WVQAAOSwLVZVv56g

I have found a picture i took at Hurlestone top lock in 1976 and the gate paddle has gone by then. In fact compariung the 1976 and the 1968 ;picture the whole gate has been replaced.

3 minutes ago, Derek R. said:

It would be the shape of the bottom where the slide drops into a groove. Just a little would allow water to strike the raised edge chamber side and send it skywards, any more would overcome that tendency and it would behave as desired.

That makes sense ... Thanks

Edited March 25, 2017 by NickF

[Philip]

Interestingly the old ground paddle gear is still there in the '76 picture. 

I have found a few pictures of Hurleston in 1971 from this website: 

No top gate paddles are visible on any of the locks, although the top lock still has its old wooden top gate, with the paddle seemingly removed. There is also some very strange looking bottom gate paddle gear on some of them.

Edited March 25, 2017 by Philip

[ditchcrawler]

36 minutes ago, Philip said:

Interestingly the old ground paddle gear is still there in the '76 picture. 

I have found a few pictures of Hurleston in 1971 from this website: 

No top gate paddles are visible on any of the locks, although the top lock still has its old wooden top gate, with the paddle seemingly removed. There is also some very strange looking bottom gate paddle gear on some of them.

Good to see a notice on one of the beams saying out of order. I will have to watch Flower of Gloster again and see what they look like in that.

[Derek R.]

I've found another image from what I suspect is a sixties cruise by the West family. The reverse states "Hurleston flight, Llangollen by D. West"

The sign post with sign boards look to be the same as those in the aforementioned link: see image No.10

http://collections.canalrivertrust.org.uk/bw200.1.55.42

And another shot of water being deflected from a centre gate paddle on the Shroppie (C.1988)

[Ray T]

I wonder if this order has ever been rescinded?

[Philip]

I thought I'd being this topic up again just to ask if any others have recollections of gate paddles and infrastructure of the Llangollen locks in the 60s and 70s? Even better if there are more pictures please?

[Philip]

Bringing this topic up again to ask please if anyone else has memories or photos of the locks on the Llangollen in the 60s/70s; in particular if anyone else can remember top gate paddles and if so on which lock(s)?

 

Any photos or memories will be appreciated, thanks!

[TheBiscuits]

3 hours ago, Philip said:

Bringing this topic up again

 

That's very polite, waiting a whole year and then over 2 years for a response!  Better luck this time.

Edited May 27, 2020 by TheBiscuits

[ditchcrawler]

48 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

That's very polite, waiting a whole year and then over 2 years for a response!  Better luck this time.

Well we have gained a few new members in that time so there may be someone with photos