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A week from Marston Junction....


lampini

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53 minutes ago, Athy said:

I do enjoy canals for what they are, while appreciating their history. I think many boaters do. I think that many of the boat-proud crews of yore might not have taken kindly to being called "grubby little families" either!

 

That's how the world viewed them. In general it was dirty work and I suspect the gleaming pairs were outnumbered by horse and tug drawn day boats and the not-so gleaming pairs. It was a harsh industrial environment; the sort of place that today's average leisure boater wants to avoid when heading up the Ashby for a week.

JP

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3 hours ago, Captain Pegg said:

That grimness is part of the reason Sutton Stop is such an important place. The North Oxford has a key role in the history of canals and plenty of interest if you look for it. (I thought it was great that a hirer noted the bridges on the Warwickshire Ring the other day).

How grim do you think Sutton Stop was when the power station was belching out smoke and steam and the place was full of boats laden with coal and grubby little families?

Now it's all cleaned up we call it grim and eulogise about those days. Bonkers.

Enjoy all canals for what they are and accept we all have different tastes. Far sooner Marston to Braunston than Marston to Snarestone for me.

JP

A lot of canal landscapes in the modern era bear no resemblance to their industrial past but I think in particular the Coventry canal from Hawkesbury onwards gives no clue as to how gruesome an environment this once was.  I'm not sure I like it either.  In the same way that the sites of former collieries have been flattened and prettied up, a lot of the industrial past of canals has been obliterated and it takes more than a few information boards to recapture the sense of what hard lives people led back then.   

 

Edited by Neil2
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14 hours ago, lampini said:

Went right to the end once 'cos Jon said the loo blue the ACS sold there was very good value! Any excuse....  Another vote for South... we've never done a two-way tunnel before 'bout time we did- advice? Boy, I'm looking forward to this!! :-)

Newbold Tunnel is a two way tunnel, as it was the prototype for the Netherton Tunnel.

However, in my experience, not all boaters know this and many don't appreciate you entering whilst they are already in it.

Edited by cuthound
Edited to remove duplicate post.
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10 minutes ago, cuthound said:

Newbold Tunnel is a two way tunnel, as it was the prototype for the Netherton Tunnel.

However, in my experience, not all boaters know this and many don't appreciate you entering whilst they are already in it.

I didn't know that but IIRC Netherton tunnel was once illuminated wasn't it?  

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5 minutes ago, cuthound said:

Newbold Tunnel is a two way tunnel, as it was the prototype for the Netherton Tunnel.

However, in my experience, not all boaters know this and many don't appreciate you entering whilst they are already in it.

Blink and you will miss it, its funny i have never met another boat when coming through there.

Op, get yourself down to Braunston, nearest proper tunnel for you to try, maybe then carry on to norton junction and up the watford flight onto crick, wind and come back, should be a nice gentle week cruise.

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11 minutes ago, cuthound said:

Newbold Tunnel is a two way tunnel, as it was the prototype for the Netherton Tunnel.

However, in my experience, not all boaters know this and many don't appreciate you entering whilst they are already in it.

I would not bother in Newbold tunnel, it is so short there is no point is passing someone in the tunnel really.

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5 minutes ago, Neil2 said:

I didn't know that but IIRC Netherton tunnel was once illuminated wasn't it?  

Yes with electric lights powered by a water turbine fed from the Old Main Line, you can see it at the northern portal where the aqueduct goes over.

edited to add image from canalplan

bf52_0.jpg

Edited by john6767
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2 hours ago, john6767 said:

Yes with electric lights powered by a water turbine fed from the Old Main Line, you can see it at the northern portal where the aqueduct goes over.

edited to add image from canalplan

bf52_0.jpg

You live and learn - I wondered if that structure had some purpose, what a clever idea I presume they just considered it not worth maintaining but a lit tunnel the length of Netherton would be a big attraction these days. 

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15 minutes ago, Neil2 said:

You live and learn - I wondered if that structure had some purpose, what a clever idea I presume they just considered it not worth maintaining but a lit tunnel the length of Netherton would be a big attraction these days. 

But it would need to be an art work of some sort, to attract grants, possibly with lasers and sound effects.

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