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Hastings

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Everything posted by Hastings

  1. In general, copyright in photographs normally ends 70 years after the death of the photographer, so a 1910 image could well still be in copyright. Let's assume the photographer was born in 1885 (so the photo was taken at age 25), and lived to 90, dying in 1975. The photo will be in copyright till 2045. Indeed, it's possible, though extremely unlikely, that an 1890 photo might just still be in copyright. I agree with the point about museums etc. who have copies of photos. Buying a collection of photos, even if curated and from a good source, doesn't automatically give you ownership of the copyright. That only comes if it was transferred in writing by the copyright owner. As a canal book publisher, I'm always conscious of these issues!
  2. Lots of photos of canal cuttings and embankments up to the late 1960s (i.e. during the period they were used commercially) show few trees, and railways were the same. Maintenance staff got rid of them when they grew. With canals, the emphasis was probably on avoiding slippages like we see in Easenhall Cutting. With railways, there was of course another concern - avoing steam locomotives setting fire to bushes and trees. I remember Woodseaves Cutting on the Shroppie (possibly the longest deepest canal cutting) being virtually bare in the 1960s. Now it's full of trees - may be pretty, but probably not a good thing!
  3. But the "everything else" takeaway does take cards. And, as a shop owner in Audlem, I know that around 90% of our sales value now comes from cards.
  4. He does live in the flat.
  5. Paul, the brother of the previous owner (George) who died getting on two years ago, took over the Village Chippy. Still excellent, though if you go, note that cards are not accepted - cash only. (Surely, they must be missing out on sales?)
  6. The stairs up to the apartment are in one corner of the lounge area. They led originally to a restaurant area upstairs, close 20 or 30 years ago.
  7. True, but on the Shroppie it developed to the stage by the last quarter of the 19th century that most boats were 'company boats'. SURCCo is believed to have operated several hundred boats - in numbers of boats terms, it was probably bigger than GUCCCo and FMC ever were.
  8. This ties in with my suggestion that Shroppie bridge guards were not installed at building, but were (in modern parlance) a retro-fit feature. Until the canal had been used for a while, one wouldn't know exactly what was needed, or where.
  9. The outfits might date the photo around the 1920s. I don't know now, but there is/was an alleyway from the main road that crosses the bridge down to the river here, so the wood might have gone up it? But wasn't there a timber wharf here before the houses were built? I was brougth up in Marlow in the 50s, and it was houses then. Incidentally, the towpath stops here by the bridge, and restarts below the lock, about 1/4 mile away. Horses were led along Seven Cornered Alley (its name well describes it!) to Mill Lane, where they could meet the boat at Marlow Lock. The boat would be poled along this stretch - hairy past the long weir when the river was in flood.
  10. There's been some comment that there are grooves quite low down on the cast iron bridge guards. One reason will be that fly-boats, the primary (and extremely prolific) traffic till 1921, were drawn in the main by smaller horses than were often used elsewhere. This is because of the height/profile of the Shroppie bridges; a normal height horse just won't fit. The boatmen called them half-legged horses, as you can see in Jack Roberts excellent book "Shropshire Union Fly-Boats". He was a fly-boat captain before the first world war. The very recent recreation of fly-boating with Saturn uses a wonderful small horse, Flower. I suspect that the operators knew to do this. I've boated up and down the Shroppie on and off for nearly 60 years, and I've never seen or heard of replacement bridge guards. I'm convinced they are original, though I think it was David Mack who made the point earlier, they were probably installed when stonework started suffering, probably later in the 19th century, rather than when the canal opened in 1835.
  11. Hi Glenn. Saturn won't make it to the Gathering at Audlem. But wait a moment - it's a fly-boat. Maybe it can fly down the flight and land in the Town Pound....
  12. The poor state of the top gate heel post at lock 7 at Audlem means the flight of 15 is closed - two days before the Gathering of Historic Boats. Up to half the entries would have come this way. But it will still go ahead, even if with fewer boats.
  13. Sorry, not true. The email I (and no doubt mny others) received from the Events Team announcing the charges says "Please note we are not accepting applications for events taking place in 2024 until after 1 June 2023." It doesn't say you can't apply for events from 2025 onward, but I think I can anticipate what the reply might be!
  14. And a well-known Chief Exec usually attends every year, so CRT certainly know about the event!
  15. Jen-in-Wellies and MtB both have admirable ideas, but I still have a feeling that CRT might notice 30 historic boats that have coincidentally arrived at the same time, and not be best pleased if we haven't filled in forms and paid!
  16. We at Audlem Mill organise the Gathering of Historic Boats at Audlem every July, which attracts lots of visitors to the canal (Education, history etc.). It has alway been a strictly non-commercial event, with no income whatsoever (and there's nowhere to put stalls anyway). We pay nominal costs ourselves - signage, leaflet etc. - but the new CRT rules mean we'll have to pay around £225 to £300+ on top. Looks like that could be the end of an event that started in 2009.
  17. The Lord Combermere at Audlem closed a couple of days ago, having reopened a few months before. But it did not attract many customers for quite a while. On the contrary, the Shroppie Fly is getting very busy, and tables are often fully booked (and there's no boats yet). Friendly staff, good food, clean, comfortable - and warm. Opens at 10.30 daily for morning coffee etc. Muddy dogs (and muddy owners) welcome.
  18. Thanks, Alan, I'll contact them Peter
  19. Some distance away, I know, but I lived in Marlow, Bucks, on the Thames till the early 1960s, and there were various small streams running into the river that were navigable for quite some distance, leading to posh houses with boathouses. In fact, the Abbotsbrook estate in Bourne End even had a skiff lock on it. See https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Repair_work_on_the_smallest_lock_-_Abbotsbrook_Estate_-_geograph.org.uk_-_302159.jpg and https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/322976811390 (which incorrectly says Bourne End, Herts instead of Bucks,)
  20. Thanks for the information, Peter
  21. Does anybody know the current status of GU 'Town' class BELMONT? I'm about to publish a book of colour photos taken all round the canal system in the 1950s-1970s. One photo, taken in 1965, shows STANTON and BELMONT breasted up just having worked up through Lot Mead Lock at Rickmansworth. They are painted in Blue Line livery, having recently been acquired by them. I know that STANTON is still around, and regularly attends events - but what is the current position for BELMONT? I saw it when it was a static exhibit many years ago at the now closed Snibston Discovery Park in Leicestershire, and it was in a very sorry state then. Did it survive, and, if so, what's the latest? I'd like to put a brief comment in the caption to the picture.
  22. Bookings are being taken for this gathering re former working narrow boats built up to 1962. Further information at http://www.audlemmill.co.uk/audlem-mill-gathering-of-historic boats.html ; contact Peter on 01270 811059 or email info@audlemmill.co.uk
  23. Not just out of stock - the sole distributor has sold out of all stock, so instead read "out of print". Peter, CanalBookShop, Audlem Mill
  24. Still there, unaltered. Also, contrary to poular opinion, there isn't really a quick succession of landlords at the Shroppie Fly. In the last 9 years, since in was renovated in late 2013, two have been there for 3-4 years each. Admittedly there have been two or three short-term temporary people, and a six month period of closure. But it's not as bad as suggested!
  25. Thanks, Glenn, for your good wishes, and all the best to you for the future. I perhaps understand why you don't seem to get further north on the Shroppie than the Anchor, but you really ought to try to get to the Shroppie Fly now, which now has all the makings of being a very good canal pub now! Peter
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