Hobbler

The world of preservation owes a great deal to John Smith who was not only a supporter of saving old buildings and canals but other sectors as well such as fairground history . Its an interesting thought though if that building had not been demolished the Landmark Trust would not have been formed so they would have not employed a certain Mr R Evans as their Chief Executive in 1986 so who in that case would now be in charge of BW ?.

There used to be a two storey house opposite the bottom of Hurleston Locks for the Shropshire Union Canal Toll keeper . I think it survived up until the 1960's ( it may have gone when a number of the lock cottages on the canal were demolished) - I have seen photos of it ( cant remember where though) and till comparitively recently some of the domestic hedges that formed its boundary were still evident.

Someone lost a bag of logs off their boat at the top of Foxton Locks . We found it whilst winding the boat and our engine stopped dead as one of the logs had got jammed between the prop and the skeg .It took a couple of hours to clear the log , remains of the bag and the baler twine with which the bag had been tied . Throughout the excercise other logs would regularly surface around us . I wasnt best pleased !

Neither is accessible by sea and its only the connecting section from Taunton to the Grand Western that has not been restored - the rest of the Grand Western canal to Tiverton has been open for many years.

Do you mean President and Kildare or did they have a different butty then ? Anyway mate people who "Live in Glass Houses shouldnt throw stones" Should they ? Going down the 21 - Nuff said ? Anyway not even the old professionals always get it right - I will never forget the look on another Joe's face when he inadvertently discovered that the stub end of the Sneyd branch was still navigable whilst trying to pass under the bridge to go past the yard with Atlas.

Does anyone know if the suggestion to link the canal to Windemere has ever progressed in any way . Having lived in the area for a number of years I was interested in what route it might take . I assume a southerly route via Carnforth , Levens and Grange over Sands to eventually join the lake at Newby Bridge would be the easiest engineering option but this wouldnt necessarily be of any help to restoring the Lancaster Canal Northern Reaches

Thirty or forty years ago before the days of the Lottery , Goverment Grants and Local Authority involvement if you went to a lender and asked for money to buy a railway , a locomotive or a narrow boat for preservation would probably have questioned your sanity or you would at least been regarded with considerable suspicion. The Telford Railway may have a long way to go in restoring their line but in view of the progress they have made particularly in the last year I have no doubt they will get there in the end. I suspect it will be the same with other schemes such as the Northern Reaches , Cotswolds Canals and even the Somerset Coal Canal which I hope will all be completed one day by a future generation - whether we are still around to see it is a different matter.

M42 J4 you would have a choice of the North Stratford around Hockley Heath or Lapworth Locks or the Grand Union at Knowle all within a few minutes of the motorway . Another possibility would be a short detour down the M40 from the M42/M40 Junction which would allow a visit to Hatton .

Didnt Bw try that but it didnt work ? It was called something like Waternet .

I have to admit I am not a great fan of the Big Woolwich as they always seem to appear slightly clumsy to me but having said that I was looking at Chertsey from the road bridge the other day and there was something about her which was just right in my eyes . She certainly gave me the impression she was all near original. Considering whose boat she is moored next to in the picture I would be very surprised if her Bss status was not known. Anyway I hope you get much pleasure from owning her and not too much grief.

There is a place in West Sussex called "Titty Hill" reached by going via "Queen's End Corner ". I am not even going to hazard a guess as to why so named

Coal Staithe is also railway term particularly used by railways in the north of england when applied to a coal drop or transfer point between rail and road - so perhaps offloading place would be a good definition. I would be interested to know how and why the person in charge of a wharf came to be known as a Wharfinger ?

I would assume the Mooring Officers thinking was that as there is a considerable lock free length of canal above Grindley Brook it could not be claimed the stoppage was preventing boats from moving . Not sure what the situation would have been had boats been moored below the locks and if there was also a stoppage on the next locks towards Hurleston as the boaters options would have been limited , unless of course the notices were intended to stop boats deliberately putting themselves in that situation to get round the regs.

Missile throwing has taken a new twist around here - no longer do they chuck stones or half empty beer cans but now the kids throw money at us . I have picked up 10p , 50p and £1 coins off the boat roof in the last couple of weeks . Not sure if the kids feel sorry for us or they have more money than sense .

See if you can get a copy of the dvd or video "Topcloth and Tippet" made by Sight Seen Partnerships / I A Recordings of the whole process of clothing up a motor and butty . Its usually available from the museums , society stalls or direct from I A Recordings .

So a Monk boat in boaters language became a "Monkey Boat" over a period of time . Perhaps Monk'eee would be a better spelling. What does puzzle me is why the second boat in a pair of horse boats should be referred to as the Monkey Boat . I could understand it if it was a Motor and Butty as the Butty would be the family home but surely a pair of horse boats would have identical cabins . It may be that when cabins were first introduced only one of a pair was so fitted and the term stayed in use . Mr Holmes refers to his safety concerns about open fires on canal boats especially when open topped barrels of gunpowder were being carried as part of general cargo which suggests cabins were not on all boats on general trade.

I have always understood the term " Monkey Boat" to be a slightly derogatory term for a Motor . However I am currently reading a book called "Britain at Work" published just over 100 years ago by Cassells which consists of numerous specialist articles on different trades and industries written by a numerous authors all who have a fairly detailed knowledge of their subject. The section on "Barge Life" written by a Mr F Holmes clearly demonstrates he had a good knowledge of life on the canal even if it is written in flowery language and insists on referring to narrowboats as barges . He refers to a "Monkey Boat" being the second boat of two being pulled by horse . So the term seems to predate the first use of motors - anyone know the origin of the term ?

A trip on the Waverley or any of her compatriots such as the Jeannie Deans or the Caledonia was always the highlights of summer holidays spent at Rothsay , Largs or Dunoon in the 1950's. Meanwhile back at home near Bristol we often enjoyed day trips on the local Campbells paddlesteamers - the Bristol Queen or the Cardiff Queen . Great Memories.

If its the moorings I think it is then thats along the back of Wednesfield High Street . I have never seen them in use by boats but as when we did a Towpath Tidy along there the amount of used syringes and other stuff found was enormous its obviously a very busy spot at night which probably explains why no boats moor there.

Some remnants of old industry around the junction with the Main Line but then the rest is new housing , council estates and a large retail park at the junction with what was the Bentley canal . No moorings that I know of but it may be worth having a look at the several boatyards moorings between Autherley and Compton on the Staffs & Worcs.

You could always consider letting other boaters have use of the house . I know of several long term liveaboards that have been living on their boats for many years who would appreciate the change of a few weeks on the land.

In view of the proximity of Northgate Locks to the Dee Branch Locks I would have thought the same lock keeper would have been responsible for both flights although its possible the staff at Tower Wharf may have been responsible for the Dee Branch. The only lock cottage of which I am aware around there is the one at the top of Northgate Locks - I dont think thats known as "Old Crane" but I may be wrong.

Cant compete with that - of the seven working boats here at the moment three are Yarwoods built and only one a josher

Well you could have pulled over to our side and breasted up with Ceres as you were worried . The gang of kids were there till just after 11pm and although noisy did not cause any problems though we did keep an eye on them .

That was also my first thought but that does not look like any form of ordnance that is being offloaded , it looks more like tents . tarpaulins and ground sheets .