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Gravel Run


LEO

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Great shame about Themis - hopefully it can be fixed quickly ? I thoroughly enjoyed watching this boat tow Callisto yesterday. The authentic engines are icing on the cake for me.

 

Victoria paired with Ara ? - unless they are more agile than me, they'll need a step stool when crossing between the two breasted!

 

LOL

James has a trampoline !

Chris

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They passed Lionhearts Cruising Club at Great Linford Milton Keynes at about 11:00. will upload piccies if I get time.

 

Ditchdabbler

 

Edited to add pictures (not very good as they were taken on my mobile phone)

 

gallery_6875_570_148613.jpg

 

gallery_6875_570_14248.jpg

Edited by ditchdabbler
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Ara being towed by Victoria

35722_416252269123_814744123_4400622_3616058_n.jpg

 

Water over the side......

 

Water over the side.......

 

(We want!) water over the side!...........

 

 

 

 

Actually as the butty's gunwales look little higher than the aqueduct sides, perhaps that's not such a clever idea. :lol:

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HACK...

And why do I hear 'Coals to Newcastle' being echoed about the place? see below :lol:

SLASH...

Have fun but is there an environmental advantage in all this inert gravel movement? Probably not. Don't think that is the point. No different to dragging a pile of smokeless fuel round the country. . :lol:

SNIP...

A great chain of mostly very deep quarries exploiting Precambrian and Palaeozoic shales,

quartzites and volcanic rocks exists within the Atherstone Ridge between Baddesley Ensor

and Nuneaton. It includes quarries such as Purley, Oldbury, Boons (also known as Man

Abel’s), Jees Woodlands, Midland and Judkins. Griff Quarry and Dosthill Brickpit

Harthsill lies on the ‘Nuneaton Inlier’ – a unique formation of rock layers, formed

during the Ice Ages. The lower layers of quartzite were quarried from as far back as

the early 16th century, although quarrying developed into a more prominent

industry in the 1800 and 1900s with quartzite, diorite and granite being extracted.

Coal and manganese have also been mined in the area.

Local records state that quarrying at Hartshill dates back to as early as 1581 and

there are archaeological findings to show that Prehistoric men used the local stone

for building.

• Since the early 19th century there have been numerous quarries along the canal

that have changed names and ownership frequently – the area was once known

for having five quarries within a 5-mile radius. The two quarries with direct links to

the canal are Hartshill Quarry (still locally known as Jee’s or more recently as

Tarmac Roadstone), Judkins Quarry.

• Hartshill quartzite stone was originally used for building – examples can be seen in

Hartshill, particularly in the parish church which was built with stone from Jee’s

Quarry in 1843). However, the primary use of the stone was for road building and

railway ballast, although it has also been used in airstrip construction, in sewage

works (as filter media), as stone ‘setts’ for road-making and paving, and concrete.

• The quarries that produced stone for setts often dressed it (carved it into blocks) on

site.

• Stone was extracted during the 1800s by men who were lowered down the

rockface on rope or chain-held cradles to chip at the quartzite. These chipped

pieces fell to the quarry floor and were broken-up into more manageable sizes by

quarry boys, who then loaded them into wagons drawn by horses.

• Transporting the stone via the canal was reliable and reasonably efficient.

Narrowboats could operate in all weathers – indeed, ice-breakers operated from

Hartshill Yard ensuring that the canal was never completely frozen over and

impassable.

• By 1847 railway links were opened and were able to transport quarried stone

much more quickly to Birmingham and Coventry, and even as far as London.

• Rail transport was more expensive than canal narrowboat but was usually more

cost-effective because it was quicker. However, in bad weather the trains couldn’t

run and during the wars the lines were bombed, so quarry owners usually kept

their options open.

• The railways carried some of the quarried stone to sites for their own ballasts.

• There were many adjustments to local infrastructure during the lifetime of the

quarries. Narrow lanes were widened and routes altered as necessary; bridges

were constructed as and where required and, in the 20th century when lorries

replaced horses and locos, local road surfaces had to be made wider and stronger.

• The settlements of Hartshill and Camp Hill were old roman settlements, which

developed mainly around agriculture. In the 1800s the settlements grew further

because of quarrying.

• At the start of the 19th century there were two main land-owners at Hartshill: the

Alkins family and the Jee family, who both operated quarries named after them on

their land. The Jee’s family records date back to 1699 and they were known locally

as ‘squire’.

• Judkins quarry was established in 1845 as a plot of 1 acre that was leased to Mr

Judkins and Mr Cropper to hand-dig stone (Hartshill Quartzite). This expanded and

was eventually sold to Tarmac Roadstone (ARC) in 1973. In 1996 stone production

under ARC ceased.

• In the 1800s and 1900s quarrying became one of the main employers in the area,

alongside coal mining, ribbon weaving and also canal maintenance. The Old Hat

Factory at Atherstone (owned by A B Wilson) was another key employer. The hat

factory backed onto the Coventry Canal and used the canal as its main

transportation method.

 

Source - QuarrymansReport-sm.pdf

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LIVE UPDATE FROM THE TEAM

 

Latest update from Lil chris

 

Stoke Bruene Bruan oh you know what I mean

 

Bruerne?

 

He can't read the sign.

 

Joe and Arundel are ahead they are going to a pub "The Navigation"

 

Themish prop shaft broke half way on Milton Keynes pound and was towed by Archemedes ... within half hour of being at cosgrove lock prop shaft was repaired and on the way again.

 

"Are you on track, or are you well behind?"

"We're about 10 locks behind to be honest"

 

14 hours from there to rugby

12 hours from there to atherstone

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Oh my God! - How embarrassing!

 

It looks like I may be being referred to in the latest NarrowBoatWorld article on the "Gravel Boats"

 

A lot of help has been given at the locks, and one enthusiastic supporter has been lock-wheeling for them on his bicycle and setting-up the locks ahead.

 

I rather fear that may have been me! :lol:

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They passed Lionhearts Cruising Club at Great Linford Milton Keynes at about 11:00. will upload piccies if I get time.

 

Ditchdabbler

 

snipped!!!

 

I had a chat with the steerer of Joe, as they passed under bridge 79 by lionheart's, about mid day, a nice guy, who, unlike most, took the time to talk back, rather than just smiling and nodding!!!! it was a great sight to see, I unfortunately missed the others, due to being in bed as i didn't get home from work until about 4 AM.

Wishing all involved a happy onward journey from the waters of MK!!!

Regards,

Dan

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OK,

 

A few formatting problems with our blog at the moment that I shall have to get the blog expert to sort out, (along with my spelling and grammar), but to avoid delaying publishing some pictures any longer, here is today's activity at Marsworth and Pitstone......

 

Thursday Gravel Boat Link

 

To keep my efforts in one post, here is a reminder of yesterday.....

 

Wednesday Gravel Boat Link

 

Thanks to the crews - great fun. Special thanks to Steve (I hope I have remembered right!) and Mark on Themis and Callisto for feeding me biscuits and a much appreciated cuppa!

 

 

What a great series of photographs Alan, thank you very much.

 

Peter.

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he was indeed on the butty. He was a youngish lad, maybe early 20's, sorry don't know his name!!

Regards

Dan!

 

I think the point John's making is that if you're on a motor, it's a lot harder to hear what's being said from the bank- hence the smiling and nodding, rather than replying! :lol:

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Not sure where / if they will cross over, but Nuneaton and Brighton are leaving Alvecote at 0700 tomorrow, laden with about 35 to 40 tons between them, to go via Atherstone then on to the Oxford, so there's some fine photo opportunities possibly coming up.

 

 

DSCF1226.jpg

Edited by twbm
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