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HARECASTLE TUNNEL


whammy

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Last time we went through, the boat at the front of the queue managed to take almost 90 minutes...

Ahhh you had nothink!

- Boat infrotn of use got stuck, i had to climb onto it mid tunnel, and stear it, while my grandad follweed in emilyanne, We where in there around 2hours!

 

 

Daniel

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We recently had to travel from the south to the north on the system and our original plan was to go up the Trent and Mersey through the Harecastle Tunnel. We got as far as Braunston and I was casually glancing through the Nicholsons guide when I noticed with some dismay that the tunnels heigh limit was 5 foot 9 inches. We have a Aqualine Manhattan

 

We have a 60ft Manhatton and have been through Harecastle 4 times with no probs. There is a low section so keep your head down!

 

It's handy to have a light by the steerer to shine on the wall....helps to keep you on line.

 

Regards Steve & Lindy on 'Liberty'

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We have a 60ft Manhatton and have been through Harecastle 4 times with no probs. There is a low section so keep your head down! It's handy to have a light by the steerer to shine on the wall....helps to keep you on line.Regards Steve & Lindy on 'Liberty'

Excellent, thats fairly conclusive then!

- Thank you

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Assuming of course that Kit Crewbucket (the resident ghost) is willing to let you in the tunnel. He wouldn't let the boat in front of us in (read all about it)

 

Allan

He ??

 

In every rendition of stories about the ghost I ever heard, whether it be in Harecastle or in Crick, it was always a "she" I thought ?

 

A "Google", for example, finds the following on Waterscape.Com

 

Kit Crewbucket, a shrieking female boggart, is said to haunt Harecastle Tunnel, Kidsgrove, on the Trent and Mersey Canal. She is also believed to stalk the Crick Tunnel on the Grand Union Canal - Leicester line. Kit was murdered and her headless corpse was dumped in the canal. During the 19th century, boatmen were so convinced of her presence that some chose a long detour over a short jounrey through Harecastle Tunnel. However, unlike other scary spooks, boatmen believe that Kit will cook your breakfast if she takes a liking to you.

Edited by alan_fincher
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He ??

 

In every rendition of stories about the ghost I ever heard, whether it be in Harecastle or in Crick, it was always a "she" I thought ?

 

A "Google", for example, finds the following on Waterscape.Com

 

Kit Crewbucket, a shrieking female boggart, is said to haunt Harecastle Tunnel, Kidsgrove, on the Trent and Mersey Canal. She is also believed to stalk the Crick Tunnel on the Grand Union Canal - Leicester line. Kit was murdered and her headless corpse was dumped in the canal. During the 19th century, boatmen were so convinced of her presence that some chose a long detour over a short jounrey through Harecastle Tunnel. However, unlike other scary spooks, boatmen believe that Kit will cook your breakfast if she takes a liking to you.

You could be right about the ghost being female, I've never seen his/her face. But I'm not sure about the provenance of Waterscape's story, there is no evidence of anybody actually having had the name Kit Crewbucket or anything like it. It's generally reckoned to be just a corruption of the name "Kidsgrove Boggart" whose existence was reported before even the canal was built - boggart being an old term for ghost - which would certainly rule out any connection with Crick Tunnel.

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You could be right about the ghost being female, I've never seen his/her face. But I'm not sure about the provenance of Waterscape's story, there is no evidence of anybody actually having had the name Kit Crewbucket or anything like it. It's generally reckoned to be just a corruption of the name "Kidsgrove Boggart" whose existence was reported before even the canal was built - boggart being an old term for ghost - which would certainly rule out any connection with Crick Tunnel.

I agree with all you say, Allan.

 

I've never understood if it's a corruption of "Kidsgrove Boggert", why the same named ghost is supposed to also inhabit Crick :P (But then, frankly, "Crick Boggart" is easier to contort to "Crewbucket", than the "...sgrove Boggart" bit of the Harecastle version :P)

 

What is certainly true is that if you look at transcriptions of all UK censuses from 1841 to 1901, no surname anything like "Crewbucket" occurs anywhere in the UK, so if there were ever a real person behind it, her surname was something else, I'm sure.

 

It seems odd that the same story about a headless woman thrown in to a canal seems to have taken place in two entirely different locations, as it seems to be credited nearly as many times to Crick, as to Harecastle.

 

It makes a good story, wherever it is, though, and with two tunnels involved, one can use it more often !

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