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Pointless features on boats


Dave_P

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On 07/07/2017 at 16:17, X Alan W said:

The older commercial boat that had registered at xxxxx # xxxxx was a health registry for so many adults & so many children it was a 19th century law by some guy to stop boat families living in squalor

Plenty of people on boats living in squalor today.  Some of them still have registered in xxxxxxx just visible through the rust, so clearly not valid anymore!

Jen

Edited by Jen-in-Wellies
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5 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Youve had to get back on topic Rach cos you think a sierra is a car!! :lol:

I used to keep a mini in the boot to use as a shopping trolley :D

And for when the Jag broke down :P

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30 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Youve had to get back on topic Rach cos you think a sierra is a car!! :lol:

I used to keep a mini in the boot to use as a shopping trolley :D

That's right.

It is a car that we still own which is sat in our garage quietly appreciating in value:)

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4 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

I agree on one proviso, if the owner wants to live in the past ( I used to show classic cars ) then the boat must be in keeping. So when I go onboard mates who own " replica" boats with boatmans cupboards etc etc and painted cans on top then they should be lit inside with candles/oil lamps and nowhere should there be any vestiges of lecctricity and for cripes sake of inverters or washing machines etc etc lets keep the heritage eh :)

And they should have a proper Elsan bucket toilet.

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1 hour ago, cuthound said:

Yes, they often have £20 million pounds worth of classic cars under restoration at any one time.

We drink with the owners at Browns Lane SC on the 1st Wed of each month (or rather we do when we can make it - it's been a while). 

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On 09/07/2017 at 21:12, David Mack said:

Oh, so do Whilton sell carpets as well as boats? I bet some are 'less well presented'.

 

The Whilton carpet shop is bang opposite Whilton brokers. 

I'm not convinced they make the Whilton carpet there but I think there is a connection.

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On ‎05‎/‎07‎/‎2017 at 16:14, rusty69 said:

I've no idea why I'm quoting rusty ......

 

 

 

whilton locks and carpets.jpg

Edited by zenataomm
The quote box appearred for no reason, so felt I owed rusty an explanation.
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38 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

The Whilton carpet shop is bang opposite Whilton brokers. 

I'm not convinced they make the Whilton carpet there but I think there is a connection.

I'm convinced they don't. They don't spell W(h)ilton the same way for starters.

Anyway I am sure that building was a pub 30 years ago. Pretty sure we stopped for lunch there on a hire boat trip at Easter 1985.

JP

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12 hours ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

Plenty of people on boats living in squalor today.  Some of them still have registered in xxxxxxx just visible through the rust, so clearly not valid anymore!

Jen

If you choose to live in squalor on a a boat now days I guess that'syour right  back in the days of commercial carrying (Mid 19th century ) It became a law & boats had to be inspected & a certificate issued & the details displayed on the boat I had to get my boats inspected as late as 1957

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17 hours ago, Ray T said:

Water cans, or if they were made at the old shop at Buckby top lock "Buckby Cans", were usually used by Midland and Southern Boats. Those "oop North" did use water cans to store the water for daily use, but also some used barrels.

The picture is of a L & L wide boat but narrow boats had them too.

Much as I would like to own a ex working boat for me it would be impractical so I adorn my "noddy" boat with artifacts of the past.

On a slightly different vein today's hire boats are the successors to the working boat, there for one reason only - to earn money.

This thread has helped me conclude that I should stick to adorning my boat only with stuff that I need and/or use for a genuine purpose. That includes some stuff painted with a nod to tradition that would never have been seen on a working boat. I will park thoughts of a Buckby can as I don't need one for it's true purpose and it wouldn't be authentic on an old BCN tug.

This business about hire boats being the modern day working boat is a bit of fun but it really isn't true. The purpose of working boats was to carry goods for industry. Hire boats have far more in common with privately owned leisure boats. I don't believe either exist(ed) only to make money.

JP

Edited by Captain Pegg
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2 minutes ago, Captain Pegg said:

 

This business about hire boats being the modern day working boat is a bit of fun but it really isn't true.

JP

That depends on how you view it. A hire boat is a craft built for revenue-earning service; it doesn't look like a "real" working boat but its ultimate purpose is identical: to make money for its owner. So yes, in that sense it really is true.

We have a "Buckby" can on 'Trojan'; it normally contains a couple of gallons of water, for use in case we find ourselves far from a water-point and need to put some water in the tank. We do also have a plastic five-gallon can for this purpose, but it doesn't look nearly as handsome on the roof and it's tricky to balance a mop on.

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11 minutes ago, Athy said:

That depends on how you view it. A hire boat is a craft built for revenue-earning service; it doesn't look like a "real" working boat but its ultimate purpose is identical: to make money for its owner. So yes, in that sense it really is true.

The purpose of a working boat was to move goods. The purpose of a hire boat is for people to have a holiday.

Strange view that the ultimate or only purpose of these vessels was or is directly making money. If that's the aim there were and are far easier ways to do it.

In the case of early canal building I think the point is way wide of the mark.

JP

Edited by Captain Pegg
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1 minute ago, Captain Pegg said:

The purpose of a working boat was to move goods. The purpose of a hire boat is for people to have a holiday.

Strange view that the ultimate or only purpose of these vessels was or is making money. If that's the aim there were and are far easier ways to do it.

In the case of early canal building I think the point is way wide of the mark.

JP

I am with Athy on this one. The boats are built in both cases to make the owner money. There are many jobs in life that are easier than others to make money but peeps still do the harder ones or they would not get done and there would be no diversity in the workplace. The canals may well not have been set up for leisure use but neither was our road system.

Also there is plenty of money to be made in hire fleets when they are done properly. Just sayin like.

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7 minutes ago, Captain Pegg said:

The purpose of a working boat was to move goods. The purpose of a hire boat is for people to have a holiday.

Strange view that the ultimate or only purpose of these vessels was or is directly making money.

JP

If, for "strange", you were to substitute "accurate", I would be entirely in agreement with you.

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I see the proper term for the water can has been amended  to " Buckby " as a house that was turned into a small canal side shop sold them along with other canal items The possible reason a good number of "South Road"boaters bought there was the shop owner was trusting of boaters to pay a bit at each passing, boaters were not welcome in a lot of shops. to return to topic how would a can bought at Northwich/Middlewich be called a "Buckby " can? it was a 2/3gallon can, not even water can,  a lot of canal terms & names have been changed/amended from their original names the most quoted probably being "The Cheshire Locks"now being quoted as "Heartbreak Hill" Why are they anymore "heartbreaking" than any other similar number of narrow locks in a flight or relatively short distance, a lot of terms/ places are now known by a name I don't readily reconise. My Question why did perfectly good names etc.have to be altered to something different & become the norm to the degree if the original name is quoted either the person doe's not reconise or pulls you up for not using the " so called proper name" now in use

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On 10/07/2017 at 10:07, X Alan W said:

I see the proper term for the water can has been amended  to " Buckby " as a house that was turned into a small canal side shop sold them along with other canal items The possible reason a good number of "South Road"boaters bought there was the shop owner was trusting of boaters to pay a bit at each passing, boaters were not welcome in a lot of shops. to return to topic how would a can bought at Northwich/Middlewich be called a "Buckby " can? it was a 2/3gallon can, not even water can,  a lot of canal terms & names have been changed/amended from their original names the most quoted probably being "The Cheshire Locks"now being quoted as "Heartbreak Hill" Why are they anymore "heartbreaking" than any other similar number of narrow locks in a flight or relatively short distance, a lot of terms/ places are now known by a name I don't readily reconise. My Question why did perfectly good names etc.have to be altered to something different & become the norm to the degree if the original name is quoted either the person doe's not reconise or pulls you up for not using the " so called proper name" now in use

 

My mum and dad who both grew up in Hayes, viewed boaters with deep suspicion and mistrust. Best avoided, they taught me as I grew up. I suspect this was a virtually universal attitude at the the time amongst those living on the bank. 

I did heartbreak hill by accident the first time. I was vaguely looking out for a difficult and tricky climb which never came, so I looked up properly where it was and found out I'd already done it. I think the 'problem' with the Cheshire Locks is they are awkwardly spaced. Too far apart to quickly walk between them when lockwheeling, yet to close to be stopping the boat to pick up your crew at every lock. And they just keep on coming.

But yes it's odd and irritating the way names for stuff get changed then when we use the correct name, someone tells us the new, incorrect name is the correct one. Buckby cans are a prime example.

The longshaft is another. "The what? Oh, you mean the barge pole"!

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27 minutes ago, X Alan W said:

I see the proper term for the water can has been amended  to " Buckby "

I took care to place the word in quotation marks to suggest that this was a modern epithet. On the other hand, say "Buckby can" and most people (at least on the canals) know and can (?) visualise what you're talking about; a "water can" could be of all sorts of shapes and sizes in addition to the ones commonly carried by working boats.

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11 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

Even the term "lock key" for a windlass is gaining irresistible traction.

An interesting point: is "lock key" a modern appellation? I have heard both terms used for years, though "windlass" is probably more common.

I call the metal tool used to loosen and tighten the hose attachment to a gas bottle a "gas key"; when I used this term last summer at a boatyard on the North Oxford, the old chap there gave me a distinctly old-fashioned look and said "gas key?" in a tone of quizzical contempt (but then he was a grumpy so-and-so anyway); is that term incorrect?

Then there's "engine (h)ole" and "engine room"; the former is probably historically authentic, but the latter is a more accurate description. Which would you use?

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On 10/07/2017 at 10:45, Athy said:

An interesting point: is "lock key" a modern appellation? I have heard both terms used for years, though "windlass" is probably more common.

I call the metal tool used to loosen and tighten the hose attachment to a gas bottle a "gas key"; when I used this term last summer at a boatyard on the North Oxford, the old chap there gave me a distinctly old-fashioned look and said "gas key?" in a tone of quizzical contempt (but then he was a grumpy so-and-so anyway); is that term incorrect?

Then there's "engine (h)ole" and "engine room"; the former is probably historically authentic, but the latter is a more accurate description. Which would you use?

 

I call it a gas spanner, because that's what it is. Certainly not a key.

I tend to say engine room but the context dictates. For example I might say "a traditional layout boat with back cabin and engine room", then later say "the spare can of diesel is down in the engine 'ole".

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