figworthy

At Little Muddle speeds, the opening ceremony probably lasted 40 years. Adrian

That seems unduly lenint. Adrian

I hope the culprit was dealt with in a suitable fashion. Adrian

Bottom left hand corner looks like a stretch of canal complete with narrow boats. I wonder if the container on the crane is for loading or unloading the narrow boats. Perhaps one of our Midland experts can identify the location. Adrian

Moving away from the wagons for the moment, what is happening with the nearest turnout in the first photo. Is it combined with check rails and catch/trap points for both diverging routes ? Adrian

Hovering over the links shows the correct URLs Thanks Adrian

I don't suppose the neighbours would have been overly impressed either. Adrian

Yes. Looking at the underlying HTML, Roger's original post has : <a href="unfurl=%22true%22" rel="">http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/01/13/the-wenlock-branch-from-much-wenlock-to-presthope/</a> Whereas Mikkel's has : <a href="https://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/01/13/the-wenlock-branch-from-much-wenlock-to-presthope/" rel="external nofollow">https://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/01/13/the-wenlock-branch-from-much-wenlock-to-presthope/</a> An obvious difference is that in the original, the text (the bit that you click on) has the link as http:// whereas in the latter it is https:// I wonder if the RMWeb software doesn't like http links, but is happy with https ones. Adrian

As chance would have it, I went past the viaduct (on the Chiltern line) yesterday. The assembly rig appeared to be over the arch immediately before the canal, but it wasn't possible to see how well advance work was on that arch. Adrian

Quite a bit bigger. IIRC, built to the same basic design as Topsy : https://www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/register/2823/topsy 85' by 17' The Cawoods barges supplied Skelton Grange Power Station (SE corner of Leeds). When Skelton Grange closed, they were loaded onto a ship and sent off to work somewhere in Africa. Adrian

If the rain in Doncaster is anything like that at the Manor House, a DUKW might be more suitable. Adrian

More panniers ? Adrian

I had the (mis) fortune of being at the then poly 40+ years ago. At the time, there was a rumour that someone was driving around the ring road trying to find their way off. I suspect that they've run out of fuel by now. Adrian

It's a hold. Looking good so far. Adrian

Minnie is probably in the ladies, and the two of them were having a day out. Adrian

Thanks. A fascinating collection of pictures. Adrian

I've just had a look through some old boat logs, and 2-2.5 hours seems to be the norm, apart from one occasion when we moored up overnight mid flight. Adrian

And (straying further away from the topic), very few canals came in under budget. Although, to be fair, the further back in time you go, the problems caused by a lack of knowledge on matters such as civil engineering and geology could be viewed more sympathetically. Adrian

Or they knew that it would be far better for all concerned if they stuck to doing "stuff", rather than going into manglement. And yet, there would have been people higher up the manglement chains who took the view that as those staff members were doing a very good job, they ought to be "rewarded" with a promotion. Adrian

It's an easy mistake to make. In most parts of the world, the bows are pointed. The colour scheme is starting to look good. Adrian

Fixed that for you. Adrian

Only one ? As I'm sure Mr. NotEnoughPanniers will confirm, you can't have too many. Adrian

Nurse, Nurse, he's off his medication again. Adrian

You called ? Hulls were usually black below the loaded water line, originally tar (on the wooden boats), and I'm not sure what on the iron/steel ones. If I were being critical, that bow is far too pointed, the traditional barges in the area where almost flat fronted, with a bit of curve on the corners. Rally https://www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/register/3773/rally was on the British Oak - Thornhill run in the last years, so you should get some good ideas on hull shape, rudder hanging etc from there. Ethel (I used to know her well) had the engine (Lister JP2 ?) in the aft cabin, and the front cabin had a stove in it, along with benches (I had friends who slept down there once she was retired), so the crew (usually just the skipper), had somewhere to get a brew and eat their sandwiches in the warm and dry. The curved structure is indeed a companion way cover, the upper half would slide over the lower half. There would be a ladder leading down into the cabin. Should give you a good idea. Adrian

The 100 ton capacity barges were known as "Sheffield" size (no prizes for guessing where they usually worked). They were quite a bit bigger (61' 6" by 15' 3" and probably deeper), but they could only get through the locks down stream of British Oak.