Ashton Boatman

It's been a while since I posted anything. This is at least partly because the old long covid seems to have come back, making me feel knackered in the evenings. So, here's a bit of catching up.

A fortnight ago we were just setting off on a wellbeing trip with "Forget me Not" and "Hazel" when "Forget me Not"s engine stalled every time I put it into reverse gear. I took the top off the gearbox to have a look, but, was unable to work out what the problem was.

Via Facebook I contacted Richard and Sue Powell at Primrose Engineering in Kenilworth. If they can't fix it nobody can. They agreed to have a look., so, over the weekend I removed the gearbox then, after dealing with volunteers at Stalybridge on Monday morning, drove down to Kenilworth with it. It turned out that the epicyclic reverse gears had chewed themselves up through lack of lubrication. The problem seems to have stemmed from the oilway, that squirts oil through from the engine, which had got blocked. I'm currently in discussion with Stefan Strom who runs Albin Motor in Sweden about the replacement parts that are needed. Albin engines are no longer made but Stefan has virtually all the parts for them.

https://albinmotor.nl/en/albin-history/

Unfortunately that trip had to be abandoned, but our guests spent the day on "Hazel" and seemed to enjoy being there.

Nessie has been busy finishing off the concreting of "Queen"s bottom and repairing her falling apart back cabin.

It was my birthday last Saturday so Em arranged a little holiday in Haworth, known to most as the home of the Bronte family ( Wuthering Heights etc) but known to me as the headquarters of the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway.

We stayed in a wonderfully quirky room at the Old Apothecary and went out for a meal at the White Lion (having rejected the Black Bull as a covid risk because it was so crowded).

In the morning I went for a walk up the nearby Penistone Hill, where old millstone grit quarries have been left to return to nature.

http://www.wyorksgeologytrust.org/misc/Penistone%20Hill%20geology.pdf

I walked up alongside the old quarries enjoying the views over the valley in the morning sunshine.

I turned back towards the town down a little lane with stone walls on each side.

A blackbird pair caught my eye, frolicking on the mossy top of the wall, probably looking for nesting materials. I watched them for a while until they separated. The female crossed the road and the male went into the field and started digging for worms. Carrying on down the hill, the lane became a path. I enjoyed the low bright sun dazzling the fields and trees.

Everywhere there were early morning dog walkers. Haworth seems to be home to a great many posh dogs. As I walked back down through the churchyard I met a woman with a fluffy brown spanielly thing. It started madly barking at me. "Oh" said the owner, indulgently, "she doesn't like men in hats.

I passed the church and carried on down the cobbled main street where I met another doglady, this time with a little white poodley thing. It started yapping wildly and straining at the lead. I smiled at its owner and said "Ooh, I'm scared" to which she replied "she doesn't like men in boots". Clearly it's wise to go hatless and bootless for a morning walk in Haworth.

I like mongrels.

Back at the Apothecary Em was up and we went for breakfast, then on downhill to the station for my birthday treat, a ride on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway.

The locomotive rostered for the day was the Ivatt class 2 tank number 41241. When I was a kid this was the station pilot at Leamington Spa, my nearest main station. I have a memory of cabbing what was probably its sister, 41231 at the station, watching trains with my mum aged 6 or 7. The engine was coupled to mail vans in a bay platform, waiting for mainline trains to clear so that it could resume shunting. I asked to go on the footplate and the enginemen agreed. The fireman showed me the fire and I watched in awe as he opened valves in the complicated pipework in front of me. He was probably turning on the injectors to put extra water in the boiler. The driver and fireman joked between themselves. I just stood there, gobsmacked, in my element.

The stationmaster at Haworth is a very smartly dressed young man who is properly into character, and highly informative about the workings of the railway. An enthusiast to the core, his day job is working for the London & North Eastern Railway on more up to date trains.

Soon 41241 arrived, bunker first, from Oxenhope. Not wanting to risk mingling with others, we got into a non corridor compartment coach at the back of the train and enjoyed trundling down the valley to Keighley, where the steam railway shares a station with Network Rail.

Em was curious about Keighley and wanted a cup of tea, so, we exited the station. I don't think I'd ever left the station here either. Em's remark was "it's just like being in Salford". She quickly abandoned the idea of seeking tea and we returned to the platform where 41241 was getting ready to depart.

We got into a compartment again, this time close to the engine. The loco now had to work hard to raise its heavy train up the valley. The gradient was against it. I hung out of the window, enjoying the engine's crisp barks as it hauled us away from each station. Em dozed in the corner.

At Damems loop we passed the diesel working, a little railbus.

These lightweight vehicles were built in the 1950s to try to improve the economics of rural railways. Though much cheaper to run than steam trains they still mostly served stations that were fully staffed for just a handful of daily passengers. Rather than make further economies, the routes that they were used on were chopped off by the Beeching axe. The nearly new railbuses were disposed of.

With single line tablets exchanged, we carried on. Em got off at Haworth. The shiny shoed stationmaster was on the platform playing his part with enthusiasm.

 I stayed on the train for the last mile or so to Oxenhope.

My original plan had been to wait around Oxenhope for an hour or so and catch the following train back to Haworth. I changed my mind because I had noticed that there was a good footpath following the line and, as my dodgy ankle was not hurting, I thought I'd enjoy the walk.

After a look round the silent engines in the museum I set off. Soon I came to a little stone bridge over a rushing stream. I leaned on the parapet and stared down into the roaring water. All of a sudden there was a blur of electric blue as a supersonic kingfisher flew under the bridge.

Mostly the footpath followed the stream, but, at one point it climbed the steep valley side. The high path overlooked a field with a couple of horses in it. One of them suddenly let out a prolonged neigh before cantering up the hillside to pose stock still nearby.

The little railbus purred up the railway.

The horse moved nearer to the wall. I imagine it was hoping to be fed, but I had nothing and, besides, horse owners are usually not keen on strangers feeding their horses. Fatalities have occurred as a result of inappropriate feeding.

I entered Haworth through a new estate of rather predictable modern flats faced in imitation stone. the exit from this estate was through the arched entrance to a former mill, now offices, which brought me out close to the engine sheds, formerly Haworth goods yard. One of my favourite engines was in view. Smoke was drifting from it's chimney and I imagine it was being tested ready for service.

In gleaming black paint the engine was the former Lancashire & Yorkshire railway goods engine, dating from the 1890s.

Attempts to contact Em by 'phone had been fruitless, so I went and stood on the long bridge that spans both river and rail. Soon the railbus, a remarkably quiet vehicle, crept up on me. Outside the engine shed stood the famous "Royal Scot", waiting for a steam gala the following weekend.

Thinking that the steam train would soon be arriving I looked for a good spot to photograph it. I didn't find one but I made this little video.

Telephonic communication was resumed and I headed uphill to the Apothecary to join Em. She said it was time for afternoon tea, so we went down the main street looking for a cafe. The one that we found served us with expensive coffee and some brownies that were more remarkable for presentation than flavour.

That evening neither of us were hungry, so we ate butties left over from our journey. Em watched a zombie film on her laptop and I read a book. Exciting times!

On the way home we visited a friend who lives in a flat in an old stone farmhouse in the hills above Hebden Bridge. While I enjoyed the amazing view and hippie atmosphere the two women caught up on years of life's experiences, with occasional interjections from me.

A wonderful little break. Perhaps the accursed virus will disperse so that we can enjoy more little holidays safely.

"Queen" is, as far as we know, the oldest surviving wooden motor narrow boat. She dates from 1917 and seems to be mostly still original wood. Needless to say, she is pretty poorly.

We planned to take "Forget me Not" up the 7 locks to Stalybridge yesterday, but Storm Arwen put paid to that idea. This morning dawned clear and still and sunny. I met Aaron and Danny at Portland basin and we set off at about 10.15. The sky had already clouded over.

"Lilith" was my first wooden narrow boat. I bought her for £100 in 1974, then replaced all but one of her planks over the next 9 years. Some research be Dave McDougal at the Black Country Museum showed that she was gauged on 2nd December 1901.

After we set up the Wooden Canal Craft Trust (as it was then called) I donated her. Since 1996 she's worked on recycling trips, as well as doing useful jobs like carrying timber for "Hazel"s restoration. Now, after more than 40 years, she needs her stern end rebuilding again.

Sadly, she's unemployed at the moment, except for storing firewood and scrap iron. The recycling trips are suspended until the covid infection rate drops considerably.

Here's a photo of "Lilith" tied alongside Boatmans Walk.

Another day out in the car with Merv in 1962. We went to Bromsgrove to see the Lickey Bank. This is the steepest incline on any British mainline railway at 1 in 37. Originally trains were hauled up it by ropes attached to a stationary engine at the top. Later, banking engines were employed, including for many years a massive engine nicknamed "Big Bertha".

By the time of our visit some of the expresses had been taken over by the "Peak" class diesel locos, though many were still hauled by Jubilee class steam engines. The first picture shows Peak number D105 heading South out of Bromsgrove. On the left you can see a queue of tank engines at the coaling stage where they waited for their next turn at banking a train up the incline. By this time Big Bertha had been replaced by a modified 9F.

The gradient rises northward from Bromsgrove up about 2 miles into the Lickey hills at Blackwell. About halfway a minor road dives under the railway, but originally there was a level crossing here. The old crossing site was a handy point from which to view trains labouring up the bank. This was 9F number 92118 on a long goods train. In the distance you can see a plume of smoke from the banking engine.

In the opposite direction, drifting downhill on another goods, is 9F number 92151.

Nowadays the passenger trains in use are so powerful that they hardly notice the gradient, but bankers are still needed to assist the heavy freight trains. The line is now electrified from Birmingham to Bromsgrove for outer suburban trains that whirr up the incline with no trouble.

Nearby the Worcester & Birmingham Canal climbs into the Lickey hills by the Tardebigge flight of 36 locks. The longest lock flight in the country.

I

wasn't sure if I could get anything out of this awful photo. I think I took it with a fairly useless plastic camera that came with a bag of sweets but had the advantage of taking twice as many pictures on a roll of film. As film was expensive this would have been good, if the pictures were.

This is a 9F passing Charwelton station on the Great Central main line with a Northbound train of coal empties. In those days the economy ran on coal. Not only was it burned in power stations but it fueled a lot of industrial boilers as well as domestic hearths. As there was little coal available in Southern England a constant parade of trains transported it from pit to furnace

The Great Central was the last major railway route built in Britain (pre Eurostar and HS2). Completed in 1897 it linked Sheffield with London Marylebone, connecting with a pre-existing link over the Pennines to Manchester. Originally the plan was to link to the South Eastern & chatham Railway via the London underground and thence via a channel tunnel to France.

By the time I found the railway it had lost it's express trains but was still an important freight route. In particular, frequent coal trains ran from Annesley in Nottinghamshire to Woodford Halse in Northamptonshire. Here they were re-organised and despatched to various destinations in the South.

I think this must have been 1962. I was 9 and big brother Merv was 17 and had just passed his driving test. Sometimes he would borrow the car when Dad wasn't using it and we would go off chasing trains. I'm not sure whether on this occasion we still had the old Austin A30


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin_A30

or whether, by then, we had our new Morris 1100 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMC_ADO16   I think that may have come in 1963. As it was our first new car it indicated that Dad was going up in the world.

I remember that I was obsessed with the song Duke of Earl and probably drove Merv mad constantly singing Doo Doo Doo Dook of Earl Dook Dook Dook of Earl Dook Dook

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQnfooEED8Y


I was dismayed to be told by him that Charwelton station, just about visible silhouetted in the background, was slated for closure. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charwelton_railway_station . The ironstone quarry railway that left the goods yard, on the right of the photo, had recently closed. In general it was a dismal time for anyone obsessed with trains, but I had no idea of the destruction that was to come.

The 9Fs were the last of British Railways steam locomotives, built between 1954 and 1960. They were clearly the best of the British Railways standard classes and were the most powerful engines in Britain, being intended for heavy freight work. In spite of having the small wheels of a goods engine they had quite a turn of speed. On one occasion the engine for the crack Red Dragon express from South Wales to London failed and the only spare engine to take over was a 9F. Not only did this humble coal hauler make up the time lost in changing engines. It was recorded at a top speed of of 92mph and used less coal and water on the trip than the express engine would.

The standard engines were a set of steam designs built during the 1950s as a stopgap pending the intended electrification of the railways. The capital for universal electrification was never forthcoming from an increasingly road obsessed government. In 1956 a change of tack brought in a headlong rush to dieselisation. This resulted in the standard engines, especially the 9Fs, having ridiculously short working lives. Many of the early diesels made premature trips to the scrapyard too as over hasty procurement resulted in some troublesome or inappropriate designs being constructed.

Another of my favourite locations was Fosse Road. This is where the railway crossed the Roman Fosse Way, here just a country lane, on a high bridge. A cinder path led upwards to the trackside. This path carried on to the signalbox, but I kept away from that for fear of being chased off by the signalman. On the far side of the tracks, the down or northbound side, was a loop where slow goods trains could be held to allow expresses to overtake them.

This picture shows a Hall class engine, to be precise, 4984 Rodwell Hall, on an up, Southbound express. Someone will be able to tell from the headcode exactly what train this was and where it was going. I'm not geeky enough to know things like that. It wouldn't be a London express as these were hauled by King class locomotives. It's probably bound for the South coast, possibly Southampton. Such duties are nowadays performed by Cross Country Voyager units.

Halls were the main mixed traffic engines of the old Great Western Railway. Their lineage goes back to the start of the century and the Saint class of express engines. The Halls were a development of these with smaller wheels to make them suitable for pulling both goods and passenger trains. They were in production from 1924 to 1950, albeit the later ones being rather updated.

I thought I might start uploading photos from my collection. A lot of them are very bad but they remind me of things. In 1961 aged 8 I got a bike for my birthday and my sister gave me her old Brownie 127 camera. Unfortunately it wasn't entirely light proof which spoiled a lot of pictures. Anyway, I was able to cycle away from home (no restrictions in those days) make friends in other villages and take photographs of trains. This is, I think, my second ever photograph.

Harbury cutting is, I think I'm right in saying, the deepest railway cutting in the country. It's on the old Great Western London to Birmingham route a few miles south of Leamington Spa. The deepest part of the cutting is pretty inaccessible but, from Harbury village, a little lane runs downhill then crosses the cutting on a high 3 arch bridge, ending on the far side at a farm. It was here that I photographed the up afternoon Blue Pullman.

These trains were pretty new then and were almost the only diesels that we saw. They ran between Paddington and Birmingham Snow Hill, Paddington and South Wales and, the Midland Pullman, from St Pancras to Manchester Central. They were an attempt at retaining business custom in reply to the challenge of the M1 and domestic air travel.

The Birmingham and Manchester Pullmans were also intended to retain rail traffic between these cities using alternative routes whilst the main west coast main line was being disrupted by electrification work. With the switching on of the wires through to Euston in 1966 the Birmingham and Manchester services finished and the redundant units used for posh commuter runs to Oxford. They were scrapped in the mid 1970s when Inter City 125 units were introduced. Part of the route into Paddington that they used to take has been mothballed as trains on this route now terminate at Marylebone. Part of the route of the Manchester Pullman through the Peak District has long since been ripped up and Manchester Central is now the Gmex exhibition hall.

Although they were seen at the time as trains of the future they weren't really that brilliant. Like most of the first generation diesels they were underpowered. They had a 1000 horsepower engine at each end. The Inter City 125s have twice the power. The ride was also not great, especially on the sectional clickety clack track of the time.

"Southam" took a dip whilst tied at the Heritage Boatyard. That was Friday morning. Now, Sunday, she's up again thanks to Kim, Stephan and a few pumps. She's not taking on a huge amount of water but one of her pumps has stopped working. I think that's what caused the problem. I got there just a bit too late on Friday to prevent her going down.

Me and Tony are having to take turns on "Forget me Not" and "Hazel" because we both have commitments back in Ashton this week. I joined the boats at Anderton Marina where "Hazel" was having her reserve batteries charged up.

She's providing a holiday afloat for retired boatwoman Hannah Hinde with her son and carer Duggie Shaw. Hannah grew up on Claytons oil boats and later worked wooden headers like "Hazel", carrying coal to Runcorn gasworks.

After working down the lift we headed upstream. I enjoyed steering the butty for a change while Aaron Booth took the motor.

The plan was to spend the night at Winsford, but, unfortunately, Vale Royal locks were out of action, so we  had to return to Anderton . Tony will be in charge going downriver for the next couple of days, then its back up the lift and on to Runcorn on Friday.