Location

For the past few days "Hazel" has been in use as a film location. We moved her up to Dukinfield lift bridge on Thursday. That wasn't so nice. I was still feeling rough from my hospital treatment and the weather was torrential sleet. Aaron did all the strenuous work. "Hazel" had spent a few hours at Dixon & Smith having her batteries charged so his first job was to wind in the Marina entrance.

We often joke that Aaron has a nuclear reactor inside him as he is so hardy, but, after that manoeuver he had to come in and warm his hands by the stove.

With the feeling returned to his hands I gave Aaron some gloves and he bowhauled while I steered. Aaron somehow lacked his usual enthusiasm. I tried to film but without much success.


The film director wanted "Hazel" tied on the outside by the bridge. I've seen boats tied there before but clearly they were shallower drafted. We had to use a plank. Aaron has stayed aboard as watchman. The first night somebody burned out a car on the adjacent car park.

The weather Has been horrendous. All the filming was inside, though I believe the actors and crew had an awful time filming outdoor scenes in Manchester. In a brief episode of sunshine I photographed the scene.

Inside the crew were busy, struggling a little with the confined space. At least they were using a real boat interior. Often film studios make ridiculously huge mock ups in the studio for boat interiors. Ones that spring to mind are Cliff Richards "Take me High"
or the 1967 swinging London film "Smashing Time"

 
Today, Sunday 9th January 2022, is the last day of filming. They've promised that tomorrow they'll clean up the considerable mess they've made. Apparently the script involves a lot of smashing plates and glasses (made of sugar glass) and last night the bits were all over the floor.

Raising the "Queen"

"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.


It was about 3 weeks ago that she suddenly decided to play submarines. She went down so fast, with all her pumps still running, that I had unpleasant visions of one of her rather weak bottom boards having split open.

Today we raised her. Imagining the worst we hired in a couple of extra pumps and I was resigned to the possibility that we may get her up, examine the damage, then let her sink again whilst working out a strategy for repair.

Nessie and me set up the pumps then, as he started them, I went over to Stalybridge to fetch Cheryl who was coming to take photos. I was amazed when we returned to find that the boat was already floating.

Job done, you might think. Not so!  A leak in her swim (where the planks curve inwards to guide water to the propeller) seemed to be what sank her, though it was no-where near what I had imagined. That one was easily fixed with rags and expanding foam. There was still water flowing from all over the place though. Nessie had to restart one of the petrol powered pumps (getting thoroughly soaked as he was in the wrong place as it started to pump)  as the battery powered ones that we had set up were fighting a losing battle. All afternoon I was moving stuff about so that I could trace trickles of water back to their source. I quickly ran out of expanding foam and had to go and get more.

Surprisingly, the technique is to drill into the wood near to the leak until you hit a cavity. The foam is then injected into the hole and it often starts coming out in surprising places. Sometimes a mixture of water and foam comes jetting out of an unexpected place. Bits of rag or torn up carrier bags can be shoved into such eruptions with a screwdriver. If the flow can be stopped temporarily it allows the foam to expand and solidify. There were a lot of small bottom leaks. For these I drilled right through the bottom and fired foam into the water underneath. The buoyant foam spreads out and finds its way into leaks from under the boat.

While I was doing this Cheryl was busy cleaning and tidying inside "Hazel"

At last, soon after darkness fell, I had the leaks under control and was able to set up pumps on float switches, turning on and off intermittently as required. Lets hope she's still floating in the morning.



All photos by Cheryl Dinsdale.

A Winter's Trip

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.

Someone had unhelpfully tied their boat abreast of the CRT boat, leaving only just enough deep water to get past.

After the Asda tunnel comes the Sea Cadet moorings, shortly before lock 1 of the Huddersfield (very) Narrow Canal.

Things went smoothly though the weather was getting grimmer and grimmer. The hills in the distance were already covered in snow.

Unusually the long pound between locks 3 and 4 was brimful and running over the weir. At Clarence St moorings I noticed that the battered fibreglass cruiser that had been sunk there for a year had gone. We found it on the towpath side further along, still looking disreputable but now afloat.

I had a brief conversation with its new owner as I walked ahead to set lock 4. He said he was coming down tomorrow to tidy up, and seemed to be under no illusions about the task that he had taken on.
As "Forget me Not" entered number 4 the snow began, light at first but getting steadily stronger. As we worked through 5 the sky darkened further and the surroundings started to take on a Christmas card look.



The previous day's storm had filled the canal with leaves and the boat struggled to make progress as its propeller tried to grip in the cold leafy stew. The engine strained at the extra work and threw out thick black smoke.


The final lock, number 7, is by the main Mottram Road. Above it the boat winded, then reversed the last 100 yards or so to the boatyard. Danny steered with the shaft.



The Plaque

Arnold and Beth Allen have been great supporters of the "Hazel" project for many years. Beth made a huge difference to the chances of getting "Hazel" restored when she was president of the Tangent Club for a year. If I remember rightly she raised £5,800, which was enough to move the project from forlorn hope to something that might actually happen.


At the time of their ruby wedding anniversary in 2012 their daughters gave them the two kitchen windows for "Hazel", which was under restoration at the time. Eventually I made a plaque acknowledging the gift, but it was a bit flimsy. Recently I went to see Alf the keycutter on Ashton market and ordered a proper plaque made from slate, so here it is.

Thanks Beth and Arnold.

Piracy on the Ashton Canal

Today, we ran one of our thank you trips for NHS workers and family. We also took Heidi the Canal Pirate who filmed the trip for her regular Vlog. This comes out on You Tube at 6pm every Thursday. https://business.facebook.com/ThePirateboatUK/?__xts__[0]=68.ARAuCwy...&fref=nf She says it will be about 3 weeks until this episode appears, but it's well worth watching her channel anyway. The crew were Aaron (what would I do without him) and Julie and our guests said they really enjoyed it.

Here's the swans. They produced 2 cygnets this year, still bearing a few brown feathers. They'll be off to establish their own territories in the spring.

Here's Aaron steering "Forget me Not" towards the incredibly low Lumb Lane Bridge.


The pair passing under the low bridge


Julie and Heidi on the butty.


The guests looking happy in "Hazel"s fore end (NB, I got the kids to put lifejackets on but they were allowed to take them off after I'd gone).


Here's a video of the boats passing the Ashton Packet Boat Co

"Queen" Takes the Plunge

"Queen" is the oldest surviving wooden motor narrow boat (as far as we know) built in 1917 for Hildick & Hildick of Walsall she was originally "Walsall Queen" and apparently worked between Walsall and Brentford carrying coal with her butty "Queen of the Ocean". She's become known as the boat with nine lives as she's been sunk and abandoned 3 times so far. She finished her carrying career in 1947 with Harvey Taylor of Aylesbury and was left to sink. She was rescued in 1949 and became a pleasure boat until sunk again in 1987. Rescued again, she was patched up but sank at Denham on the Grand Union and was due to be smashed up by BW until rescued by the WCBS in 1994.

Yesterday morning Nessie checked her pumps and everything was OK, but, a couple of hours later we realised she was quickly going down. The pumps were still running, so she must have sprung a really big leak. Another task to keep us busy, raising Queen and fixing the leak.

We're going to have to start fundraising for her restoration before too long. Any offers of help?

"Lilith" will soon be 120.

"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.

Cheryl's Pictures

We ran a 'Thank You' trip yesterday for some NHS workers. A new volunteer, Cheryl, came along and steered "Hazel" under Aaron's tutelage. She said she was a photographer. Well, I thought, everyone's a photographer nowadays. Then she sent me the excellent photos she took from "Hazel"s hatches.

I was on the motor boat which Mick Owen was steering.








Another Thank You Trip

A few pictures of a thank you trip returning through Dukinfield on 3rd November. "Forget me Not" steered by the wonderful Aaron Booth, "Hazel" steered by new volunteer Patricia under the tutelage of Geraldine Buckley.


Fixing the Trailer

When we were buying trailers to tow with the land rover, prices had gone stratospheric. I managed to locate a suitably sized box trailer at a reasonable price all the way down in Kent. It does the job but the chassis turned out to be both flimsily built and badly corroded. For the last few days Nessie has been busy reconstructing it. He's planning to finish it tomorrow morning ready for shop deliveries to commence at 10AM.