Saturday, 31 May 2014

Comparing Canals in 1907

This is just one of a series of old newspaper articles looking at the inland waterways and the things that were effecting the inland waterways. The most active periods for evaluation and change was always just prior to the two world wars. Between the wars the ownership of the canals changed hands and the railway companies bought up the canals to get rid of competition. Its good to take a look back at what people were saying and doing in the past. Most surprising of all, is the problems that beset the canals are still prevalent today.  Reading old newspapers can throw up some interesting stories. Here is what we would call today a public interest story.

The Advertiser
8th August 1907
INLAND WATERWAYS.


The ancient method of transportation by inland waterways has apparently recovered from the severe blow inflicted upon it by the introduction of railways and is receiving new attention in most of the leading countries of the world. The modern development was the subject of an interesting discussion at a recent meeting of the Royal Geographical Society in London, when Mr. G. G. Chisholm read a paper in reference to the conditions which determine the advantages or disadvantages of this mode of carriage over others. It was shown in the course of the discussion that the improvements effected in many rivers for the purpose of rendering them navigable and the construction of important internal canals are among the most remarkable achievements of the age, and that the trade carried on by means of these waterways is of colossal dimensions. Germany takes a foremost place in the commercial utilisation of inland waters. The magnificent artery of the Rhine lends itself readily to this purpose, and in conjunction with the canals, and river connected with it forms the great outlet for the trade of South Germany. At a cost of £8,000,000 improvement, have lately been made in the channel of the Rhine which allow large sea going ships to ascend as high as Cologne and barges of 2,000 tons navigate the rivet and its branches. Vessels of 800 tons can reach Strasbourg. There are no locks from Strasbourg to the sea, and very few on the subsidiary waterways. This condition immensely enlarges the possibilities of water traffic. An average train of barges hauled by a steamer will carry' about 4,000 tons, and the speed up stream is about three miles and a half an hour. Down stream it is more than double this rate. The populous towns which line the banks of the river supply an enormous trade for the Rhine vessels.

It is sufficient to state that the traffic at the Dutch frontier was in 1905 up stream 12,533,000 tons, and down stream 8,119,000. As a matter of comparison it is interesting to note that the Manchester Ship Canal carried in the same year 4,250,000 tons. The canal system of North Germany provides for almost as great a volume of trade as that of the south. Berlin is connected with Hamburg and Stettin by canals, and the total quantity of goods delivered at the capital during 1905 amounted to 7,364,000 tons.

There are other European countries in which inland waterways are as conspicuous as national highways of traffic. England possesses an antiquated system, quite inferior to those of the Continent, yet the Board of Trade .returns show that the annual volume of canal trade amounts to something like 34,000,000 tons. With the improvements that are suggested this would be vastly increased. The French inland waterways constitute a splendid system. Vvnen the projected 'canal through the middle of France is completed large vessels will be able to go from the Mediterranean io the English Channel. The vast work of improving the. French canals in recent years has cost about £60,000,000. There are 3,000 miles of .canals, 2,000 miles of canalised rivers, and 2,000 miles of navigable rivers. The, inland waters of Norway and Sweden play an essential part in the national economy. The great timber industry is absolutely dependent upon them.

The fallen trees in quantities' amounting to thousands of tons are brought in winter from the forests by chutes on the snow to the rivers and canals, and are easily floated to their destination. Russia has a grand river system', that has added to its utility by extensive canal, works, so that internal' navigation is possible in almost every part of the Empire in Europe. The Volga and the Neva are connected by a canal which admit of the passage of vessels up to 1,000 tons. The Volga and the Don are at an estimated cost of £4,000,000, to be connected by a canal which will allow of vessels passing through the heart of Europe from the Baltic to the Black Sea. The works for the improvement of inland navigation now, in progress or projected in different-European countries are numerous, and public money is liberally spent upon them.

America, with its vast extent of territory and its great 'rivers and lakes, affords immense scope for internal navigation and its extension by means of canals. Much of the water-borne trade of the American continent is really coastal traffic, as it is carried on between the great lakes and the ocean. There are two waterways forming arteries of commerce from the interior to the seaboard, one Canadian and the other belonging to the United States. The Dominion system connects the great, lakes through the St. Lawrence with the sea. Large ocean vessels can now go up the great river as far as Montreal, while the entire waterway above that point has a minimum depth of 14 ft, which the Dominion Parliament has recommended shall be increased to 22 ft. for the whole route. The success attending this waterway has inspired the Canadians with the idea of a supplementary project known as the Ottawa and Georgian Bay scheme, the estimated cost of which is £25,000,000. By the proposed new waterway ocean going vessels would be able to reach the middle of the continent, obtaining their grain cargoes at Fort William in Canada and Duluth and Chicago in the United States. The American canal system corresponding to the, Canadian starts near Buffalo, on Lake Erie, and enters the Hudson River between Troy and Albany. It is 366 miles in length, and was begun about a century ago.


The state of New York is now spending £21,000,000 in improving it to carry barges of 1,000 tons. The magnificent natural inland waterway of the Mississippi has no parallel in Europe, and its improvement has been accomplished by the National Government. The United States authorities have on hand works of this kind estimated to cost £80,000,000. The most important is a great ship canal from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi, giving an uninterrupted waterway from Chicago to New Orleans. These projects are a great example and encouragement to a country like our, own, which possesses facilities for internal navigation that only need skill and energy for their development.

Friday, 30 May 2014

Spring Summer Cruise 2014 ❷❶


Bardney Lock VM to Lincoln VM.

Overnight the weather was overcast but dry. The promised heavy rain had failed to arrive. The wind had picked up and was quite blustery first thing.

Morning: Up early, for a shower and then under way by 7:30. after a couple of hours we all came to a stop at Washingborough visitor moorings for breakfast. Our small convoy of boats has been pushing against the water run off. We noted while moored that the flow was quite variable. sometimes pulling quite strong and then a bit later it would be almost at a stop. We set off again heading for Lincoln and to reconnoitre for moorings.

Afternoon: We arrived at Stamp End Lock and there was a strong current through the sluices. The colour light signals were flashing red - proceed no further. We manouvered the boats into the lock. We soon had the lock flooded as the colour light changed to red - proceed with caution. The guillotine gate raised about a foot and stopped. All the power indication on the panel had disappeared.  Time to phone CaRT after four calls and two hours sat in the lock an electrician arrived on scene. He managed to raise the guillotine to free us to continue our journey. He agreed to wait for the next two boats if he could not fix the problem to pass them through the lock manually. 


The sluice: During our extended if unintentional stay at the Stamp End Lock we were able to observed that the sluice was busy controlling the water and seems to pass through an hourly cycle. For about 20 mins - the colour light on the lock was on green and there was a small flow through the sluice. Then the colour light changed to red for about 20 mins. The amount of water passing the sluice was then quite significant. Then for the next 20 mins the colour light changed to flashing red - do not proceed. The amount of water was substantially increased and a huge vortex appeared in-front of the sluice gate. Empty plastic bottles were being drawn down into the vortex never to be seen again! A bit like a black hole.



Evening: We arrived in Lincoln and had to push hard against the flow of water through the bottle neck of the glory hole. (the sluice must have been on maximum flow) We pushed on through the centre and arrived at the university visitor moorings in time to fill a space vacated by a boat who was just leaving. An hour later the rest of the flotilla arrived and we enjoyed a shared evening meal.


Lincoln Boat Club: Lincoln has a well kept secret - its the Lincoln Boat Club. One eagle eyed member of our small flotilla had spotted the small building next door to the sea cadets. Entrance is via a small black door in the side wall. However, once inside it was a nice cosy clubhouse and pleasant bar area. We all signed in the visitors book and then settled down again for a pleasant convivial evening. A wide selection of the extended range of bottled beer and wine was duly checked, sampled and passed as fit for boaters consumption, the consumption then began in earnest. The Chairlady introduced herself and made us all feel very welcome. Towards the end of our stay the barman and Commodore also introduced himself. We discovered a bit of the history of the club. As we left we were invited to come again any-time. There is the rub - because the members prefer to be out boating - so the club is only open on Friday evenings from 8pm until 11pm.


Wildlife:

Birds: Common Tern, Arctic Tern, Sedge Warbler, Swallow, House Martin, Mallard, Coot, Waterhen, Great Crested Grebe, Grey Heron, Kestrel, Carrion Crow, Rook, Magpie, Starling, Blackbird, Thrush, Mute Swan, Lapwing, Skylark, House Sparrow and Robin the highlight being a Barn Owl.

Butterflies: included Meadow Brown and Orange Tip 
Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle.
 
Today's Total.
Miles: 9.2
Locks: 1
Swing / Lift Bridges: 0
Tunnels: 0
Pump Outs: 0
Engine Hours: 9.2
Solar Panels: 228 Ah
 
Accumulated Total.
Miles: 1800.9
Locks: 1129
Swing / Lift Bridges: 295
Tunnels: 26
Pump Outs: 19
Engine Hours: 2817.4
Solar Panels:
14563 Ah


Bosun the Sea Dog!



The Australian Women's Weekly
Wednesday 17 November 1965

BOSUN THE SEA DOG PREPARES TO SET SAIL AGAIN

by BERNICE CRAIG



BOSUN the coconut eater. In Barbados in 1958, Bosun developed a taste for coconuts, fed to him here by Murray Davis. They had crossed the Atlantic from the Canary ls. A SEA-DOG in the making. 


Bosun, a genuine old sea-dog, looks like making another long sea trip very soon. A shaggy black and white mutt in the Disney tradition, with trusting brown eyes and all the rakish charm of the genuine blue-water sailor, he originally "signed on" at the tender age of seven weeks. Bosun aboard the yacht Kanga as a puppy, in Paris (picture right). The Seine and the city are in the background.

Now his family is looking for a tall ship prior to going down to the seas again and, naturally, Bosun will be a valued crew member. In fact, when Melbourne journalist Murray Davis and his English wife, Barbara, get down to practical plans, Bosun figures as largely as their two children, Kate, 6, and Paul, nearly five. Despite nearly six years of enforced land-lubbing, it should not take Bosun long to get his sea legs again.

TELL TALE GAIT

His broad, splayed paws, which turn outward, and the tell-tale roll in his gait mark him as an old hand. The first year of his life was spent aboard a 39ft yacht, and it included an Atlantic crossing. On their first adventurous voyage, Bosun made three on what was actually a delay ed honeymoon. This time, the project is very much a family affair.

Their ultimate goal is Rhode Island, U.S.A., and for yachting correspondent Murray on-the-spot-coverage of the 1967 America's Cup. But this time they want something a little bigger, round about 50 feet in length, and more comfortable than Kanga, the converted 8-metre racing yacht, bought in Copenhagen, which took them down through the inland waterways of Europe to Spain, cruising in the Mediterranean, and across the Atlantic from the Canary Islands to Trinidad in the West Indies, in 1958.

During the next six months, if they can, they will buy a yacht in Australia and start across the Pacific. They will go through the Panama Canal to the West Indies, then up through the American inland waterways to New York. If they cannot find the yacht they want here, they will all go by ship to England, look for her there in Europe and then repeat their previous journey.

QUARANTINE PROBLEMS

For the second time in his life, Bosun could have quarantine problems. When Murray and Barbara sold Kanga in Trinidad and booked passage for Australia, they had to ship Bosun back to England so that he could fulfil his quarantine time there before boarding.
BEGINNING a long trip. Barbara Davis, Bosun, and Murray Davis are aboard Kanga as the yacht passes through a canal lock in France on her way to the Mediterranean, before crossing the Atlantic to islands in the West Indies. 


PAUL DAVIS, BOSUN, AND KATE DAVIS (above) may well be the junior crew on an ocean crossing to see the Americans Cup when journalist Murray Davis, the children's father, makes the trip to "cover" the race. "If we find our yacht in Australia, Bosun can come aboard at once. Otherwise, he will have to go into quarantine again in England," explained Barbara. When Bosun first went to sea, there were no such tiresome formalities. He joined Kanga when she was moored in the River Seine in Paris, where Murray was doing a course at the Sorbonne. "My sister brought him over from England in a basket when she and her husband came to visit us."

TUMBLED OVERBOARD

"He was a member of the last litter produced by a charming bundle of white fluff and of no definite pedigree and the favorite wife of our family dog, a border collie. We just had to have him," said Barbara. Bosun took to life aboard immediately. In all his time at sea he fell overboard only once, and that was in the Canal du Centre, in France. But given the opportunity, he liked nothing better than a couple of over-the-side swims a day.

A safety harness was rigged for him aboard Kanga, and, before the Atlantic crossing began, Barbara made him a special life-jacket with his name on it. She also gave him a party so that his many friends could see him try it out. "The jacket buoyed him up so that only his legs were in the water. He looked like a hydrofoil, but took off like a bomb and whizzed round and round the yacht," she said. Bosun, she said, was thc most sociable soul, and loved parties and the bare feet and beards of all the "slightly kookie people who live on boats."

One of his favorite tricks when the Davises were entertaining in Kanga's cabin was to lie along the deck above and stick his head through the small porthole. "He looked exactly like one of those mounted heads beloved by big-game hunters, and many an unsuspecting guest got an awful shock when he caught that roving eye," she said laughingly.

In bad weather, crossing the Atlantic, Bosun took no unnecessary risks. He used to lie in the bottom of the cockpit or climb on people's knees to shelter under their oilskins. During the trip, Bosun's rations were tinned meat and cereal, but in the West Indies he developed an un doglike passion for bananas and coconut milk. So much so that when he went into quarantine as something of a celebrity, he found a big supply of dog biscuits, which the makers sent as a gift, very tame fare.

Like Bosun, neither Murray nor Barbara Davis was an experienced sailor when they first decided to go sea- faring. Barbara, born in Liverpool, came of a family with shipping connections and had dene a little social sailing.

Murray, a Melburnian, served as a ship's radio officer until he decided to try journalism in England. One of his assignments was the coverage of a boat show in London, and this is when the ambition to sail his own yacht was born. Later, he and Barbara met when they were both with the RAF, attached to the 2nd Tactical Air Force in Germany. Barbara was a Flight-Lieutenant and Mur- ray had a NATO post as an information officer with the rank of Squadron-Lcader.

He says she taught him to sail. She says he taught himself in one lesson when she took him out in a small yacht on one of Germany's' inland lakes. Both insist the plan to go ocean sailing in a big way did not stem from a passionate love of the sea.

Barbara considers sailing a good method of getting from point A to point B, but said that after she boned up on a number of sailing books during the five months they were in Paris and read of the storms the Atlantic could turn on, she was quite ready to call the whole thing off. "But except for very bad weather right at the begin- ning of our crossing, when we were both seasick and things were grim, it was wonderful," she said. "I read a book a day and spent hours playing with Bosun." Murray considers sailing a wonderfully cheap way to get around. "You have your house right along with you," he said.

"MORE ACCEPTABLE"

"You have a degree of independence which people on land don't have. You're also more acceptable to the locals than an ordinary tourist who travels out of a suitcase." Murray said the chance to report on the America's Cup is not the only reason he wants to go to sea again. "The next few years will be the only ones in which we can do this sort of thing as a family. I want to have the kids with me. "Kate is six now, and when she turns 12 Barbara and I know we will have to settle down for her schooling's sake. "I don't particularly mind what I do for a living during the next three or four years. I shall try to make it by writing."

LITTLE PENINSULA

Despite their insistence that the sea itself holds no particular fascination for them, Murray and Barbara chose the Melbourne suburb of Williamstown to live in when they arrived in Australia. The sea is ever present at Williamstown, which is on a small peninsula. Its residents have an almost island-type pride in the fact that there's a blue water view from many bedroom windows and ships of every kind pass by or anchor almost in the backyard.

The Melbourne Harbor Trust has a floating plant and workshops there; the Navy has a dockyard; there are little bluestone fishing harbours; a motor boat club, two yacht clubs. The local pubs have names like The Steampacket. The football team is known as The Seagulls. Murray and Barbara bought a disused fire station, built in 1893 and one of the first of its kind in Victoria. In the teeth of violent criticism from many friends, who later piped very low, they converted it into a charming home. Putting this house on the market to finance their sailing project made them a little sad. (It is now sold.) However, both are convinced there will be plenty of time to put down permanent roots when they come ashore again. By then, even Bosun might be glad to take up life on land.

Thursday, 29 May 2014

Kindle Book

My latest read for the Kindle is 'On Foot Across France - Dunkerque To The Pyrenees'  
by Tim Salmon. ISBN: 978-1494231538 ASIN: BOOHR6NCMS

Throughout the 1980s and 90s, Tim Salmon was the author of The Rough Guide to France, the renowned travel bible of France for the independent, savvy traveller. For 15 years, as he travelled the length and breadth of the country, the idea for his own, personal journey gradually took shape. 

It would be nothing to do with cathedrals and history and railway timetables but a subjective, intimate look at the country he had been married to and grown to love and know so well. It would be a slow journey on foot, but he couldn't decide on a route, until, one day, he came across an article about the old Paris meridian line.  Renamed La Méridienne Verte for France's millennium celebrations, it runs from the North Sea at Dunkerque to the Spanish border. 

That’s it, he thought: there’s the route, a virtual line from nowhere in particular to nowhere in particular, passing, with the exception of Paris, through nowhere in particular. It would bring what it brought. He would see what he saw. This  book is the diary of that walk. An intimate and charming day by day account of what he saw, heard, thought: landscapes, flower girls, snippets of history, curious encounters and lots of birdsong.

Amazon Kindle UK £1.57

Wednesday, 28 May 2014

Manchester Ship Canal

This is just one of a series of around fifty old newspaper articles that I have been reading. I have been researching from old newspapers and magazines. Covering the last 200 years or so of life on the inland waterways. With particular interest in the major issues of the day that were effecting the canals. The most active periods for evaluation and change, has always been just prior, during and shortly after the two world wars. It should be remembered that between the wars the ownership of some of the canals changed hands as the railway companies bought up the waterways to get reduce competition. What is not clear is the effect this early form of asset stripping had on the viability of the inland waterways. Its good to take a look back at what people were saying and doing in the past. Most surprising of all are some of the problems that beset the canals back then - are still prevalent today. Reading old newspapers can throw up some rather interesting stories. Here is what we would call today a public interest story.

Caveat: Some of the articles are difficult to read and even using modern electronic  scanning and text conversion methods. The odd punctuation, word or character may have been transcribed in error. 


Nambour Chronicle and North Coast Advertiser
9th September 1949

Manchester Ship Canal
THE BARTON AQUEDUCT

Where in the world besides Manchester is there a great port 35 miles inland, in the heart of a densely populated industrial district? Within a radius of 50 miles of this big northern city there is now a population of more than 10 million and it was the need for an outlet for the produce of the area that led to the building of the Manchester Ship Canal, an inland waterway which links Manchester with the sea.


It is a romantic story of the vision of those Manchester men who, under the leadership of Daniel Adamson, head of a great Manchester engineering firm, met in 1882 and formed a committee to draw up plans for the building of a canal which would allow ocean liners to sail from Liverpool up to Manchester and so expand England's overseas trade. There was opposition before Parliament's approval was finally obtained, but when the Royal assent was given the money was soon subscribed and work began in 1887.


The canal was opened on January 1, 1894, and on that memorable New Year's Day, 71 vessels sailed up the Canal and into the new docks. It took 16,000 men seven years to build the Canal and 76,000,000 tons of earth were displaced in the process. The cost was £15,000,000, but improvements and additions are still being made to the well-equipped modern docks. Many a B.B.C. broadcast has come from this great waterway, from a feature programme dealing with the making of the Canal to eyewitness accounts of the arrival and departure of famous ships and interviews with the men who sail in them.


One of the most spectacular and individual aspects of the Manchester Ship Canal is the Barton Aqueduct, by which barges sail over the Canal. This aqueduct is the successor to the Bridgewater Canal built in the 18th century to take the Duke of Bridgewaters barges from Worsley to Runcorn. The first aqueduct spanned the Irwell, Manchester's river which was deepened to form part of the Canal. The new aqueduct is a swing bridge with a system of gates to shut off the water. It revolves on a central pier in midstream and swings aside to allow passage for big ships. The huge trough of water faces downstream while the liners pass through on their way to Manchester; it then swings back and the barges continue on their way across.


Along the Canal banks are grain elevators, oil storage tanks and every kind of warehouse, many of them built on the Trafford Park site. Fifty years ago this was unspoilt meadow and woodland, where deer and rabbits fed; now more than 200 firms have their business premises there. Liners of 15,000 tons dead weight and ships of all types come up this romantic Canal bringing food, cotton and other raw materials from every corner of the globe and taking back machinery, finished cotton and woollen goods and the many products from the hinterland of Manchester. Manchester is the centre of Northern England's trade, connected by rail and road with every important industrial area in Britain, and the Ship Canal is the centre of Manchester.


This industrialised landscape alongside the Manchester ship canal has changed greatly since the article was written in 1949. In the intervening years many exporting manufacturing businesses have now gone or moved production to the far east. The import of cotton and cotton goods has been overtaken by man made synthetic products. The canal still has traffic but now greatly reduced in volume.

Ship AIS can give a feel for the amount of traffic using the canal. Compare the Mersea Docks with Trafford Park to see what vessels are on the move or moored in the docks.

Tuesday, 27 May 2014

Canal Cuttings (19)

This is just one of a series of around fifty old newspaper articles that I have been reading. I have been researching from old newspapers and magazines in the last 200 years or so of the inland waterways. With particular interest in the issues of the day that were effecting the canals. The most active periods for evaluation and change, has always been just prior, during and shortly after the two world wars. It should be remembered that between the wars the ownership of some of the canals changed hands as the railway companies bought up the waterways to get reduce competition. What is not clear is the effect this early form of asset stripping had on the viability of the inland waterways. Its good to take a look back at what people were saying and doing in the past. Most surprising of all are some of the problems that beset the canals back then - are still prevalent today. Reading old newspapers can throw up some rather interesting stories. Here is what we would call today a public interest story.

Caveat: Some of the articles are difficult to read and even using modern electronic  scanning and text conversion methods. The odd punctuation, word or character may have been transcribed in error. 



The Windsor and Eton Express

21st July 1827


The two following inquests were held at Aylesbury yesterday, before Mr Burnham, one of the coroners for this county. The first was on view of the body of Wm. Roadnight, a lad aged 10 years, son of one of the turnkeys of the gaol, who was drowned in the canal the preceding day.

James Parsons, a lad about 11 years old, said I went to Mr Fountain's field (by the side of the canal) on Thursday, for the purpose of gathering cow clods. Three other young lads, named Joseph , George, and Isaac Roadnight went with me, and William Roadnight (the deceased) joined us in the field. We filled two baskets with clods, which we place on a barrow and began to wheel them home on the towing-path by the side of the canal. Rain coming on we stopped under the second bridge, and the deceased seated himself on one handle of the barrow and I on the other with my face from the water. The barrow tilted, and I and the deceased fell into the water. I got out of the water by swiming. I saw William Roadnight rise in the water once, and have not seen him since. 
[A Juryman who had viewed the body, observed, that from the bruises on it it was probable the deceased was struck by the handle of the barrow in its overturning, and thereby rendered incapable of struggling.] 
Thomas Collins, a mason, examined - I was at work on Mr.Payne's building, on Thursday, on the New Road, and saw James Parsons coming along very wet, Mr.Winfield asked him what was the matter with him. He said, he had fallen into the water, and another boy was then in the water under the second arch. Mr.Winfield, I, and some of the men at the building then set off and ran to the canal. When I got to the canal I saw two hats and a wheelbarrow swimming on the water between the two gates. I undressed myself and got into the lock and went down two or three times to the bottom. I saw Mr.Winfield take out the deceased. He bled very much, but I think he was dead when taken out of the water. Mr.Franklin, who was passing, desired Wm. Welch to take his horse and ride for a doctor. The Coroner asked the Jury if they required further evidence; they replied in the negative, and returned a verdict of Accidental death.

The second inquest was held on the body of James Pullen, a young man about 22 years of age, a labourer in the employ of Mr.Richard Terry, of Aylesbury, who died on Thursday in consequence of injury sustained by a cart passing over his chest on Tuesday last. - Wm.Davies, a labourer of Fleet Marston, deposed as follows :- As I was setting out to go to Aylesbury on Tuesday, the deceased passed my door with a horse and cart and I asked him to let me ride. He said, "No, my friend, I can't, for I have no room." I was coming along the road to Aylesbury and saw the horse and cart coming back, and Pullen was hanging to the horse's head by a hempen halter; the winking halter was hanging down, the rein being across the horses neck.

The horse at length threw Pullen and the near wheel of the cart passed over his body. I went up to him, and Dr Terry came up in the God speed in his gig, and got down and examined him. Pullen but his hand in his bosom, and looking at Mr Terry's face, said, "For God's sake give me ease if you can." Mr.Terry said, "My friend, I can nothing for you here." Mr.Terry desired me and others who were standing by to take the deceased home, and I assisted him to Aylesbury. Pullen told me he must die when I was assisting to remove him. Davies was the only witness examined by the Jury, expressing themselves perfectly satisfied with his testimony and after some deliberation, they returned a verdict of Accidental death, with a deodand of £5 on the horse and cart, in consequence, as it was intimated by the foreman, of their considering the horse a vicious animal, it having ran away on the day previous to the accident which was fatal to the deceased.

Monday, 26 May 2014

Newcastle Morning Herald

This is just one of a series of old newspaper articles looking at the inland waterways and the things that were effecting the inland waterways. The most active periods for evaluation and change was always just prior to the two world wars. Between the wars the ownership of the canals changed hands and the railway companies bought up the canals to get rid of competition. Its good to take a look back at what people were saying and doing in the past. Most surprising of all, is the problems that beset the canals are still prevalent today.  Reading old newspapers can throw up some interesting stories. Here is what we would call today a public interest story.

Newcastle Morning Herald
12th May 1916
CANAL NAVIGATION.

In Great Britain, says "Engineering" navigable inland waterways are 4,075 miles in length, only 1,482 of which are natural rivers; In France 4,392 miles are natural out of 7,038; in Germany, 5,815 miles are natural out of 7,038; in Austria 2,427 miles are natural out of 2,772; and in Russia 23,211 miles are natural out of 23,614. Our lack of level country and shortage of big natural rivers, the necessity for nearly the whole of our inland waterways to be artificial, and the abnormal number of locks needed, involving constant pumping of water up to the top levels, are conditions that combine to make economical canalisation a physical impossibility in this country. 

Our only really efficient barge canal system is that of the Aire and Calder navigatlon, and it owes its success mainly to the existence of tide water from Hull to Goole, and to an unusually level bit of country between Goole and Castleford. It is quite true that the canal connecting the Marne with the Rhine has 177 locks in 193 miles, and the southern section of the Canal de l'Est has 99 locks in 91 miles; but those are exceptions on the Continent, whereas such conditions are general in this country.

For Instance, there are only three locks between Berlin and Hamburg, a distance of 230 miles. Between London and Liverpool we have more than 200 locks for less. than 300 miles of canal. We do not deny that some of our canals are capable of improvement, but we do insist that the physical features of our country are such that the cheap and speedy canal transit obtained on the Continent is not possible with us. and that it is to an improvement and general development of the railways that we must look for a solution of our cost-of-transit problem.

Sunday, 25 May 2014

National Archive Podcasts (21)


I love history at a local, national and world levels. The National Archives contain some interesting records of British Imperialism around the world. There are also important records relating to life in the united kingdom. These records can also be used by anyone who is interested in genealogy. The documents come in all forms. I like to listen to the research outcomes in the form of lectures as the archives come under greater and greater scrutiny. The files are captured in MP3 format. There is obviously a bias towards history and family history in my choices.

Presented by Philippa Glanville, Senior Research Fellow at the V&A Museum. The event is titled, Drink: the History of Alcohol 1690-1920. Click Here to listen.
Well-known military historian Professor Richard Holmes examines Indian soldiering in peace and war.  He addresses the experience of ordinary soldiers, why they joined up, how they got to India and what they made of it when they arrived. Click Here to listen.
Maxine Berg, Professor of History at the Eighteenth Century Centre, University of Warwick, explores the inventions and the making and buying of goods in 18th century Britain. Click Here to listen.
Dr. Tracey Sowerby of Pembroke College, Oxford, introduces listeners to the records of Tudor government held at The National Archives. She examines records of Parliament, delves into the murky treason trials of Henry VIII's regime and even demonstrates how the files can take us inside Henry's art collection and his library. Click Here to listen.

Saturday, 24 May 2014

Canal Cuttings (18)

This is just one of a series of around fifty old newspaper articles that I have been reading. I have been researching from old newspapers and magazines the last 200 years or so of the inland waterways. With particular interest in the issues of the day that were effecting the canals. The most active periods for evaluation and change, has always been just prior, during and shortly after the two world wars. It should be remembered that between the wars the ownership of some of the canals changed hands as the railway companies bought up the waterways to get reduce competition. What is not clear is the effect this early form of asset stripping had on the viability of the inland waterways. Its good to take a look back at what people were saying and doing in the past. Most surprising of all are some of the problems that beset the canals back then - are still prevalent today. Reading old newspapers can throw up some rather interesting stories. Here is what we would call today a public interest story.

Caveat: Some of the articles are difficult to read and even using modern electronic  scanning and text conversion methods. The odd punctuation, word or character may have been transcribed in error. 


Leeds Intelligencer
1st March 1800

GRAND JUNCTION CANAL.

WANTED immediately, from 250 to 300 PAIR of HANDS, on the Contract of Mess. Roland and Salt, at Stony Stratford, in Buckinghamshire. Good Wages will be given, and constant Employment for the Space of Two Years or upwards.

Apply to Roland and Salt, Stony Stratford, Bucks.


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Leeds Intelligencer: 27th September 1803

SOUTHAMPTON AND SALISBURY CANAL.

WHEREAS it appears to us whose Names are hereunto set and subscribed, being nine of the Proprietors, possessing amongst ourselves forty Shares, that a special Meeting of Proprietors is necessary to be held: NOTICE is hereby given, that a special Meeting of Proprietors will be held at the Audit-House in Southampton, (by leave or the Mayor), on Thursday the 13th day of October next, at twelve o'clock at noon, for and by reason of a written Notice to the Company of Proprietors of the Southampton and Salisbury Canal, having been served on the Clerk of the said Company, purporting to be a Notice from "Charles Morris, of the town and county of Southampton, Esq. being the former Owner and Proprietor of certain Lands, part of the Town Ditches, lying without the walls of the town of Southampton, and on the West side of the Canal, called the Southampton and Salisbury Canal, and extending from the said Town Wall to the slope of the said Canal, and of the whole length of the said Ditches from land of Peter Watts, Builder, on the North, to God's House Tower on the South." The intention of which Meeting is to take the said Notice into consideration, and to enter into such Resolutions thereon as the said Meeting of Proprietors shall deem proper and expedient. Given under our hands this 27th day of September, 1803. 


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18th October 2003

COAL BOATS FOR SALE.



TO be SOLD by AUCTION, on Tuesday the 18th day of October instant, precisely at three o'clock in the afternoon, at the White Hart Inn, in Calne, (in Lots), Three capital COAL BOATS, built about two years since of good seasoned oak plank, will each carry upwards of 25 tons burthen, and may be seen at Calne Wharf, the day preceding and morning of the sale.


Also the MATERIALS of a COAL YARD, standing at Dantsey Park, adjoining the Wilts and Berks Canal, and near the turnpike road leading from Wootton Bassett to Chippenham.

N.B.- The above sale will be well worth the attention of persons wishing to become Traders or Carriers on the Kennett and Avon, and Wilts and Berks Canals.

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 30th September 1803
CALUMNY.

WHEREAS I GILES FORD, of Mere, in the county of Wilts, have wantonly propagated a most scandalous report, hurtful and injurious to the character of Mr. THOMAS BREWER, of the Swan Inn, in Mere aforesaid, and very detrimental to the custom and credit of his house, for which an action has been threatened to be commenced against me for the same; but in consideration of my making this public apology, expressing myself truly sensible of my misconduct, announcing that the report was without any foundation, and agreeing to ask Mr. Brewer's pardon in this public manner, which I hereby do, and return him thanks for not carrying his intention of prosecuting me into execution, he has consented to relinquish all thoughts of the same, on my paying the expense of this advertisement, fully complying with some other proposals this day made by Mr. Brewer, and promising never to be guilty of the like again.- Witness my hand this 30th day of Sept. 1803.

The Mark X of GILES FORD.
Signed in the presence of me, EDWARD NORRIS.



Friday, 23 May 2014

Conservation Thought for Today (2)

Biodiversity found on Earth today consists of many millions of distinct biological species, the product of four billion years of evolution. However, world extinction rates are going to be the next major issue for life on our planet. While we stand around wring our hands about global warming and other such issues. There is a ticking biological and ecological time bomb that is of our own making. The actual degree of biodiversity in terms of numbers and species on Earth is unknown. However, the level of decline into extinction of species is estimated to be between 1,000 and 10,000 times higher than the natural extinction rate. The natural or background extinction rate simply means the rate of species extinctions that would occur if we humans were not around.
 

"Scientists were startled in 1980 by the discovery of a tremendous diversity of insects in tropical forests. In one study of just 19 trees in Panama, 80% of the 1,200 beetle species discovered were previously unknown to science. Surprisingly, scientists have a better understanding of how many stars there are in the galaxy than how many species there are on Earth." World Resources Institute

You might think at first glance from reading the above that the number of new discoveries would significantly reduce the estimated number of extinctions. After all between 1.4 and 1.8 million species have already been scientifically identified. However unlike the mass extinction events we can see in earth's geological history. The current extinction challenge is one for which a single species (me and you) appears to be almost totally responsible. 

For instance that if the low estimate of the number of species is true. (that there are around 2 million different species on our planet) That gives a frightening prospect of between 200 and 2,000 extinctions occur every year. However, if the upper estimate of species numbers is true. (that there are 100 million different species on our planet) That then gives a much more terrifying prospect of between 10,000 and 100,000 species are becoming extinct each year.

We are all aware of what happened to the Dodo, a flightless bird that lived on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. The Dodo was about one metre tall and weighed in at around eighteen kilos. The first recorded mention of the Dodo was by Dutch sailors in 1598. In the following years, the bird was hunted by passing ships for food. The last widely accepted sighting of a Dodo was in 1662. The extinction of the Dodo came about within sixty five years of its discovery. This in turn focused attention to the previously unrecognised problem of human involvement in the disappearance of entire species. Science is starting to refer to human led extinction as the 6th extinction crisis, after the five well documented extinction events in geological history.

Since life began on Earth, several major mass extinctions have significantly exceeded the background extinction rate. The most recent, the Cretaceous Paleogene extinction event, which occurred approximately 66 million years ago. This was a large scale mass extinction of animal and plant species in a geologically short period of time. In the past 540 million years there have been five major events when over 50% of animal species died.

Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. About 17% of all families, 50% of all genera and 75% of all species became extinct.
Triassic–Jurassic extinction event. About 23% of all families, 48% of all genera and 70% to 75% of all species went extinct.

Permian–Triassic extinction event. Earth's largest extinction killed 57% of all families, 83% of all genera and 90% to 96% of all species.


Late Devonian extinction. About 19% of all families, 50% of all genera and 70% of all species.


Ordovician–Silurian extinction events. Two events occurred that killed off 27% of all families, 57% of all genera and 60% to 70% of all species.
We harvest an estimated 50,000-70,000 plant species for traditional and modern medicine worldwide. Yet we are allowing agri businesses to mess around with the genetic make up of many plants that provide our staple foods.  Huge areas of rain forest are being subjected to slash and burn to provide vast areas of monoculture for producing palm oil. 

In 2009, humanity used 40% more resources than nature can regenerate in a year. Using resources faster than they can regenerate and creating waste such as CO2 faster than it can be absorbed - is called ecological overshoot. We currently maintain this overshoot by liquidating the planet’s natural resources. We can cut trees faster than they re-grow, and catch fish at a rate faster than they repopulate. While this can be done for a short while, overshoot ultimately leads to the depletion of resources on which our our lives depend.

Thursday, 22 May 2014

Spring Summer Cruise 2014 ⓴

Dogsdyke to Bardney VM

Overnight the weather was dire with a very heavy continuous rainfall. Later in the night brought a welcome break in the ferocity of the rain.


Morning: It was a day for moving, leaving the main river and putting a lock between us and the likelihood of any river flood water.  Breakfast was taken early followed by a short walk, conducted away from the quagmire towpath for the dogs. We left the pram cover up as more rain was expected and the wind had a cold edge to it.

Afternoon: Arrived after lunch at Bardney Lock visitor moorings. Moored up, connected to electrical power and then took the dogs out. After returning to t
he boat the imminent rain arrived and steadily increased again throughout the afternoon. The surface ripples being flattened by the heavy rainfall.
 
Evening: Watched Harry Potter part II on ITV. Followed by question time as a starter for the later election results. Lit the boat stove for the first time in over a week.

Wildlife:

Birds: Common Tern, Arctic Tern, Sedge Warbler, Swallow, House Martin, Grey Heron, Green Shank, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Coot, Waterhen, Kingfisher, Great Crested Grebe, Kestrel, Carrion Crow, Rook, Magpie, Starling, Blackbird, Mute Swan, House Sparrow and Robin.

Bats: Pipistrelle,  Daubentons,

 
Today's Total.
Miles: 13.0
Locks: 0
Swing / Lift Bridges: 0
Tunnels: 0
Pump Outs: 0
Engine Hours: 4.6
Solar Panels: 20 Ah
 
Accumulated Total.
Miles: 1804.7
Locks: 1128
Swing / Lift Bridges: 295
Tunnels: 26
Pump Outs: 19
Engine Hours: 2812.8
Solar Panels: 14355 Ah

Speech From A Barge

This is just one of a series of old newspaper articles looking at the inland waterways and the things that were effecting the inland waterways. The most active periods for evaluation and change was always just prior to the two world wars. Between the wars the ownership of the canals changed hands and the railway companies bought up the canals to get rid of competition. Its good to take a look back at what people were saying and doing in the past. Most surprising of all, is the problems that beset the canals are still prevalent today.  Reading old newspapers can throw up some interesting stories. Here is what we would call today a public interest story.

Daily Telegraph
2nd January 1935 

DUKE OF KENT AND 'WATER GYPSIES'
Speech From A Barge

Picturesque people of the canals gave the Duke of Kent a rousing welcome when he opened the new, wide locks which completed the £1,000,000 scheme for bringing the Grand Union Canal up to date. By cutting a tape with a pair of golden scissors, the Duke gave access to a flight of 51 locks on the Warwick section of the canal. These wide locks make it possible to convey goods along the entire length of the canal in large motor-vessels without the necessity of transferring cargoes to narrow, barges, at the old bottle neck at Hatton. The Grand Union Canal is now a 280-mile artery of commerce Joining London to Birmingham and Nottingham with a silent highway for efficient modern transport. The improvement scheme, begun in May, 1931, has involved widening the canal for a considerable length, walling and piling the banks for many miles, and extensive dredging to carry craft with a draught of 4ft, 6ins throughout the whole system. Travelling in Progress, one of the new motor barges, the Duke opened No. 1 lock at Hatton, 20 miles south of Birmingham. After the barge had gone through four locks, cheered by crowds of excited bargees and their families on the towing path, the Duke received two canal boatmen, three gangers, and several members of the company. 

THE 'FLYING BARGEE' 

Later he visited a family of 'Water Gypsies' In an old barge which has been converted into a motor-vessel. The head of the family, 'Ike' Merchant, who is known along the canals as the 'flying Bargee,' and who is intimate with every yard of England's inland waterways, told the Duke that although he was not pleased at first with the new developments he had soon adapted himself to the new conditions. 'Ike' comes from a long line of bargees, and the family which the Duke met — 'Ike's' wife, his son, and two daughters — are typical of the romantic people of the canal. The Duke remarked on the barge's sparkling interior, its polished fittings and snug compactness. The Duke, speaking from the prow of the gaily-painted barge, referred to the opening of the locks as 'a new milestone in the canal history of this country.' Our inland waterways, he said, had been greatly neglected until recently, but during the last few years it had been realised that waterways could be used to carry large quantities of goods without inconvenience and noise, and that they had several natural advantages. 'Many industrialists now regard canal communication as a necessity when planning new works and factories,' he said, 'and I am told that In 1932 the amount of traffic conveyed by independent canal and water way companies in Great Britain was as much as 13,500,000 tons. He added that he was glad to hear that the canal boatmen, who were the backbone of the industry, were to remain, and were readily adapting themselves to mechanical traction.

Albury Banner
15th April 1938

SHIP'S PROPELLERS ARE IN FRONT.

With two propellers under the bows, an experimental river and canal vessel has just completed successful trials at Mannheim, Germany. This new type of craft is expected to revolutionise traffic on inland waterways. In the past, the wash from propellers of ordinary craft has done colossal damage to river banks. The new vessel goes twice as fast as those with propellers astern, yet leaves no trace of a wave behind it.