Shortest canal in UK
Les Symonds Buggalugs II
under restoration, or even derelict to the point of being
indistinguishable from its natural surroundings? There's a good reason
for asking this, but I'll not reveal it yet!
Allan Jones
"Les Symonds Buggalugs II" <lessy...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1131575943....@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
I'd vote for the Wardle canal
Allan Jones - N/B Keeping Up
Les Symonds Buggalugs II
the length of the canal, and we'll also have to be fairly precise about
what we mean by canal. Let's say that the question inlcudes any and
all, man-made navigable waterways, built for the purpose of carrying
cargo on commercial vessels (unless any one else has a better
description than that!).
I don't know the Wardle...amy idea how long it is?
Homer2911
There's about 5 metres left of the Ketley canal near Telford - that
count?
Kevin Maslin
Les Symonds Buggalugs II <lessy...@aol.com> said:
> I don't know the Wardle...amy idea how long it is?
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wardle_canal for brief info.
--
Regards,
KEVIN MASLIN
Waterway Photography
Great Bridge, West Midlands, England.
ma...@kevinmaslin.co.uk
http://www.panelbloke.com
*Make me singular to reply*
Jonathan Morton
Approximately 72 feet :-)
The Wardle Lock Branch of the Trent and Mersey is consists only of the lock
itself. At the top of the lock it makes an end-on junction with the
Middlewich Branch of the Shropshire Union.
This jealous preserving of water supplies by building out to meet other
branches was something of a speciality of the T & M. They did the same thing
to the Macclesfield, by building the Hall Green Branch from Hardings Wood
Junction, over Pool Aqueduct and to Hall Green stoplock(s), where the Macc
had an end on junction. Did I dream it, or were there two stoplocks there,
one in each direction?
Regards
Jonathan
Mike Stevens
My bet is the Wardle Canal - about 180 feet long.
--
Mike Stevens
narrowboat Felis Catus II - Felis Catus III real soon now!
Web site www.mike-stevens.co.uk
No man is an island. So is Man.
Mike Stevens
> The Wardle Lock Branch of the Trent and Mersey is consists only of
> the lock itself. At the top of the lock it makes an end-on junction
> with the Middlewich Branch of the Shropshire Union.
Not quite. The stretch between the bottom of the lock and the junstion
bridge is also part of the Wardle Canal, giving the length I guessed in my
previous p[osting.
>
> This jealous preserving of water supplies by building out to meet
> other branches was something of a speciality of the T & M. They did
> the same thing to the Macclesfield, by building the Hall Green Branch
> from Hardings Wood Junction, over Pool Aqueduct and to Hall Green
> stoplock(s), where the Macc had an end on junction. Did I dream it,
> or were there two stoplocks there, one in each direction?
There were two stop locks there - you can still see the second chamber.
But I don;t know whether they faced in opposite directions - I thought
that there was one for each of the companies so that either could
unilaterally close the junction if they had a row with the other.
Martin Ludgate
infra.bt.com>, Jonathan Morton <jonathan@jonathanmortonbutign
orethisbit.co.uk> writes
snip
>
>This jealous preserving of water supplies by building out to meet other
>branches was something of a speciality of the T & M. They did the same
>thing
>to the Macclesfield, by building the Hall Green Branch from Hardings
>Wood
>Junction, over Pool Aqueduct and to Hall Green stoplock(s), where the
>Macc
>had an end on junction. Did I dream it, or were there two stoplocks there,
>one in each direction?
>
No, you didn't dream it: there is still a double length lock-chamber,
which originally had one set of gates facing each way. However
the gates that allowed for the T&M being higher than the Macc
were removed a long time ago.
--
Martin Ludgate
Martin Ludgate
ups.com>, Les Symonds Buggalugs II <lessy...@aol.com>
writes
However it is actually a branch of the Trent & Mersey. If you want
the longest 'main line' canal, one that is often quoted is the
Ulverston Canal, with a total length of a little over 1 mile.
--
Martin Ludgate
timycelyn
"Martin Ludgate" <edi...@navvies.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:znicAMAY...@navvies.demon.co.uk...
On the shortest main line definition, then, what about the Manchester and
Salford Junction, at just over 1/2 mile?
Cheers
Tim N
Les Symonds Buggalugs II
work to. The point of all of this is that I've recently read about a
long-lost stretch of canal at Dolgellau, in Gwynedd. The estuary of the
River Mawddach is a spectacular estuary, about 8 miles long and pinched
in between two mountain ranges. There's a strong, boat building history
as well as records of river lighters plying goods up to the nearest
wharf below Dolgellau. Apparently an entrepeneur built a short stretch
of canal there to join the Mawddach to its confluent river, the Wnion,
so that lighters could reach Dolgellau. I'm finding it difficult to
find any records, or even any physical trace of the canal, but it
couldn't have been more than a couple of hundred yards long, possibly
much less. Any one know anything about this canal?
Adrian Stott
Adrian Stott
I dimly recall being told at one point that the double-length chamber
was retained (built?) to allow pairs to pass in a single locking. Bear
in mind the next locks in one direction are Heartbreak Hill pairs, and
in the other direction are a long way away. Also, the tiny rise at
this lock means that a bigger chamber isn't that expensive in terms of
water use.
The theory seems to make sense, but I've no idea whether it is
correct.
As to the shortest canal, one might argue that the new bit that was
dug to (re)connect Limehouse Cut to Limehouse Basin in the 1900s was
possibly even shorter than the Wardle. However, I suppose it could
also be argued that it was simply an extension of either the Regent's
or the Lee.
Adrian
Homer2911
> >> Ok...what's the shortest canal in Britain, be it open and navigable,
> >> under restoration, or even derelict to the point of being
> >> indistinguishable from its natural surroundings? There's a good reason
> >> for asking this, but I'll not reveal it yet!
> >
> >There's about 5 metres left of the Ketley canal near Telford - that
> >count?
>
> No.
>
> Adrian
>
Why not?
Ann
"Martin Ludgate" <edi...@navvies.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:znicAMAY...@navvies.demon.co.uk...
There is always the Sir Andrew Wood's canal which was built in 1495 and is a
quarter of a mile long. It was built between Largo House and Largo Church
(in Fife, Scotland) so that Sir Andrew could go to Church by water.
It was Richard Lucas who introduce me to this interesting little canal
several years ago and as it appears in Jean Lindsay's "canals of Scotland"
I presume that it is a canal
Ann
Martin Clark
The Manchester and Salford Junction Canal was around five furlongs (just
under three quarters of a mile) long.
--
Martin Clark
Internet Boaters' Database http://www.auluk.freeserve.co.uk/boats
Pennine Waterways Website http://www.penninewaterways.co.uk
Andy Matthews
have a look into it for you though at the local libraries. There was a
canal in porthmadog which was also very short and was used to carry
slate from the end of a tramway to the harbour where it was transhipped
onto the ships for delivery around the world.
Andy
Mike Stevens
> Martin Ludgate wrote...
>> In article <1131575943....@g47g2000cwa.googlegro
>> ups.com>, Les Symonds Buggalugs II <lessy...@aol.com>
>> writes
>>> Ok...what's the shortest canal in Britain, be it open and navigable,
>>> under restoration, or even derelict to the point of being
>>> indistinguishable from its natural surroundings? There's a good
>>> reason for asking this, but I'll not reveal it yet!
>>>
>> Others have already quoted the 'Wardle Canal' as the shortest.
>> However it is actually a branch of the Trent & Mersey. If you want
>> the longest 'main line' canal, one that is often quoted is the
>> Ulverston Canal, with a total length of a little over 1 mile.
>
> The Manchester and Salford Junction Canal was around five furlongs
> (just under three quarters of a mile) long.
Another contender must surely be McMurray's Canal in Wandsworth. I don't
know how long it was, but it was basically a basin built to serve the Surrey
Iron Railway and later a gasworks.
Phil R
"Adrian Stott" <adr...@spam.com> wrote in message
news:g826n15rgbdp2jljo...@4ax.com...
> >No, you didn't dream it: there is still a double length
lock-chamber,
> >which originally had one set of gates facing each way. However
> >the gates that allowed for the T&M being higher than the Macc
> >were removed a long time ago.
>
> I dimly recall being told at one point that the double-length
chamber
> was retained (built?) to allow pairs to pass in a single locking.
Bear
> in mind the next locks in one direction are Heartbreak Hill pairs,
and
> in the other direction are a long way away. Also, the tiny rise at
> this lock means that a bigger chamber isn't that expensive in terms
of
> water use.
>
> The theory seems to make sense, but I've no idea whether it is
> correct.
I have not seen any evidence that boats worked in pairs on the
Macc. Certainly not at the time when both chambers were in use.
At that time all traffic would have been single horse boats.
Phil
Tony Brooks
"Les Symonds Buggalugs II" <lessy...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1131575943....@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
Can't remember what its called but I thought the Jannal base in Burton was
the remainder of a very short canal
--
Tony Brooks
www.TB-Training.co.uk
John
"Les Symonds Buggalugs II" <lessy...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1131575943....@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
Ready to reveal the reason for the question?
Mike Stevens
The Bond End Canal, which looks on the map as though it was a branch of the
Trent & Mersey, but wasn't. It was 1 mile 1 furlong long and connected the
T&M to the Trent. It was built by a private entrepreneur and caused an
almighty row when he made the connection to the T&M without their
permission.
Peter Stockdale
"John" <Nothan...@gmailz.co.uk> wrote in message
news:IFHcf.8258$fe6...@newsfe2-win.ntli.net...
I think he already has.
Quote from his 8.21am post today.
"Ok...I guess that the main-line definition is the best definition to
work to. The point of all of this is that I've recently read about a
long-lost stretch of canal at Dolgellau, in Gwynedd."
josoap
Jo
Peter Stockdale
"josoap" <Josoap@.mf.eclipse.co.uk> wrote in message
news:HbednXL0O7H38-7e...@eclipse.net.uk...
What at ? (Just in case !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Pete
Adrian Stott
wrote:
Because it is only part of a canal.
Brian Dominic
<broo...@btopenworld.com> picked up their glass of wine, sat back and
said:
>
>"Les Symonds Buggalugs II" <lessy...@aol.com> wrote in message
>news:1131575943....@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>> Ok...what's the shortest canal in Britain, be it open and navigable,
>> under restoration, or even derelict to the point of being
>> indistinguishable from its natural surroundings? There's a good reason
>> for asking this, but I'll not reveal it yet!
>
>Can't remember what its called but I thought the Jannell base in Burton was
>the remainder of a very short canal
That would be the Bond End Canal, which IIRC ran down to the Trent.
Brian L Dominic
Web Sites:
Canals: http://www.brianscanalpages.co.uk
Friends of the Cromford Canal: http://www.cromfordcanal.org.uk
(Waterways World Site of the Month, November 2005)
Mid-Derbyshire Light Railway: http://www.mdlr.co.uk
Newsgroup readers should note that the reply-to address is NOT read:
To email me, please send to brian(dot)dominic(at)tiscali(dot)co(dot)uk
Nick Atty
<jona...@jonathanmortonbutignorethisbit.co.uk> wrote:
>This jealous preserving of water supplies by building out to meet other
>branches was something of a speciality of the T & M. They did the same thing
>to the Macclesfield, by building the Hall Green Branch from Hardings Wood
>Junction, over Pool Aqueduct and to Hall Green stoplock(s), where the Macc
>had an end on junction. Did I dream it, or were there two stoplocks there,
>one in each direction?
Either they or the Bridgewater did something pretty similar at Preston
Brook. The junction of the Bridgewater and the T&M appears to be
somewhere south of Preston Brook Junction ("Preston Brook Waters
Meeting" to be precise, I suppose). There is a Bridgewater
crane/stopplanks set just outside the tunnel, and if you walk over the
horse path you will pass the Preston Brook milepost before you even
reach the north portal.
As this is presumably still a real and legal boundary between BW and
Peel Holdings does anyone know precisely where it is?
--
On-line canal route planner: http://www.canalplan.org.uk
(Waterways World site of the month, April 2001)
Nick Atty
<mal...@mgnixon.org.uk> wrote:
>Wonder why Conan Doyle didn't base ant stories around the canals.
>He often describes railway journeys but I can't remember a single
>reference to boat people apart from the several trips on the Thames.
There's a Conan Doyle story about the disappearance of a train somewhere
that seems to be on the L&M railway. One theory as to its vanishment
(proposed in a letter by a "famous detective" - CD seems to be having
some fun with his own creation here) was that it had fallen into the
canal that runs along side it at this point.
If I find the time I'll dig it out and quote it.
Jonathan Morton
Surely that cannot make any sense. The point about a double stop lock is
that it caters for either possibility (x higher than y or y higher than x)
and therefore *one* of the stop locks should be in use at any one time - but
only one of them, and which of them it is will depend on which of the canals
has the higher level.
Regards
Jonathan
Jonathan Morton
news:f067n11ud8d61nvvo...@4ax.com...
> On Wed, 9 Nov 2005 23:28:02 +0000 (UTC), "Jonathan Morton"
> <jona...@jonathanmortonbutignorethisbit.co.uk> wrote:
>
> >This jealous preserving of water supplies by building out to meet other
> >branches was something of a speciality of the T & M. They did the same
thing
> >to the Macclesfield, by building the Hall Green Branch from Hardings Wood
> >Junction, over Pool Aqueduct and to Hall Green stoplock(s), where the
Macc
> >had an end on junction. Did I dream it, or were there two stoplocks
there,
> >one in each direction?
>
> Either they or the Bridgewater did something pretty similar at Preston
> Brook. The junction of the Bridgewater and the T&M appears to be
> somewhere south of Preston Brook Junction ("Preston Brook Waters
> Meeting" to be precise, I suppose). There is a Bridgewater
> crane/stopplanks set just outside the tunnel, and if you walk over the
> horse path you will pass the Preston Brook milepost before you even
> reach the north portal.
Bradshaw says the boundary was the northern portal, but IIRC the true legal
boundary was some yard inside the north end of the tunnel.
Regards
Jonathan
Jonathan Morton
news:3tfhooF...@individual.net...
> Jonathan Morton wrote:
>
> > The Wardle Lock Branch of the Trent and Mersey is consists only of
> > the lock itself. At the top of the lock it makes an end-on junction
> > with the Middlewich Branch of the Shropshire Union.
>
> Not quite. The stretch between the bottom of the lock and the junstion
> bridge is also part of the Wardle Canal, giving the length I guessed in my
> previous posting.
Confusingly, your "previous" posting appears after this in Google and in my
reader. I know you said 180 feet, but my recollection is that the tail of
the lock is very close to the junction, close enough in fact to make it a
nightmare to turn a full-length boat northwards towards Middlewich, because
the stern of the boat is kept straight by the lock. It's been a year or two,
but I remember making a complete muck-up of the turn.
Regards
Jonathan
Jonathan Morton
news:6HTfU$AiExc...@no.spam.please...
> Martin Ludgate wrote...
> >In article <1131575943....@g47g2000cwa.googlegro
> >ups.com>, Les Symonds Buggalugs II <lessy...@aol.com>
> >writes
> >>Ok...what's the shortest canal in Britain, be it open and navigable,
> >>under restoration, or even derelict to the point of being
> >>indistinguishable from its natural surroundings? There's a good reason
> >>for asking this, but I'll not reveal it yet!
> >>
> >Others have already quoted the 'Wardle Canal' as the shortest.
> >However it is actually a branch of the Trent & Mersey. If you want
> >the longest 'main line' canal, one that is often quoted is the
> >Ulverston Canal, with a total length of a little over 1 mile.
>
> The Manchester and Salford Junction Canal was around five furlongs (just
> under three quarters of a mile) long.
In that case the Grosvenor (three furlongs approx) beats it.
Regards
Jonathan
Phil R
"Jonathan Morton" <jona...@jonathanmortonbutignorethisbit.co.uk>
wrote in message
news:dl0doa$6j0$1...@nwrdmz02.dmz.ncs.ea.ibs-infra.bt.com...
There is approx 110 feet of canal between the bottom of Wardle Lock
and the junction with the main line of the T & M. But I can understand
why you might have struggled to turn north (you cannot get a good
swing until the stern is almost through Wardle Bridge - and there are
usually a few boats tied up at Kings Lock Chandlery).
Cheers
Phil
Les Symonds Buggalugs II
following reading 'Wherever freights may offer' by a local author;
there's a copy of it at the archive office at Dolgellau. The author, Dr
Lewis Lloyd, was a local historian who died several years ago. The book
outlines the history of the seaports serving Dolgellau and their
history of shipbuilding and water-borne commerce.
I've searched for the canal and believe that it joined the Mawddach
somewhere near Storehouse, with the Wnion, somehwere near the western
end of the Marian fields.
Les Symonds Buggalugs II
as posters and interjecting replies and the thread is beginning to be
broken with new threads; which is great, as this has started quite a
debate and numerous sub-debates. Basicly, I'm trying to discover
something (anything) about the canal that once served Dolgellau
(Gwynedd...N.Wales) aand which appears to be lost from the record books.
Mike Stevens
I believe it's the north portal of the tunnel.
Mike Stevens
>> The Manchester and Salford Junction Canal was around five furlongs
>> (just under three quarters of a mile) long.
>
> In that case the Grosvenor (three furlongs approx) beats it.
Was that the original length of the Grosvenor, or the length that was left
after part of the canal had been built over by Victoria Station, but before
the next bit was built over by an extension to the station?
David Long
<nos...@nandj.freeserve.co.uk> writes
>On Thu, 10 Nov 2005 13:20:42 +0000, Malcolm N.....
><mal...@mgnixon.org.uk> wrote:
>
>>Wonder why Conan Doyle didn't base ant stories around the canals.
>>He often describes railway journeys but I can't remember a single
>>reference to boat people apart from the several trips on the Thames.
>
>There's a Conan Doyle story about the disappearance of a train somewhere
>that seems to be on the L&M railway. One theory as to its vanishment
>(proposed in a letter by a "famous detective" - CD seems to be having
>some fun with his own creation here) was that it had fallen into the
>canal that runs along side it at this point.
>
>If I find the time I'll dig it out and quote it.
Surely you mean "and photograph it"?
--
David Long
Sankey Canal Restoration Society http://www.scars.org.uk/
St. Mary's http://www.geocities.com/andrew_fishburn/stmary1.html
http://www.scars.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/webcam/
Paul Burke
> I tried to do a check on Dickens works - but couldn't find a way to
> restrict to just him.
>
There's a bit in his American Journey (is that the title?) where he
travels up the Susquehanna and on to Pittsburgh by canal boat. Oddly
enough, the only mention of a lock I remember is on the Ohio river.
Though he does mention that, where the canal crosses the Susquehanna on
the level, there was a double deck bridge, one level for each direction.
I wonder how the bottom deck worked with the towropes? Or perhaps there
was enough current so that the boats in one direction didn't need towing?
Paul Burke
Paul Burke
> There's a Conan Doyle story about the disappearance of a train somewhere
> that seems to be on the L&M railway..... it had fallen into the
> canal that runs along side it at this point.
Where did the Leek and Manifold run alongside a canal?
Paul Burke
> Surely that cannot make any sense. The point about a double stop lock is
> that it caters for either possibility (x higher than y or y higher than x)
Is there evidence of three sets of gates, or four, at Hall Green? If
it's bidirectional stop, the middle set would be the wrong way round for
one condition.
Paul Burke
Paul Burke
> Basicly, I'm trying to discover
> something (anything) about the canal that once served Dolgellau
> (Gwynedd...N.Wales) aand which appears to be lost from the record books.
>
A navigation could be as little as a watergate on the stream off the
Mawddach estuary. There is, however, on the Google Map of the area, what
appears to be a "curvilinear feature" from just below the A470/A493
junction to above the bridge at Llyn Penmaen. See http://tinyurl.com/8p7wy
Paul Burke
Andy Matthews
that this is a land drainage ditch, the whole area is criss crossed
with them. So unfortunately there is no evidence either way on the
ground which is easily recognisable as a navigation.
Andy
Adrian Stott
wrote:
Didn't he travel over the Pennsylvania Mainline, where passenger boats
were put on a tramway (with significant inclines) over the summit?
Adrian Stott
I assumed that the gates were (re)arranged so that there were three
pairs, all pointing towards Macclesfield, so a boat could use one
chamber, but a pair could use two.
Paul Burke
>
> Didn't he travel over the Pennsylvania Mainline, where passenger boats
> were put on a tramway (with significant inclines) over the summit?
I got the impression that the passengers transferred from boats to
carriages for the summit section.
Paul Burke
Brian J Goggin
>The Adventures of Gerard
[...]
Robert Louis Stevenson's *An Inland Voyage*:
===begins=====
Of all the creatures of commercial enterprise, a canal barge is by far
the most delightful to consider. It may spread its sails, and thenh
you see it sailing high above the tree-tops and the windmill, sailing
on the aqueduct, sailing through the green corn-lands: the most
picturesque of things amphibious. Or the horse plods along at a
foot-pace as if there were no such thing as business in the world; and
the man dreaming at the tiller sees the same spire on the horizon all
day long. It is a mystery how things ever get to their destination at
this rate; and to see the barges waiting their turn at a lock, affords
a fine lesson of how easily the world may be taken. There should be
many contented spirits on board, for such a life is both to travel and
to stay at home.
The chimney smokes for dinner as you go along; the banks of the canal
slowly unroll their scenery to contemplative eyes; the barge floats by
great forests and through great cities with their public buildings and
their lamps at night; and for the bargee, in his floating home,
'travelling abed,' it is merely as if he were listening to another
man's story or turning the leaves of a picture-book in which he had no
concern. He may take his afternoon walk in some foreign country on
the banks of the canal, and then come home to dinner at his own
fireside.
===ends=====
bjg
Phil R
AFAIAA there were two separate lock chambers in tandem.
There would, therefore, have been four *sets* of gates. (Either
mitred or clapping).
As I said in an earlier reply, I have yet to see any evidence that
any regular traffic worked in pairs on the Macc. In the days
when there were two lock chambers capable of use there
would not have been any motor boats trading on this canal -
unless anyone can enlighten us to the contrary?
Cheers
Phil
Nick Atty
Regular users of CanalplanAC may have noticed extracts from that
appearing in the "quote of the day" section of the home page.
Tony Clayton
There are two sets of gates in use, and the hollows for two other
sets that faced the other way. There are even two lock-keeper's
cottages!
--
Tony Clayton tony.cla...@pem.cam.ac.uk
Coins of the UK : http://www.coinsoftheuk.info
Sent using RISCOS on an Acorn Strong Arm RiscPC
... It's a great place, and the drinks are cold!
Tony Clayton
> Ok...what's the shortest canal in Britain, be it open and navigable,
> under restoration, or even derelict to the point of being
> indistinguishable from its natural surroundings? There's a good reason
> for asking this, but I'll not reveal it yet!
The problem with the Wardle is that it is just a branch
of a main canal.
If you exclude branches (of which there are many very short ones)
the Hadfield series lists the following as being 1 mile or under
in length:
Emmet's Canal
Manchester & Salford Junction
Ravenhead Canal
Lord Thanet's Canal (now Springs Branch)
Isle of Dogs Canal
Grosvenor Canal
Adelphi Canal
Cassington Cut
Fleet Canal
Sir John Glynne's Canal
Dick Brook
Brown's Canal
Hackney Canal
Exeter & Crediton (0.5 mile built)
Forth and Cart Canal
Inverarnan Canal
Kilbagie Canal
Doctor's Canal
General Warde's Canal, Dafen
General Warde's Canal, Yspitty
Giant's Grave & Briton Ferry Canal
Hopkin's Canal
Lydney Canal
Mackworth's Canal (possibly the shortest at 0.125 mile)
Morris's Canal
Wern Canal
--
Tony Clayton tony.cla...@pem.cam.ac.uk
Coins of the UK : http://www.coinsoftheuk.info
Sent using RISCOS on an Acorn Strong Arm RiscPC
... Hackers do it with bugs.
Adrian Stott
<tony.cla...@pem.cam.ac.uk> wrote:
>If you exclude branches (of which there are many very short ones)
>the Hadfield series lists the following as being 1 mile or under
>in length:
>
>Doctor's Canal
Is this at Brentford? There is the remains of Doctor's Lock there,
and a very short (< 50 m I think) length of canal. It runs from the
semi-tidal pound above Thames lock to the river Brent, IIRC upstream
of the first weir on the Brent.
Adrian
.
Adrian Stott
adr...@spam.co.uk
07956-299966
Jonathan Morton
> Jonathan Morton wrote:
> >> The Manchester and Salford Junction Canal was around five furlongs
> >> (just under three quarters of a mile) long.
> >
> > In that case the Grosvenor (three furlongs approx) beats it.
>
> Was that the original length of the Grosvenor, or the length that was left
> after part of the canal had been built over by Victoria Station, but
before
> the next bit was built over by an extension to the station?
I think the last of those three. The figure was taken from the 1904
Bradshaw, which mentions both of the shortenings (the second in 1902), and
gives the then current termination as Ebury Bridge. Original total distance
isn't stated, though a quick estimate from the A to Z indicates about a
mile.
Regards
Jonathan
Jonathan Morton
news:srWdndKv9cp...@pipex.net...
[Middlewich Junction]
> There is approx 110 feet of canal between the bottom of Wardle Lock
> and the junction with the main line of the T & M. But I can understand
> why you might have struggled to turn north (you cannot get a good
> swing until the stern is almost through Wardle Bridge - and there are
> usually a few boats tied up at Kings Lock Chandlery).
I must be confusing the bridge hole with the exit from the lock itself. I
remember we had to do an ungainly turn by fending off the eastern bank.
<liar>
I wasn't at the helm.
</liar>
Regards
Jonathan
Martin Ludgate
<ditchc...@water.com> writes
single gate. I don't know the reason for this very unusual
(unique?) arrangement. Double top gates are standard on the
Macc (they were apparently a Thomas Telford thing - he originally
used the same system on the Birmingham & Liverpool Junction
Canal (the newer part of the Shroppie main line) but they were
later altered to singles), but why combine them with a single
bottom gate? I wondered if it might be to avoid the bottom gate
balance beams getting in the way of those of the opposing set of
bottom gates for the other lock chamber - the idea being that if
each of the chambers has a single bottom gate, and you hinge
them on opposite sides of the canal, the beams will not get in
each other's way. But I seem to recall that they are far enough
apart that this wouldn't have been a problem.
Any theories?
>As I said in an earlier reply, I have yet to see any evidence that
>any regular traffic worked in pairs on the Macc. In the days
>when there were two lock chambers capable of use there
>would not have been any motor boats trading on this canal -
>unless anyone can enlighten us to the contrary?
>
If there was anywhere where a double length stop lock might have
made sense, it would have been Hawkesbury which undoubtedly
was used heavily by pairs.
--
Martin Ludgate
Tony Clayton
Not the one I mentioned. It was built by a Doctor Richard Griffiths
to connect his colliery and tramroad at Treforest to the
Glamorganshire Canal at Denia (Dynea).
It was originally separate, but was connected to the Glamorganshire Canal
in 1813, and remained in use until the First World War; at one time
it carried about 25% of the Glamorganshire Canal's entire coal trade.
--
Tony Clayton tony.cla...@pem.cam.ac.uk
Coins of the UK : http://www.coinsoftheuk.info
Sent using RISCOS on an Acorn Strong Arm RiscPC
... Don't drink and park, accidents cause people
Nick Atty
<nos...@nandj.freeserve.co.uk> wrote:
>On Thu, 10 Nov 2005 13:20:42 +0000, Malcolm N.....
><mal...@mgnixon.org.uk> wrote:
>
>>Wonder why Conan Doyle didn't base ant stories around the canals.
>>He often describes railway journeys but I can't remember a single
>>reference to boat people apart from the several trips on the Thames.
>
>There's a Conan Doyle story about the disappearance of a train somewhere
>that seems to be on the L&M railway. One theory as to its vanishment
>(proposed in a letter by a "famous detective" - CD seems to be having
>some fun with his own creation here) was that it had fallen into the
>canal that runs along side it at this point.
>
>If I find the time I'll dig it out and quote it.
Here we go:
The story in question is "The Lost Special" and it's on line, starting
at:
http://www.literaturepage.com/read/tales-of-terror-and-mystery-97.html
As ever, my memory is essentially right (in that the idea the train went
into the canal is from a letter to the newspaper) and factually wrong
(it wasn't part of the Holmes-alike's theory).
The bit that suggests CD was making fun of Holmes starts being referred
to at:
http://www.literaturepage.com/read/tales-of-terror-and-mystery-103.html
and actually happens at
http://www.literaturepage.com/read/tales-of-terror-and-mystery-104.html
But further down the page you'll see the mention of the canals. Small,
but perfectly formed.
Chris N Deuchar
edi...@navvies.demon.co.uk says...
> Of the surviving gates, the upper are mitred, but the lower is a
> single gate. I don't know the reason for this very unusual
> (unique?) arrangement. Double top gates are standard on the
> Macc (they were apparently a Thomas Telford thing - he originally
> used the same system on the Birmingham & Liverpool Junction
> Canal (the newer part of the Shroppie main line) but they were
> later altered to singles), but why combine them with a single
> bottom gate? I wondered if it might be to avoid the bottom gate
> balance beams getting in the way of those of the opposing set of
> bottom gates for the other lock chamber - the idea being that if
> each of the chambers has a single bottom gate, and you hinge
> them on opposite sides of the canal, the beams will not get in
> each other's way. But I seem to recall that they are far enough
> apart that this wouldn't have been a problem.
The gates would have been very close - and my understanding of the
single gates is as you specify above - to stop the beams clashing.
Chris D
--
--
ch...@deuchars.co.uk http://www.deuchars.org.uk
Author & Publisher: "A Boaters Guide to BOATING" 4-50GBP
Mixing old and new waterway techniques. ISBN 0953151204
Details: http://www.deuchars.org.uk/publication/
Tel: 0115 951 6264 Fax: 0870 131 2079