Do they think we are all stupid?

[Charles P]

Quite right - the Manchester Guardian (I find it really annoys Guardian readers when you refer to it as that).

Not really Tony. 
It merely identifies you as a northerner of a certain age!

Charles

[Steve kay]

Howard, before I became a (moderately) respectable museum curator I did some boatbuilding, quite a lot in Cheshire. Where I was living was where I was tied up, you probably know there were dry docks at Middlewich and Dutton, and Pete Shrubby had a yard at the Sprinch in Runcorn. Chester had Taylor's Yard, run by David Jones. Perhaps you and I overlapped at certain pubs, the Hollybush, Midlewich pubs such as the Big Lock and the Whore's Bed and numbers of other canal side pubs, remote ones like the Bird in Hand for instance. No Austin Sevens, can only remember battered Morris Minors and early series Landies then old and disposable but now highly collectable. I think the cut hss changed almost out of recognition since then. That's enuogh, we'll send the others to sleep.
From this evening, event and rally prep in the hope of resuming sport, will have to be done on the kitchen table with maps and fiendish googlery. Hope all is as well as possible in Mid Wales, here the market has been closed, preventing us from buying freh local veg, cheese etc outside and thus making sure we have to queue to get into a supermarket. End of rant.

[Colin Wilks]

Steve, you might be interested that Yarwood's basin on the Weaver below Hunt's lock is very much active again, with the dry dock under the railway bridge in regular use. Many of us still trying to keep the traditions of commercial carrying alive!

[Charles P]

And Tim Leech, who ran the dry dock at Dutton until he sadly died about 5 years ago, was a good friend.

[Steve kay]

Good lord, it is a very small world. I did know Dai and Nigel Carter, many years ago and it is good that their boys are still very active down on the Weaver. As for Tim, known for many years as "Hairspring" until he was for a while a puffer engineer when the he gained the additional name of " Mc Phail" from the Para Handy books. As for as I know Liz is still at the Lock Cottage at Dutton. Charles, next you'll be telling us that you were a regular user of the Steam Committee Room at the Hollybush, enjoying just a little refreshment with the likes of Peter Froude. The forum is showing signs of turning into that renowned source of news, the Towpath Telegraph!

[Charles P]

Good lord, it is a very small world. I did know Dai and Nigel Carter, many years ago and it is good that their boys are still very active down on the Weaver. As for Tim, known for many years as "Hairspring" until he was for a while a puffer engineer when the he gained the additional name of " Mc Phail" from the Para Handy books. As for as I know Liz is still at the Lock Cottage at Dutton. Charles, next you'll be telling us that you were a regular user of the Steam Committee Room at the Hollybush, enjoying just a little refreshment with the likes of Peter  Froude. The forum is showing signs of turning into that renowned source of news, the Towpath Telegraph!

No more links other than simply knowing Tim.
How he got really hefty machinery into his workshop down the towpath never ceased to amaze me. However it did bashfully admit to dropping a Boxford lathe into the canal once.

Charles

[Howard Wright]

Hi Steve

All your canal places are familiar particularly big lock in Middlewich. Can’t remember any of the pubs (he lies easily!).  I moved away from Cheshire for Uni in 1970 and only return occasionally now both my parent have died.  My ancestors were sawyers and salt workers and came from Sandbach where there is even a lane named after us (Wrights Lane).

Yes reminisces are interesting to the few but boring for the majority.  Nuff said now!

Cheers

Howard

[Bruce Nicholls]

Interesting to see mention of David Jones at Taylors yard in Chester. David did a lot of work on my previous boat, a varnished mahogany canal and river cruiser in about 1986 or 87. I spent a lot of happy weekends at his yard.

[Duncan Grimmond]

To step back a page, why do so many dislike the Guardian? Is this forum a hotbed of Daily Mail fascists? It would seem that the "free market" is unable or unwilling to maintain public services where no profit can be siphoned off to the wealthy chisellers, I gather the railways have been taken back into public hands and about bl**dy time too IMHO!

[David Stepney]

To step back a page, why do so many dislike the Guardian? Is this forum a hotbed of Daily Mail fascists? It would seem that the "free market" is unable or unwilling to maintain public services where no profit can be siphoned off to the wealthy chisellers, I gather the railways have been taken back into public hands and about bl**dy time too IMHO!

No, Duncan, some of us have socialist leanings. In fact, not so long ago, I was accused of being an 'unreconstructed Trotskyite' which i took as a direct compliment. However, at my age, I don't need reconstructing - a total nut and bolt rebuild might be better!

And yes, renationalising the railways was seriously overdue. Other key industries should follow!