On Tuesday, September 25, 2007 5:22 PM [GMT+1=CET], Ray Butler <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Mike's mystery object looks like either: > > > > 1) A handrail to be used in conjunction with rungs driven into > the wall or footholds in the brickwork to let boatmen climb up the > wall from the boats to operate the locks (In common with Marple, > Bosley locks lack landings at the tails and are beasts to work > single-handed) Any rungs will have been removed as being too useful > by the safety police, and any brick-moulded foot / handholds will > have been removed or concreted up for the same reasons, in BW's > campaign to remove regional differences from the waterways (You have > only to watch the "By canal in the 1950s" DVD to see what diversity > we've lost. Curved balance beams on the Regents anyone...?) > > 2) (and less likely) An equivalent of the block - rope pegs found > on Tardebigge locks, whereby the towline was taken from the horse > through a pulley on the mast and forward onto a pin like an inverted > "L" facing in the direction of travel, over which an eye was dropped. > For the first 10-15 feet of movement out of the lock this gives a 2:1 > advantage to the horse, then when inertia is overcome a toggle > spliced into the line jams and the arrangement changes up into 2nd > gear, As the end of the line reaches the pin it drops off (as the > pin's facing the way the boat's travelling) until picked up at the > next lock. You can see this in action on the Sight Seen "Towpath > encounter" video. > > The arrangement in Mike's picture looks likely to catch an eye and > stop progress, so the first option is more likely. > > > > Ray Butler > > nb Owl and sometime horse-boat steerer > > > > 2 > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > >
