[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > On Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:41:40 +0100, "Mack, David" > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > >I thought the old boatman's trick was to have a rope tied to the Banbury > >stick. As you passed through the bridge, you picked up the end of the > >rope and when clear, pulled the Banbury stick out, and let the bridge > >fall back to the closed position. > > > That may well be the case - but a lot of boatman's tricks were > damaging to the waterways - and although some people seem to think > emulating everything they did is a good idea, I don't think BW or > anyone else who cares for our waterways would want to see that. >
I'm not sure you'll get universal support for the notion that BW 'cares for our waterways' right now! Other than that, I agree. However much I might like to imagine I'm Ike Skinner speeding an urgent cargo of Roses' Lime Marmalade to the jam'ole or whatever, I'm actually a pleasure boater using a historic but underfunded and inadequately-maintained system. And while that needn't necessarily mean reaching for the kid gloves, I reluctantly feel some of the more extreme historic working boat techniques are best left in the past. Martin L
