Old Photographs from eBay

I buy things on eBay. Mostly crap I don't need or even want that much. Most recently I had terrible trouble getting a hip flask I didnt really want from Royal Mail. I have it now, its fine. It has the crest of the Fleet Air Arm on it. I am not now nor have I ever been in the Fleet Air Arm. My Grandad was though. I also buy canal related things. If there was a Venn Diagram of the 'Crap I Buy' and the 'Canal Stuff I Buy', there would be considerable cross over. 

Mostly I buy postcards, they are generally not crap. At least I don't think so. Proper postcard collectors may not approve of some of them. But who is to say what an interesting postcard is? I also buy paperwork, bills, Acts of Parliament. Stuff like that. Some of it a couple of hundred years old. It all ends up in the same folder, along with Ice Lolly wrappers from the days when we eagerly anticipated the release of the Phantom Menace. 

The latest purchase was a collection of photographs from the 1970's showing the Basingstoke Canal, Birmingham Canal Navigations and the Stroudwater Canal. The Basingstoke and Stroudwater canals were both derelict in the 1970's. The photos are of ruined locks and empty reed filled canals. 

The BCN ones show a Butty (an engineless boat pulled by a boat with an engine) called Hyades. Hyades was built in 1935 and is still around today. Click here to see what she looks like now. While googling her name I found this account of someone who had worked on her back in the day: A lads eye view of the canals

Hyades 

The woman in the photograph appears in a couple of the BCN ones. I had the same thing photographing the canal in Burnley. Some poor old dear was going about her business walking on the towpath and inadvertently got became a feature in my photos. You don't expect paparazzi on the towpath.  

Here are the rest of the photographs, I haven't split them into individual photos after scanning for two very sound reasons, one: I liked the way they looked together and two: I couldn't quite be arsed (I dont get paid for this you know!) 

Here they are: http://www.towpathtreks.co.uk/About/old_canal_photographs.html#8 Hopefully I can add some more information to the photos when the good people at Canal World come up with the goods. 

Burscough Canal Heritage Week

Today was the last day of the Burscough Canal Heritage Week. Kennet, the Leeds & Liverpool Canal Short Boat was visiting Burscough, the nearest it has been to Liverpool for a while. So I thought I had better make the effort to get up there and take some photographs.

Kennet at Burscough Bridge

The towpath was busy and there were lots of boats moored at Burscough. I was pleased to see Ribble had joined Kennet and Ambush. The first time I have seen two river class barges in the same place at the same time. Kennet and Ribble are Short Boats, Ambush is a Long Boat. All three are Wide Boats. Ambush used to work for Ainscough Mill in Burscough. All three boats were empty and sit very high out of the water. When full they would swim through the water like whales with only a few inches of boat above the waterline. Kennet has a very snug looking cabin at the front which is quite spacious compared to the Narrow Boats. You would still have to be good friends to share it though. 

Ambush at Burscough

 We walked along the canal to the top lock of the Rufford Branch. On the way we passed a hairy caterpillar crossing the towpath at some speed. It was hot and humid today and got hotter as the day went on. 

Creepy Crawly

Back at Burscough Wharf we had an ice cream and I took some photographs from the bridge. I am very impressed with the redevelopment of the old canal depot. It has been empty for years but now it is full of life. There are shops and a couple of bars and cafes. It is a definite improvement and a big plus for both the canal and the town. I notice that the Waterfront pub nearby is closed and for sale. 

Burscough Wharf

Burscough Wharf

In other news towpathtreks now has a twitter account @towpathtreks for those who do that sort of thing. If anyone has any good suggestions for canal related people or places to follow on Twitter do let me know. And you can still become a fan of towpathtreks on facebook