Whale Watch West Cork offers exclusive whale watching holidays onboard the Voyager, a twin-engine catamaran based at Reen Pier, Castlehaven, West Cork. Whale Watch West Cork offers all-inclusive whale watching holidays and whale watching breaks for people wanting to view, photograph and learn more about whales and dolphins in the wild. We will organize everything from your pick up at the airport to your packed lunch and all boat trips to see the whales and dolphins.
Is a rotting hulk situated on a Cheshire waterway really the remains of a historic type of wooden sail powered cargo boat, built in 1894 and launched in Surendalen Norway as the Flora? Does ‘she’ really have a rich history and therefore be worthy of saving, or is the truth something more mundane?
The Thames rang with gunfire on Saturday, as London harked back to its swashbuckling and seafaring roots with the arrival of the Swedish ship Götheborg, a full-scale replica of an 18th century East India merchantman, which sailed under Tower Bridge and into the City with cannons blazing.
Dateline May 7th to 14th inc 2007.Weaver Navigation-MSC-Mersey
The 1947 built restored ex ICI cargo vessel James Jackson Grundy has for a short period returned to the town where it was built, by the now
defunct weaverside shipbuilders WJ Yarwood & Sons an act which will engender rich memories in many Mid Cheshire folks. The boat is set to
stop 'in town' until Monday 14th May when the historically significant vessel will return again to Liverpool Docks departing Barons Quay Northwich
at around 9am. Other images will be added at a later date.The visit is in support of the appeal to raise funds which could see the JJG become a permanent resident of Mid-Cheshire, see seperate story.
The occasion is also being used to highlight a bid to gain the finance needed to reopen to use the Riverdale Swing Footbridge which used to connect the Crecent Northwich with Hunts Lock, and thus the Castle side of the Weaver.
Check out www.jjgrundy.org.uk and www.saveourbridge.org.uk
As another new traffic flow starts on the Manchester Ship Canal Warrington’s population watches with alarm! An increase in the number of vessels passing through Warrington’s three infamous swing bridges looks set to spark a row as it brings even more traffic problems to the town.
The Waterways Trust is stepping up their efforts to secure Government funding for the waterways museums at Gloucester Docks, Ellesmere Port and Stoke Bruerne. They are currently not included on the government sponsored list of museums which receive compensation in exchange for offering the public free admission. If they are not admitted to the Free Entry scheme the future viability of their museums will be threatened. Unthinkably could closure become an option?
£80K appeal launched to bring a historic ‘Weaver Packet’ home. A new appeal fund has been launched to bring a historically important boat back to Northwich, the town in which it was built. If the appeal is successful it is envisaged that the ‘James Jackson Grundy’ would act as a floating museum to the town and forge a link to Weaver Navigations industrial past.
Plus Weaver traffic of the past from the archive of Rick Ferris.
London 2012 is as we all know to be Olympic Year for the UK in general, and for London in particular. The capitals mighty river will play its part in both the massive constructional build up and the event proper.
For hundreds of years the tidal reaches of river Thames has been an important highway for both freight and passenger traffic along almost all of its length and particularly in bringing goods and commodities to and from Greater London.
The Anderton Boat Lift has been described as both the ‘Cathedral of the Waterways’ and the Industrial Revolutions greatest waterway wonder. This grand edifice of Victorian engineering skills underwent a £7 million renovation and was re-opened to boat traffic in March 2002, a simple statement, which in its self goes nowhere near to acknowledging the huge community effort which led to its rebuilding.
Certainly there is a high route mileage of canals in the Greater Birmingham area. Towards the middle of the 18th century the area boasted 174 miles of canal now some 114 miles of them remain and there are 5 major canals which meet within the city. Walking the towpath you will see the city and its surrounding suburbs in a new light. The city centre has over 15 miles of improved canal with safe and enjoyable walking - you don't even need a boat! In particular the sections of the Main Line either side of Broad Street tunnel is extremely popular with day visitors. The surrounding Birmingham Canals Network (covering almost all of the West Midlands) has 160 miles of navigable waterway.
Perhaps it is because we are an Island race, and therefore have an inherent love of water and all things maritime that many of us assume simply jumping onboard cranking up and sailing away will be second nature to us. During a day spent on the water Keith Langston discovered that doing it correctly is not quite that easy! See pictures in the gallery.
Boats like so many things in life come in all shapes and sizes. Few will deny that they look their very best in sunshine, and their most dramatic in rough weather. The Mediterranean in general and the Cote d’ Azur in particular is a good place to see them. In fact one French marina boss, a helpful soul but not usually known for his sense of humour, perhaps got it right when he remarked whilst looking out at the veritable forest of masts sheltering under the lee of ‘his’ concrete wall “If all the vessels along the Cote go to sea on the same day the fishes will have to come into the marinas” There are a lot of boats on the Cote! This is a small selection of images taken as research for a future publication.
Following the publication of a picture showing KD Marine (UK) Ltd’s 1000 ton deadweight inland waterways vessel ‘Anna D’ travelling along the Manchester Ship Canal in a recent edition of Towpath Talk (No 16) further interest has been generated in Manchester Ship Canal traffic. One company flying the canal freight flag is KD Marine Ltd. This is a look at the firm’s very substantial commitment to easing the burden of freight on some the North West’s most severely congested roads.
London looks great from its river and riverside locations, of course never more so than when the sun shines. This is a selection of images taken on the river over a very warm and sunny mid-day period on May 1st 2007.
The River Thames is famous throughout the World for its history, its culture, and its amazing variety of wildlife, archaeology, and scenery. It is 215 miles long from its source in the Cotswolds through to the estuary at Southend on Sea. This is just a small section of images taken mostly from city locations.
Built 1959. Decommissioned 1989. 40.5 m (133 ft) two-masted steel lightship with light tower amidships, painted red. Built by Philips & Sons Ltd. of Dartmouth. The ship served as the Bar off the entrance to the Mersey from 1960 to 1972; after serving several other locations she was assigned as the Channel from 1979 to 1989. She was the last manned lightship in U.K. waters. Saved from the scrapyard in 1992, the ship has been displayed in Liverpool at the Albert Dock. In the summer of 2007 it is planned to move the vessel to a new home adjacent to the Imperial War Museum North at Salford Quays.
Two outstanding aqueducts and two interesting tunnels, all within a short distance on the picturesque Llangollen Canal (Camlas Llangollen). The 127 foot high 18 arch Pontcysyllte (completed 1805) and the 70 foot high 10 arch Chirk (completed 1801) aqueducts both cross the River Dee in North Wales. Thomas Telford is credited with building both structures whilst he was assisted on the design of Pontcysyllte by William Jessop. Between the two outstanding canal wonders are Whitehouse Tunnel (191 yards) and Chirk Tunnel (459 yards).
THE river Shannon is over 200 miles (321.8km) long but it rises only 250 feet (76m) above sea level, at its highest point, thus making it relatively easy to navigate. This gentle giant of a waterway has only six locks and is arguably Ireland’s greatest attraction for cruising enthusiasts. As long ago as 300BC the Romans mapped the river and its various lakes because it was an important early European trading route. During the first millennium, the Vikings sailed the river, their famous long boats carrying them as far upstream as Lough Ree where they settled at Rindoon.
President a unique steam powered narrow boat was built in 1909 at a cost of £600 by Fellows, Morton and Clayton at Saltley, Birmingham (formerly Thomas Clayton's yard). One of the directors of the company, Joshua Fellows, gave his name to the distinctively shaped "Josher" hull which has riveted wrought iron sides and a 3 inch elm bottom. The company built and operated 31 steamers between 1889 and 1931. See pictures in the gallery.
It is known in Ireland as one of ‘The Three Sisters’ the other two ‘ladies’ are the River Suir and the River Nore. The Barrow is the longest and most prominent of those three rivers and is the second longest river in Ireland. The River Barrow has a total length of just over 119 miles (192km) the navigable waterway is 42.25 miles long (68km) it has several canalised sections and 23 Victorian-style locks.
