The power of the Shannon, falling 100 feet in 15 miles from Killaloe to Limerick, is nowadays tapped by the hydroelectric power station at Ardnacrusha. But in earlier times it did not go entirely unused. I have already written about the bleach mill at Doonass; here is a page about the other bleach mill, at Clareville, and about the water works in the same area. These works are on a stretch of the Shannon navigable only by cots (then) and kayaks and canoes (now).
Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Canals, Drainage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Non-waterway, Operations, Shannon, Sources, waterways, Waterways management
Tagged bleach mill, Castleconnell, Clareville, Doonass, Killaloe, Limerick, Lough Derg, Newgarden, Operations, Prospect, Shannon, Veolia, waterways, waterworks
Carpenters Road Lock in 2003
Here is a page about an art (craft?) project happening at Carpenters Road Lock on the Bow Back Rivers in London: the lock has changed quite a bit since I took the photo (above) in 2003.
I should warn you that the link is to a very long web page, but the section headings stay on top so you can move around. However, if you allow Javascript, you’ll find that two places on the page show those very annoying sequences of photographs that change automatically.
What I thought was most interesting was the set of events organised at the lock. Canals of Dublin organises canal walks in, er, Dublin, but what about Waterways Ireland having lockkeepers doing talks and demonstrations?
Here are some links to sites with more information about the Bow Back Rivers in London:
London Canals and associated blog
An extensive Wikipedia article with schematic diagram
A political view from Mick Hartley
London’s Lost Rivers on pre-Olympic scenery (black background makes the text hard to read but the photos are good)
The most informative page I found: a superb piece of work. Well done Richard Thomas, to whose Steamers Historical site I have a permanent link.
h/t celr
Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Canals, Drainage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Foreign parts, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Non-waterway, Operations, People, Restoration and rebuilding, waterways, Waterways management
Tagged Bow Back Rivers, Carpenters Road Lock, Lea and Stort, London, waterways
If you’re anywhere near Athlone, hie thee to the Lough Ree Yacht Club at 8.00pm on Wednesday 22 October 2014 for the Old Athlone Society meeting. It features Paul Clements, who has just written a biography of Richard Hayward, author (amongst many other roles) of (amongst many other books) Where the River Shannon Flows, a book that should be in every Irish waterways person’s library.
The evening includes a showing of the film of the same name, which (though short) is highly evocative. WW2 was declared as the filming team reached Portumna. There is some very good footage of the Foynes flying-boats.
h/t gjb
Posted in Ashore, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Non-waterway, Operations, People, Sea, Shannon, shannon estuary, Sources, Tourism, Water sports activities, waterways, Waterways management
Tagged flow, Ireland, LRYC, Old Athlone Society, Paul Clements, Richard Hayward, Shannon, Where the River Shannon Flows
I wrote here about a Slaney cot, built by Larry Duggan, which we had spotted on its way to Wales. The owner has very kindly sent some more photos of the cot’s construction, of Larry Duggan and of the cot on the Usk; I have put them on a separate page here.
Posted in Built heritage, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Foreign parts, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, People, waterways
Tagged boats, cot, Larry Duggan, Slaney, Usk, vessels, waterways, Wexford
From the Financial Resolutions speeches:
I am committed to developing North-South co-operation within the broader arts, heritage and commemorative activities of my Department as well as through the funding of North-South bodies. A provision of more than €38 million is made available to support the two North-South implementation bodies — An Foras Teanga and Waterways Ireland. These budgets will be subject to the approval of the North South Ministerial Council in due course. The provision will enable Waterways Ireland to keep the waterways open for navigation during the main boating season and promote increased use for recreational purposes while developing and promoting our waterways to attract increased numbers of overseas visitors.
Nothing new there, I think, but note the repetition of a point I highlighted last year:
The provision will enable Waterways Ireland to keep the waterways open for navigation during the main boating season […].
Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Canals, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Foreign parts, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Irish waterways general, Operations, People, Politics, Shannon, Sources, waterways, Waterways management
Tagged boats, budget, canal, department of arts heritage and the gaeltacht, financial resolution, Heather Humphreys, Ireland, Operations, Shannon, waterways, Waterways Ireland
Irish waterways history 