Issue 84 Winter 2014/2015

The journal of the Russell Newbery Engine Owners & Enthusiasts Club

RALLY ENTRY FORM INCLUDED!

Spring awayday in Derbyshire Recollections of the “Firm” Self sufficiency in a Whinging Alternator

www.rnregister.org.uk WHO’S WHO CONTENTS

Front cover: Summer at Coole Pilate, Shropshire Union [Kevin McNiff] Back cover: RN D2 Welding Set No.3553 [Keith King]

3 CHAIRMAN’S CHAT FROM THE EDITOR RUSSELL NEWBERY REGISTER LTD 4 MEMBERSHIP MATTERS President: Dr Ian McKim Thompson Office annual closure Vice Presidents: Lady Carol Stamp, Mrs Susan Gibbs, Allister Denyer, Graham Pearson, Eleanor Phillips RNR SPRING AWAY DAY Web site: www.rnregister.org.uk The Russell Newbery Register is a non profit distributing 5 RAY FOXWELL RECALLS HIS TIME company limited by guarantee. AT RN Founded: 1994 Registered in England No: 346943 Officers: Chairman: Norman C Mitchell 6 RALLY NEWS t: 01452 415420 [email protected] SPAKE BLACK COUNTRY Part 2 Secretary: Kevin McNiff m: 07866 424988 [email protected] 7 DAVID THIRLBY’S FUNERAL Director: Jim Comerford Sue Gibbs: a salute on a life lived to the m: 07787 591905 [email protected] Administration (membership, finance): Rob Davies full 55 Noddington Lane, Whittington, Lichfield, Staffs. WS14 9PA 8 FAVOURITE MOORINGS t/f: 01543 432079 m: 07801 842337 [email protected] 9 RNR TRIBUTE TO DAVID THIRLBY Newsletter Editor: Kevin McNiff [email protected] by Rob Davies Newsletter Production: Andrew Laycock m: 07870 294580 Administration (merchandise): Neil Mason 10 A NOISY, SCARY [LATE] NIEHOFF Hillcrest, Chapel Lane, Westhumble, Surrey. RH5 6AH t: 01306 889073 [email protected] Dave Martin explains Rally Organisers: Bob Scott and Andrew Laycock AUTARKY - an old boat into new [email protected] Webmaster: Andrew Laycock [email protected] 12 MY LIFE AS AN RN APPRENTICE by Terry Marfleet RUSSELL NEWBERY REGISTER PROPERTY LTD 14 THE GOVERNOR A non profit distributing company limited by guarantee From the drawings by Graham Pearson Founded 2004 Registered in England No: 5316384 Directors: Bob Ainsworth, Rob Davies, Dave Martin, 15 No.3553 - D2 WITH A DIFFERENCE Bob Scott. 54 years in the same ownership

Unless otherwise noted, Copyright © Russell Newbery Register, 2015

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RN DIESEL ENGINE COMPANY To obtain upto to the minute Rally Proprietors: Dave Bixter (m:07812 039110) (and post Rally cruise) news, Deborah Bixter (m: 07966 403132) follow @RNRegisterRally on Twitter. Or, if you Showroom: RN House, The Locks, Hillmorton, Rugby, Warwickshire, CV21 4PP t:01788 578661 do not have a Twitter account, visit the rally page Engineering workshop: 4 Oak House, Royal Oak Way North, at http://www.rnregister.org.uk/rally.html where Royal Oak Industrial Estate, Daventry NN11 8PQ t: 01327 the latest tweets are repeated. 700023 Email: [email protected] Web site: www.russellnewbery.com Field Engineers: Ian Crompton m: 07831 841108 Next edition Richard Milligan m: 07973 826260 All contributions for the Spring edition will be gratefully received. Do not worry about format — in true RN fashion the editorial team can cope with [almost] anything!

Please supply photographs as separate JPEG or GIF files. Corporate Member Copy deadline is 12th April 2015 2 RNR Newsletter : Winter 2014/2015 Chairman’s Chat They say summer is coming, though it may be a little while getting here. I’m looking forward to our visit up the Crow, last visited on the pre rally cruise organised by President Ian back in 2005 was it? A recent Birmingham Navigation Society evening meeting caught my eye for two good reasons, the first was the subject, the second the venue. Dr Della Sadler-Moore was speaking on the subject of “Care on the Cut” the story of Sister Mary Ward, Consultant Sister to long-distance boatmen and families on the Grand at Stoke Bruerne. The venue was the Titford Pumphouse up the Crow, the BCNS HQ and our rally site. A very interesting building have chosen an interesting spot to enjoy other RNR though a dark, cold and damp January night is not the members’ company and then afterwards join another best time to judge any site. I met up with Ian McKim first class cruise on the BCN under Ian McKim’s care. Thompson who was very happy that he had the early 2015 looks to be a splendid year with CRT doing more year steam excursions already planned and was for the boaters, more and trimming vegetation. looking forward to the rally. I hope you are all able to join in some if not all of the If you get the chance to hear Della on Sister Mary do RNR events. Black Country speak is not compulsory for take it, and a visit to the site is really a worthwhile trip. visitors; after all, the canal and road signs are all easily There was not a great opportunity to assess the outside read! site as it was cold, very windy and dark as a bag but I Here’s to a great year! could see some very tidy well lit moorings on the Tat Bank Branch with not a boat moored there apart from the Society craft outside the building. The [Rally] lads

From The Editor Welcome to 2015 and the Winter Edition! eventually made millions of dollars for Hollywood! Some previous items from this We remember David Thirlby who passed archive will re-emerge in the coming away last November. It seems that each editions as they are no doubt of interest to issue carries a tribute to a member who has us, particularly subjects technical. They will sadly passed away, perhaps a reminder to also soon be available on our web site when us all that “tempus fugit”. Jim Comerford completes the indexing process. Although still in the depths of winter, I’m sure the wanderlust of boating is slowly I’m sure that I will meet many of you out on wakening and maybe the change in timing the cut this year, as well as at the Rally so of this year’s Rally will allow some who were until then, keep your blade clean. unable to make it previously to join in. That said, I welcome all new articles from I have now got all the Newsletters since the you about present trends and troubles, so first single paged one, notwithstanding please keep them coming. there was no edition 13 for reasons best known to most but not NASA, whose third moon mission nearly ended in disaster but

One for the ladies? Surprisingly, no submissions for the column suggested at the last Autumn Gathering have been received by the copy deadline so the topic will be dropped for the time being. Ed RNR Newsletter : Winter 2014/2015 3 Membership Matters Life Members signing up new members. Hopefully the Spring will see As you know, Vice President and Life Member, David things improve. Thirlby, passed away in November 2014 and a tribute is included in this Issue. However, I am very pleased to announce that his daughters, Lucille and Dorinda have accepted our offer of Life Membership. We welcome them He’s off again! into our RN family although they are already in the RN Where does the time go? Once again Helen and I have to family! pay our annual visit to see our Daughter and family in New Zealand. These are the sacrifices that Grandparents have That is it, I don’t think that this has happened previously but to make! we do not have any new members to welcome in this Issue. The last member signed up on 8 October 2014. As you Consequently, please note that the RNR Office will be know recruitment has slowed down considerably and it is closed from 24 January until the 3 March. disappointing although the Winter is never a good time for

RNR AWAY DAY - Thursday 30th April 2015 I am letting members know of the plans for our Spring trip which will be in the scenic Peak District of Derbyshire. The trip has a number of variations which I have designed to allow flexible plans and the opportunity of a mini break. And you can use public transport with spectacular scenery or go by car. The basic plan is to visit the detached Cromford canal with a special boat trip on passenger heritage butty Birdswood followed by a visit to the National Tramway Museum at Crich. Train travel is via Derby with its impressive modern station, and connections with principal routes such as Cross Country, Birmingham, Sheffield and London. We will leave Main exhibition hall of the Tramway Museum on the East Midlands, Nottingham to Matlock service from [Andrew Laycock] Platform 2 at 09.52 arriving at the wonderfully scenic the train to Derby from Whatstandwell station or catch the Cromford Station at 10.19. return 140 or 141 bus back to Cromford or Matlock stations. I can confirm that the train trip from Derby to Matlock along the Derwent Valley is extremely scenic. But if you come by car there is plenty of easy parking at all the venues. The date I have chosen is a Thursday for ease of travelling but is also immediately before the May bank holiday week- end. Over that week-end the Leawood Pumps will be in steam and Birdswood will be offering horse drawn trips and of course the world heritage site of Sir Richard Arkwright's Cromford Mill. In addition Matlock Bath, Heights of NB Birdswood undergoing “Horse Trials” on the Cromford Abraham, Peak District Mining Museum and Gullivers Canal Kingdom are on the doorstep. Chatsworth House and [Cromford Canal Society] Haddon Hall are just a short car trip away. This area is a A short walk crossing the River Derwent takes us to wonderful tourist attraction and I can confirm that Cromford Wharf where Birdswood is moored. The plan is accommodation is available at Willersley Castle Hotel to commission a private booking but that is passenger (Arkwright lived there) and the Greyhound Inn. You also number dependent. The trip lasts two hours turning at the have the High Peak Trail, High Peak Junction railway, and Leawood Steam Pump House and passing the High Peak working mills at Masson and Wirksworth and even a Junction wharf with its heritage buildings. It is a most shopping village. pleasant rural journey. On return we catch Peak Connection bus service route 140 or 141 to Crich. Finally costs (there are senior concessions) £8 for the canal return trip on Birdswood (it has a snack bar) and The Tramway Museum is laid out with heritage buildings tramway museum £14 (it has a decent cafeteria). I will and streets and you can hop on and off the trams, travel need to know numbers for the boat booking. down the unique period village street and then ride out into the old quarry workings and countryside with spectacular As usual Betty Dobbs is giving me great help with the views. If you have not been before you will be impressed. organisation and our contact details are The tramsheds and depots themselves contain dozens of [email protected] or text me on 07971 291 296. restored period trams from all over the world. After your visit you have the choice of walking a mile downhill to catch 4 RNR Newsletter : Winter 2014/2015 Ray Foxwell recalls his time at the R N Works….. Our new Life member recalls his days working for RN at Dagenham You may have noticed that my name was on the list of ‘new engine owners and enthusiasts club exists, as it shows members’ to the Register in the Autumn Issue of the appreciation of quality, design and workmanship. Newsletter. I only recently discovered that the Club existed after looking up on Google and, in amazement, found an I have been retired for five years now and have had time old photo of me alongside Bill Lambert and the Upminster to take in the various TV programmes involving canal team. (This is on the Register web site.) , mostly presented by Alan Herd, (restoring Dover with its new Daventry RN engine) again stirring memories I have always had an interest in RN engines as I was an of RN. Several times I went with Bill Lambert to service employee for thirty years at Dagenham and then engines in canal boats, fishing trawlers and tug boats. Upminster. Starting as a fifteen year old after my father and There was nothing he did not know the workings of each uncle worked there. So RN was a large part of my life and machine. I have often dreamt of life aboard a canal boat holds many memories. and wondered where I could visit to see the old RN engine in action. I decided to contact the Chairman, Norman Mitchell, initially, who then passed me on to Rob Davies, who I have The idea that engine manufacture continues to this day at spoken to recently and he told me of the recent Daventry is inspiring as it stems from all those years ago developments of the Company. He asked me to try and when RN was formed. As a former employee I wish all write about some of my recollections for the Newsletter. I those involved every success with the Company and long was more than surprised to be made an Honorary Life may it continue. member!

My job at RN was primarily as a pipe maker/fitter/welder/solderer. When the workforce lessened I had a most interesting chat with Ray and I have asked I even sprayed the engines battleship grey, and then when him if he would tell us just some of the stories that he refers that ran out, green. The people that I worked alongside to in future Newsletters. Is there anyone within a helped to make the job more interesting. I only had a ten reasonable distance of Dagenham that could answer minute walk to the Works from home or sometimes used a Ray’s wish to see an RN in action on their boat? If so, push-bike. This was from 1959 to 1989. (1989 was the please let me know. year that the Company failed.) I always knew of the Works as my father was employed there shortly after the end of the War and I have a photo of him in the Test Shop. Whilst he was there they had a famous Welfare Officer at the Stirling Works in Titanic survivor, Eva Hart, who was from the local area and visited us at home on occasions.

Engineering has played a large part in both mine and my father’s lives. He went on to the Test Plant at Fords in Dunton until retirement at sixty five. After RN closed its doors, with much regret, I went on to work for a tap manufacturer. Only two jobs in my career, I was very lucky and these days, of course, it is very rare.

During my time at RN I worked with skilled, dedicated workmen producing those engines which still exist today. To have played a part in something which holds as much interest today as it did then, is good to know.

There are too many stories to mention spanning over thirty years regarding day to day RN engine manufacturing and life with the workforce. However, my interest in engineering, RN engines has always remained. Ray is 2nd right with colleagues l to r: Eugene Czauderna, Design Draughtsman, Devinda I hold memories of working there Chana, Skilled Machine Operator, Bill Lambert, Engine Builder (Mr RN) and Ted Mundy, fondly and I am pleased that the Machine Operator/Engine Fitter. [RN Archive] RNR Newsletter : Winter 2014/2015 5 Yow cam spake Black Country 2015 Rally News Here is the second instalment of our very basic introduction Included for members in this edition of the Newsletter is a to the language of the Black Country. 2015 Rally attendees, rally entry form. If you have mislaid it, you can download or any boater on the northern BCN might find it useful. another copy from http://www.rnregister.org.uk/Rally2015EntryForm.pdf. The Ift - lift or heave last date for receipt of entries is 15th June. Also note that Ivver-ovver - hesitating; “Stop yer ivverin’ an’ ovvering’ an’ the conditions of rally entry are not printed on the form, get on wi’ it!” these are online at Jack banil - a minnow, stickleback (or generally small) http://www.rnregister.org.uk/rallyconditions.html - if you do Jeth (jed) - death (dead) not have access to the Internet, please contact us and we Joobus - suspicious will send a copy in the post. Jiffy - brief moment Kell - the covering of the bowels of an animal, and thus the Observant amongst you will notice that the entry from does wrapping of a faggot not contain any boxes to show workshop preferences. This Ketch - catch is not because there are no workshops, but as a result of Lather - ladder there being only one session for each workshop subject. Lommock- clumsy, lumbering As usual we will have the booking desk open on Thursday Lungeous - horse play or rough handling evening for those activities which require booking. Madden - to annoy Maulers - hands One workshop that we expect to be popular is a first for the Maunch - to chew, usually carefully (as with no teeth) RNR rally, photography. This will be led by Kevin Maslin, Meegrum - pulling faces, or being bad tempered who runs a freelance waterways photographic service. You Mucker - confusion can see some of his work in Waterways World; on Mun - must GEOprojects maps and on CRT publicity. Kevin ran a Nash - soft or weak photographic workshop for the BCNS at the Pumphouse Natty - neat and tidy last year; unfortunately on the wettest day of the year. Niggle - nit picking (finding insignificant faults) Hopefully for our rally the weather will be better, giving Node - known plenty of opportunity for taking stunning pictures. As part of Noggen yedded - stupid, thick the rally wrap up we will review some of the results. Noggin - thick piece of bread or the head Some of the activities for the workshop free Saturday Noo - new afternoon are finalised. One of these is a treasure hunt, Ockerd - awkward with clues to be found on the rally site and along the Titford Ode - old Canal. Also on Saturday afternoon will be an opportunity to Odge - push; “odge up” for move up a bit cruise in convoy to Titford Pools; the terminus of the Titford Ood - would Canal. The pools lie in the vee formed by the former Ooman - woman Causeway Green and Portway Branches and are now Oot - will you? crossed by the M5. They were the site of two IWA National Orts - scraps Rallies (1978 and 1982), however few boats now visit. Oss - four legged creature used to pull boats, trams or drays Ote - hold; “ketch ote” means hang on On Friday evening the entertainment is a musical O’thisnin - in this way extravaganza from BCNS member Phil Clayton and his Ow bist? - How are you? band. This includes “Birmingham Lads”, a lively musical Owsen - houses with accompanying visual presentation on the rise, Pail - to beat success, decline and revival of the BCN. The show Pennywinkle - periwinkle or generally any shellfish comprises a selection of original songs as well as Pays (often pronounced pies) - peas (usually mushy) traditional boaters’ ditties. It is illustrated by photographs Pike - pick (workman’s tool) from the collection of our own Bob May. Pikelet - muffin Pine - to fret The post rally escorted cruise of parts of the BCN will run Pisey - spiteful from Monday afternoon 20 July to Friday morning 24 July. Pither - dilly dallying, wandering aimlessly The route will include Bradley Arm, Wyrely & Essington, Pittle - pickle Cannock Extension, Anglesey Basin and Longwood. At Pon - saucepan some of the overnight stops we will be arranging group Pothery - close or stuffy meals. Proper - really or truly Purgit-’ole - receptacle for ashes in old style grates For those not attending by boat, one suitable hotel is the Puss - purse Ramada Oldbury, located on Wolverhampton Road near to Titford Pools, postcode B69 4RJ. Bookings through And now a few more phrases. ramada.co.uk or phone 0121 541 4090. Day visitors to the E woe be a jiffy - He will be here shortly rally need to book in too, it is the same booking form, just Ers proper poorly - She is very sick leave the boat name box empty! More details in the next edition, in the meantime use And homework this time is to translate this … Twitter or visit the rally page on the Register website. “I’ll gi’ ‘im a proper pailin’ when ‘e cums whum.”

6 RNR Newsletter : Winter 2014/2015 David Thirlby 1930 - 2014 - Salute to a life lived to the full Our Vice President and Fred Russell's stepson, David Aspin Thirlby died following a fall on 17th November, aged 84.

Some two hundred gathered at the Vale Royal Crematorium, near Northwich on Friday 28th November, to attend his funeral and to celebrate his life.

To set the tone of the afternoon, the cortege to the doors of the crematorium was led by the New Imperial Parade jazz band playing 'That's my Home', and David's coffin was borne on his beloved Frazer-Nash.

The coffin was carried into the crematorium to the strains of 'Abide With Me', and eventually everyone managed to squeeze into the chapel, with about a hundred standing at the back and up the sides.

His local Vicar, Rev Jerry Sutton led the service and a eulogy was given by past VSCC president Roger Collings.

Roger confided that when editor of the VSCC Bulletin, David used to ask contributors for a brief CV, so that if any of them died, he had some notes on which to base their obituary. David did likewise - however his notes ran to some 120 pages!

When David first left school he won a coveted apprenticeship at Avro's. He did concede later that his mother Jane knew Alliott Roe, and this may have had something to do with it.

Whilst still an apprentice, he was left £150 by an aunt, and used this to buy his first Frazer Nash. He was to keep this car PH 3682 till he eventually gave it to his daughter Dorinda.

Frazer Nashes and motor bikes then tended to dominate his life, and the FN car club showed their appreciation of their registrar, editor of the 'Chain-Gang Gazette' and leading historian of the marque by attending en masse at the funeral including many braving the elements in their vintage cars.

The Congregation fairly belted out his favourite hymns, 'The Lord's my Shepherd' and 'Jerusalem', and we could not help but notice as the coffin passed from sight, that hanging down from the floral tribute on top was a poignant broken F-N drive chain.

The wake at the Hartford Hall Hotel was in essence a giant club 'noggin and natter'.

David's two daughters Dorinda and Lulu set up a projector with a slide show chronicling his life from childhood to old age, and the reminiscences flowed with the beer and the chip butties - he would not have wanted it any other way.

David Kay Phillips, Lady Carol Stamp, Sue Gibbs and David Thirlby at the unveiling of the commemorative plaque at the site of the Altrincham works in 2003 with one of the first new DM2s installed by the RN Diesel Engine Company in the background.

[combined image by Rob Davies and RN Archive] RNR Newsletter : Winter 2014/2015 7 Some Favourite Moorings I’m sure we all have favourite mooring places around the network. In the first of what could be an occasional feature, I will kick off with just a few of my favourite “happy places” [All photographs by the author]

Hazelhurst Aqueduct, Bugsworth Basin,

On the Leek branch and overlooking the pub below, these This has to be one of the best locations in the north west. 24 hour moorings are ideal for walking and, of course, Despite the struggle through vegetation and shallows from visiting the pub! Although there are similar moorings on Macclesfield or the Marple Flight, it really is worth the trip. the Froghall level right outside the pub, we found these to In the past, Whaley Bridge, with its lack of mooring, was be occupied by overstaying boats and with it being a dog the only terminus until the Inland Waterways Protection and child friendly pub, perhaps too close for a quiet relax Society [IWPS], but now the Bugsworth Basin Heritage after an excellent meal inside. Trust [BHHT] restored the basins and surrounds. Site of an RNR Rally in 2006, there are plenty of mooring spaces [unless the local boat clubs descend without warning!]. 48 hours is the maximum stay but if you do wish to linger longer, contact the onsite office and for a small donation you can negotiate a longer stay. Add to this, the proximity of a Tesco store and good local shops in Whaley Bridge make it an excellent destination.

Consall Forge, Caldon Canal

No mobile phone connections whatsoever, no internet, no Onley, between bridges 80-81 vehicle access to the Black Lion, and a heritage railway, excellent food and real ale. HEAVEN! [If you must have Situated between Braunston [3m] and Hillmorton. There is email and Skype access, the pub has free WiFi. Which you ample space so long as there are not any 20ft gaps can connect if moored near the bridge!]. The landlord is between boats. A gate in the hedge leads to a parallel from the Black Country - topical at this time! footpath towards bridge 80 or if you go through you get to a very useful bus stop outside HMP Rye Hill which serves Incidentally, if you haven’t been beyond Leek tunnel for Braunston, Daventry and Rugby! It also makes for a good some time, there are now only a few moorings by the last dog walking area but beware the overzealous G4S staff full length , all the others have disappeared who disapprove of anyone getting near the prison walls [as into the undergrowth! if!]

If you have a favourite location to share, we will be happy to include in future editions. As usual, send all contributions to [email protected]

8 RNR Newsletter : Winter 2014/2015 David Aspin Thirlby, Vice-President R N Register 1930 - 2014 Sadly, David, who was Frederick Russell’s stepson, passed away in November 2014. We take this opportunity to pay tribute to a remarkable man.

David’s early years were spent in Surrey but the family then moved to Cheshire. In 1944 he passed the entrance examination which enabled him to attend Rydal Boarding School in North Wales. His main involvement/contact with the Russell Newbery business was made during long school holidays. In his ‘never to be published’ memoirs he includes a chapter which relates the life of Russell Newbery at the Altrincham Works. I quote:

“The summer holidays from Rydal lasting for week after week and seemingly stretching into schoolboy infinity, caused me on a number of occasions to visit the Grosvenor Road, Russell Newbery works by the side of the electric railway line to Manchester, between Altrincham and Navigation Road stations. These visits were partly instrumental in my decision to become an engineer. I used to enjoy going to the Russell Newbery works on a Sunday morning after the end of the war in Europe and hear my step-father, in the perfect quietness, discuss aloud to himself the problems of being a manufacturer of diesel engines in a small way. Russell Newbery diesel engines had a very good reputation, but the output was so small as to be at the mercy of any manufacturer who fancied undercutting him.”

His first job came by chance when his mother met Sir Alliot Verdon Roe of AVRO fame at a cocktail party and she talked him into agreeing to let the young David attend an apprenticeship interview at Chadderton. This he did successfully and was taken on as an aero apprentice. Motor-cycles, exams and cricket took up most of his time as an apprentice at AVRO’s! During this time, with the help of a windfall from an Aunt and overtime pay, he was able to buy his first car, an Anzani engined Frazer Nash. Thus began a lifelong love affair, as a result of which he ultimately became almost better known than the founders of his favourite marque. He finally achieved recognition as ‘Mr Frazer Nash’ when he became Patron of the Frazer Nash Car Club – the first to do so from outside the family. Soon after buying his Frazer Nash he became registrar of the Frazer section of the Vintage Sports-Car Club (VSCC), a position that he held for some 50 years. He did also dabble in motor cycle racing but this proved somewhat short lived.

In addition to all this, as a qualified engineer to A V Roe he was able to pursue an industrial career with Napier and later Dunlop. More recently he ran his own company, Thirlby Publicity. He was a prolific writer and, in addition to his ‘never to be published biography,’ he was author of the following books: The Chain drive Frazer Nash (1965), Frazer Nash (1977), The Frazer Nash 1923-1957 (2000 with Tony Bancroft), Minimal Motoring: From Cyclecar to Microcar (2002) and Noel Macklin from Invicta to Fairmile (2006). Automobile Magazine pays tribute to him with the following words: “David’s contribution to the history of transport, and Frazer Nashes in particular, ensures no one of like mind will ever forget him.”

He never lost his enthusiasm for the RN marque either and was keenly interested in the life of the company and the Register. He was the instigator of the commemorative plaque which now looks down on us from the outside wall of the original Grosvenor Road Works, which the Register erected in 2003.

I will end this tribute with another quote from his memoirs: “In 1995 Peter Whale, a Frazer Nash owner and the regalia man for the VSCC, told me he was hiring a narrow boat from a fellow VSCC member, Chris Cliffe in Middlewich, to go up the Leeds and Liverpool canal. I volunteered my services for two/three days, as unpaid crew to go up the Wigan Flight of twenty-one locks. As we started to enter the bottom , coming out was a privately owned narrow boat of some splendour – a world apart from hired boats - and there was a distinctive single cylinder beat to the engine exhaust; I enquired from the passing captain whether it was a Bolinder and was brushed off with "Actually, it's a Russell Newbery" so I riposted " Good, because I am the eldest step-son of Russell". He was obviously excited, but like all that pass in the night, that was that.” †

It was a privilege and a pleasure to have known him.

† I can verify this story as it was me that he met. It was, I think, circa 1992 (before the Register was founded in 1994) but my memory of it suggests that it was when the boat that he was on emerged from Chirk Tunnel on the . That was our first meeting, little did we think that we ever would meet again.

RNR Newsletter : Winter 2014/2015 9 What Noise Annoys a NEIHOFF? A Tale of the Supernatural Our DM3 was recovered from Canada, refurbished to the plans to visit his yard in July to replace the Niehoff. latest spec, and installed in Jaipur in 2011. This “latest Immediately after this, we returned to Jaipur to do a final spec” included a 60 amp Niehoff brushless alternator on a check prior to setting off across the Mersey next day. We Kay Bracket, so it is driven by a belt on the flywheel, rather fired up the DM3, as it hadn’t been run all Rally, as the solar than on a pulley. panels had kept the batteries charged. Warning lights flashed all over the place: alternator only delivering 13.2 Now to be fair to the Niehoff, it worked well enough, volts. The Niehoff really had thrown its toys out of the pram. delivering the quoted 60 amps at 14 volts from low revs Within an hour of confirming it is to be replaced, the from Day 1, so we had no complaints to make. However, alternator dies: scary, eh?? with time, we started to tire of its whine under high load, and a few grumbles were heard from the humans. Was this What are RN Rallies for, if not to solve problems? With the beginning of the falling-out we ask ourselves? Compo, Richard and Dave B around, the RN brain-cell count was at a maximum. Prodding with screwdrivers and So we took action to minimize the length of time the Niehoff voltmeter probes managed to coax a miserly 13.7 volts was under high load by fitting solar panels in September from the Niehoff, so we were still on for Liverpool. 2013, as recounted in a previous article. Maybe this was an insult too much, as the Niehoff appeared to sulk on The crossing went well as you all know, with some charging occasions and let the panels complete the battery charging. now and again. Pattern was the same whilst moored in Liverpool, and again the panels kept the domestic batteries However, winter came and went, the Niehoff did the bulk charged. charging OK, and the panels kept the batteries topped up. In March 2014, during an early Spring cruise, we were Since we were heading back to Audlem the short canal chewing over the impending Mersey cruise, (pinot mucho way, we decided to take a chance on total failure, and sort collapso in hand), and concluded that the Niehoff had to go. the problem when we got home. Nessa also decided that It wasn’t the noise, but the fact that as a single point of talking to the alternator nicely (rather than me cursing it) failure, your local Lucas or Bosch workshop wasn’t going might be a better solution. In true RN fashion, Allan to be much use in the event of it going kaput. And the Bamford lent us his old Niehoff as a possible “cuminfer” service agent is in Preston. So we mentally penciled in a should we get stuck. post-Mersey cruise to the good Mr. Bixter’s establishment The alternator continued its temperamental behaviour to have a conventional (easily repairable) alternator fitted. (obviously still cross with us) until we reached Anderton, at We obviously didn’t keep our voices down: blame the pinot! which point it threw its legs in the air and died: 13.1 volts is In early April a smell of hot plastic/insulation was no use to anyone. We dashed for home, doing minimum occasionally noticeable in the engine room. By elimination, engine starts possible, whilst the panels kept the domestic it had to come from the Niehoff: obviously it was not happy battery world happy. with us. But it was still generating the correct volts & amps, A call to RN Diesels resulted in the rapid delivery of a shiny so we decided immediate action was unnecessary, even new 120 amp alternator, and a few words of wisdom from though the Niehoff was clearly showing displeasure at the Dave about fitting it. Whilst the Niehoff is an all American prospect of being supplanted. The smell continued on and boy, the new alternator has a more interesting ancestry: it’s off during May: grumpy it might be, but it was still delivering a replacement for an AC Delco (General Motors) model, the goods. made by a Danish subsidiary of Bosch! So the Ellesmere Port Rally came, as did a Sunday Fitting the new beast was easy and took under three hours: lunchtime chat (guess where?) with Dave Bixter over our two pairs of hands were useful at times. It was a perfect fit Autarky [which means self sufficient] When you reach the septuagenarian phase of life, commissioning a new narrowboat would probably not be on your “bucket list”. However, Brian Jarrett is not your ordinary 70+ RNR member!

Brian sold “Kyle” last year, [rather more swiftly than he thought!] in order to commission his new boat. That is, if you think an 1897 BCN riveted iron Joey boat originally built, they think, at Hartshill and lying part-submerged at Dave Bixter’s yard, is “new!” But being a Brummie himself, Brian was obviously meant to have this boat!

We will be featuring the boat in the Spring Edition and have included a photo of her part way through the build. When asked “why” Brian replied that he needed something “Zimmer Frame Friendly” with space for a Stannah chair lift! More importantly, he won’t be lifting 25Kg coal bags as Autarky is all diesel and powered by a DM1. Autarky at Grantham’s Bridge Boatyard [Brian Jarrett]

10 RNR Newsletter : Winter 2014/2015 on the Kay bracket, and came with the correct size pulley. a mishap was almost dropping the beast when all bolts The only essential mod to the DM3 was to make the slot in were removed. It is claimed to be bomb-proof (hence its the adjustment bracket a tad wider (grinder or file) to suit use by the US military): when you feel the weight of it, you the new fixing bolt. Otherwise, all existing fittings could be understand why. The thought crossed my mind that we used. We chose to do a proper job and change some bolts ought to adjust the ballast to compensate for its removal. and the spade connector on the feed to the batteries: if we Are there any downsides we’ve found so far? Just a minor hadn’t, the job could have easily been done in 90 minutes. one, which Dave B warned us about. Make a mental note What a result! We now have a battery sensing alternator to put on a few more revs when moving off when the (more efficient charging), that will run up to 14.7 volts and alternator is charging heavily (i.e. first thing): the load will has been seen to actually deliver 120 amps on initial even stall a DM3 on tickover. engine start-up. And it’s NOISELESS. All this, and costing around a third of the cost of a new Niehoff. All thoughts of So the Niehoff has been consigned to the box in the fitting an Adverc charge regulator have now also been garage labelled “things I ought to throw out, but don’t have banished! the courage to do so”. In view of the previous scary happenings, we expected the Never has the epitaph Rest In Peace been more Niehoff to have one last throw of the dice. But there were appropriate. no crushed fingers, broken toes or electrical flashes during its removal: it really had given up the ghost. The nearest to

New AC DELCO alternator in situ [Photos by the author] Speaks for itself!

Fully refurbished DM2 ready to slot into boat c/w PRM 260 gearbox. £12,000

Brand new DM2 built to order. £18,995

1954 DM2 just removed from boat in good running order. Stripped for removal. Could be used as is or rebuilt to order. £6,500 as now.

Early D2 featured in the magazine. Complete original running condition . £TBC

National DM2 still in the boat can be seen running. Lots of known history. £6,500

PRM 500 gearbox only 68 hours old! £1,000

National D3 stripped cleaned and ready for rebuild. Complete engine. £4,000

Kelvin J2 petrol start excellent condition. Free turning and was running when removed. £4,000

Parson gearbox type DA 1:1 ratio good order recent rebuild. £500

Parson gearbox type DA 2:1 reduction good order. £500 All above available for viewing at Daventry or Hillmorton. RN House, The Locks, Hillmorton, Rugby, Warwickshire, CV21 4PP 01788 578661 Engineering workshop: 4 Oak House, Royal Oak Way North, Royal Oak Industrial Estate, Daventry NN11 8PQ 01327 700023 RNR Newsletter : Winter 2014/2015 11 My life as an RN Apprentice Terry Marfleet recalls his introduction to the world of engineering

I left school in 1949, my Higher School Certificate machine down and then asked me whether I was being exempted me from the first academic year of engineering paid “the bonus”. I assured him that not only was I not and I was sent to the Russell Newbery works at Dagenham getting the bonus but as a student I or at least my parents as a student apprentice. were paying handsomely for this questionably useful experience. He said “OK lad, I’ll fix this”. He produced a Neither home nor school had prepared me for my wrench from his pocket, made a few adjustments to the introduction to life in a Dagenham factory. Although the automatic and said, “Now you carry on”. Production movie “Made in Dagenham” had some believable inspection were a bit slow as I had apparently produced characterisations, it tended to paint Dagenham as an some hundred or so off specification parts before I was almost desirable place to live. Some workers arrived on irately ordered off the Sterling works automatic and foot or bicycle but many disembarked as I did from red transferred to a Russell Newbery production line. double decker London Transport buses. Men and women in overalls, the women with their hair tied up in scarves and My task on the production line consisted of receiving an many smoking a final cigarette before joining the queues in engine part clamped in a box called a jig and drilling two or the clock alleys to punch their time cards and start the three holes as indicated on the jig and then passing the jig working day. In those days factories were not obliged to and part on to the next person on the line for further provide changing rooms and showers and one had no machining. This I did for eight hours a day. However it was option after work but to sit on the bus in your own sweaty better than the automatics. Despite the noise I was able to overalls until you got home. In the bus the smell of tobacco talk to my neighbours who were equally bored with their and body odour, to which I undoubtedly contributed, I can tasks and were eager to chat. Sex was the favoured topic remember even sixty years later. Inside the factory it was fuelled by the most recent scandals recorded in the unbelievably noisy and the smell of cooling fluid weekend News of the World, with politics coming second. overwhelming. I had joined a totally alien world. Interestingly there were few arguments about politics, they were all strong Labour supporters and their discussions My first exposure to working class snobbery was following generally centred around their and their family’s my initial assignment to the supply inspection department, expectations as the welfare state evolved. a large room where random samples of materials made by outside manufacturers were stored and checked. Presiding It was during this period on the production line that I met over this department was a large and unattractive woman Bert Pring, the Production Chaser, his job was, as his title known as Miss Chloe, who on meeting me and hearing my implied, to keep production running smoothly and identify accent simply commented “couldn’t your Dad have got a bottlenecks. Bert rather fancied himself as a ‘ladies man’ little gentleman like you a nice job in a bank?” She then and made no secret of the fact that he fancied the canteen indicated a large tea chest full of rubber rings and gave me manageress, a woman of both generous and shapely a plug gauge and three boxes and said “sort them, proportions. Over tea break he would regale us with highly undersized to the left oversized to the right and ok in the imaginative tales of his encounters with her. His habit of middle”. As green as I then was, I realised that sorting eating butter and marmite sandwiches while talking and flexible rubber rings with a plug gauge was just a ploy to showering us with the crumbs as he enthusiastically keep me busy – after a week of grinding boredom I finished described their trysts was at the least disconcerting. Once the job and as I suspected, she called the department he generously offered to introduce me to her – “a lad like labourer to put them all back in the original tea chest. “Well” you should get a bit of experience” he said, happily for me, she smiled maliciously “You know how to use a plug gauge he never got around to it. now don’t you?” In her opinion I was totally out of place in her world, but because of Miss Chloe, I have always tried I must, I think have redeemed myself on the production throughout my career to ensure that any students who line, as my next assignment was to production testing worked for me were assigned meaningful jobs that would where samples of newly produced diesel engines were enrich their technical experience. tested under load. My supervisor was a retired Royal Navy chief petty officer, he liked me and particularly my I complained, my college complained, and I was moved to cigarettes and it was at this point in my apprenticeship that work on an automatic lathe, in the Sterling Works, the my engineering education overtook my social education. regular operator of which had unsurprisingly quit. That this was to teach me an important lesson, I have no doubt, it The Chief, as he was called, and I would connect a new was also an invaluable one as I have always thought engine to the brake, then connect up the fuel and cooling carefully before making official complaints ever since. The water systems start it and then adjust the brake load, and title “automatic” was a euphemism as although the chart speed and temperatures over a period of some machining process was automatic supplying the material to hours. Once the initial start up had been completed we the lathe was not. I was on the automatic for a week and I would find a sunny place outside the test sheds and have must have lost at least a stone, it required picking up an a smoke and I would happily listen to the Chief’s wartime half inch diameter twelve foot long mild steel rod from a tales of battles at sea. This was not simply skiving, the , test rack about twenty feet away, feeding and supporting it into sheds had levels of noise not permitted by today’s health the ever hungry machine. This process was repeated, as and safety legislation and we were not supplied with ear each rod was consumed, for the entire working day. My muffs, the exhausts were not silenced and in consequence punishment time however was brought to an end by an it was difficult to stay by an engine throughout its test and unexpected ally; the union shop steward. He shut my 12 RNR Newsletter : Winter 2014/2015 A typical Capstan lathe in the RN works as we could still hear the engine from our hide away we no artisan work for them. It is no surprise that nowadays would know if anything went wrong, or so we thought. such skills are seldom found outside the Indian sub continent or mainland China. We were testing a six cylinder marine diesel. Cooling water was supplied by hoses connected to a large header tank It was 1949 and there was a minor flu epidemic that hit the located outside the test sheds, water was run through the tool room hard and I arrived one morning to find that I was engine and returned via the engine’s water pump to the alone in the tool repair shop and worse still expected to header tank. I cannot remember whether I or the Chief had provide skilled assistance in the event of a jig or tool connected the hoses that day but the return hose broke breakdown. I was not too concerned as I knew that days loose. We were, as usual, having our smoke and were could pass before a repair job came into the shop and the surprised to hear the engine stop and angry voices from emphasis would be on making new jigs for the production the shed. Two customers were viewing the engine with the line, work which would have to wait until the toolmakers chief engineer when the return hose coupling came loose returned. However in this respect I was unlucky as a spraying the onlookers. Fortunately the chief engineer production boring tool had been damaged and a fragment knew how to shut the engine down. To say that he was of the shaft needed to be brazed back into place. I had displeased would have been an understatement and he never brazed before, only watched, but I bravely went expressed his displeasure forcibly to the Chief and I. ahead; my repaired product looked rather like a brass Decently however, he took it no further and the Chief potato and bore little resemblance in shape to the original thankfully retained his job. tool. I sheepishly handed my work back to the production line foreman who looked at it and swore.” *****, what’s My last assignment was to the Tool Room with a final two that?” then after a pause for reflection “Oh well, maybe we weeks in Tool Inspection. It was here that I met real can grind it back to shape” Which fortunately they did. craftsmen, one, an Irish toolmaker, who had served his apprenticeship with Harland and Wolff decided to teach me Thus ended my time with Russell Newbery, I said my how to turn, a skill which I still use to this day. Most people goodbyes and climbed on the bus to Romford to sit in my with some mechanical aptitude can get a lathe going, but overalls for the last time. I returned many years later to get this man taught me about the relationship of materials and signatures for my Institution application. Surprisingly little cutting speeds, what tool bits to use and the positioning of had changed, save that the management was a bit more the tool relative to the piece to be turned. His skills with deferential to me, after all I might be a future customer. mental arithmetic too were prodigious. In those days we dealt in fractions of an inch, seven sixty fourths of an inch Terry got in touch with me some time ago from New was a more conceivable measurement then than three Zealand where he now lives, having emigrated when in his millimetres, add a sixteenth and you had eleven sixty 70s. Last February we met when Helen and I were making fourths, no scribbles on the back of a cigarette pack, all our annual pilgrimage. He is a charming man who, after calculated mentally and applied to the job in hand. We leaving RN embarked on what was to be a very varied would occasionally ask him to turn a piece to say half an career in engineering which took him all over the World. inch diameter without using callipers or any measuring device, and if he took on the challenge he would invariably be within a thousandth of an inch. Yet that intelligence and skill commanded a salary less than an average London office worker. His children, I know, went on to University, RNR Newsletter : Winter 2014/2015 13 The Governor - exploded

Courtesy of Graham Pearson

Governor part index (with D2 part numbers) 1 Cover governor 30-0911 6 Plug (marine) 32-0966 10 Spindle (stationary engine only) 14 Bearing, main spindle S.357 2 Peg 10-0927 7 Locknut (stationary engine only) 10-0916 15 Housing, bearing 10-0907 3 Bush 30-1734 S.178 10A Spindle (marine) 32-0926 16 Mills pin S.906 4 Cover, governor 30-0917 8 Bearing (stationary engine only) 11 Circlip 10-0930 17 Thrust pad 10-0906 5 Bearing S.352 S.2751 12 Joint, pump to chain case 30- 18 Bearing S.353 6 Adjusting screw (stationary en- 9 Housing, bearing (stationary en- 1026 19 Washer, bearing retaining 30- gine only) 10-0922 gine only) 10-0919 13 Main spindle. 10-0902 0904 14 RNR Newsletter : Winter 2014/2015 An RN D2 with a difference? (#3553) This story reveals that member Keith King has been Having looked round other forums, and scouring the web, associated with and subsequently owned this engine for from WW1 onwards, the military have used ‘mobile some 54 years, surely a Register record that won’t be workshops’ – large vans/trucks that in the rear could beaten – unless you know differently! contain anything from lathes and drills to electrical equipment and gas welding units. In WW2 there was even My father, now in his mid 70's has had 'in his care' this a ‘Murex’ arc-welding trailer (powered by an Austin 10 Russell Newbery D2 diesel engine since 1960. This engine), designed for towing behind jeeps etc – but also for particular engine is attached to a Metropolitan Vickers throwing out of planes with a parachute attached! (Metrovick) Paradyne arc welding generator (which was However, I have been unable to find anything definitive, to not developed until 1937). The whole assembly is self- date, about a Fordson based Mobile Arc Welding contained, sitting on a chassis consisting of two RSJ’s, Workshop. which have been boxed in with steel plate to form the fuel tank. The scrap yard was started by a former Czech national in about 1951 who did buy up various bits of MOD stock for When I say it has been in my fathers care, he started work use/scrap, so this (and it's purely guesswork) may have at a scrap yard in 1960 as their fitter - and found this unit been some kind of military mobile workshop that after fitted in the back of a Fordson 4\5 Ton V8 (this truck only decommissioning (and probably spending a number of came into production in 1939) with a 'Luton' type body on years in a hangar somewhere), was bought for peanuts it. The body was fitted out with a workbench either side, the from the MOD. engine/generator mounted in the middle, and with shelving around the edge. After a few years, the welding unit was So, there are three possible histories for #3553: removed from the truck, placed in a workshop and the 1) It was purchased by Metropolitan Vickers for fitting truck, unfortunately, scrapped. in and powering one of their ‘Portable Arc Welder’ My father used this for the 20 years that he worked for the units – and at a later date fitted into the rear of the scrap yard, between 1960 and 1980. When the scrap yard Fordson Truck (possibly post-war) closed down, he bought it from them and, having installed 2) It was fitted straight away into the Fordson, with the it in an old horse-box, continued to use it until 3-4 years Metrovick arc welder as a mobile workshop for use ago. He is now getting to the age when he struggles to (probably) by the military crank the engine to start it, and has decided to sell it. It is this that has prompted us to try and find out about the 3) A history we know nothing about before 1960! history (and origins) of this unit. It is a testament to the quality of the engineering that for the An early suggestion put forward was that this engine may 50+ years that my father has used this unit, it has never have driven an auxiliary generator (there are photographs required any repair other than regular servicing (and of this type of use on the register website – D4s, E6s). occasional de-glazing of the commutator on the generator), However the generator attached to #3553 was specifically and has never failed to start! designed as an arc welding unit. Researching the history of Metropolitan Vickers (a huge company in the first half of If you have got this far - congratulations on your stamina, and thank you for reading to the end! the 20th century, and a real eye opener for me), I came across an old advertisement (1930) for a portable arc welding unit – something that looks similar to a D2 engine, attached to an arc welding generator, on a chassis with a This engine has recently been sold on ebay and we are cast iron wheel at each corner. This was aimed at the led to believe that the purchaser is a Register member. railway and shipbuilding industries – ideal for use in areas Trouble is we don’t know who! Can anyone out there without a ready mains supply. Is this unit a later version of clarify please? [Ed]. The complete unit is pictured on the the one advertised? back cover. Governor part index (with D2 part numbers) continued

20 Mills pin S.1258 33 Lever, external 30-0914 45 Spring, internal (stationary en- 49 Pin, external governor lever 30- 21 Plunger (stationary engine only) 34 Peg 10-0915 gine only) 650 - 1200 RPM 10 0960 10-0908 35 Grub screw S.1052 0925 50 Mills pin S.903 22 Roller S.1427 36 Grub screw S.1061 45 Spring, internal (stationary en- 51 Body, control 30-095 23 Weight 10-0916 37 Mills pin S.913 gine only) 1300 - 1500 RPM 10D- 52 Nut, guide 30-0950 24 Spindle, weight 10-0923 38 Set screw S.203 0925 53 Rod, control 30-0951 25 Nut 10-0924 39 Washer S.P. S.1526 46 Spring, external 250 - 1500 54 Spring 30-0949 26 Split pin S.703 40 Joint, governor cover 10-0933 (marine) 10-0928E 55 Screw, adjusting 30-0952 27 Bearing S.351 41 Set screw S.232 46 Spring, external 800 10-0928C 56 Nut, locking S.981 28 Collar, long 10-0920 42 Washer S.P. S.1527 46 Spring, external 1200-1500 10- 57 Fork Oct-98 29 Collar, short 10-0921 43 Joint, governor housing Oct-82 0928A 58 Nut, locking, control rod (not 30 Ball S.1404 44 Rubber camshaft drive Oct-44 47 Split pin S.708 shown) S.101 31 Lever, internal 10-0918 48 Lever, external governor control 32 Oiler S.1551 30-0961 Adlai Stevenson II, former US Ambassador to the UN has, among other quotes attributed to him, this one: “An Editor is one who separates the wheat from the chaff - and then prints the chaff”

So I’m off with my pitchfork to sift through the next edition’s material. Keep it coming! [Ed] RNR Newsletter : Winter 2014/2015 15