"Bouler" wrote in message
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"joevan" schreef in bericht
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On 17 Sep 2007 00:05:47 GMT, (Bouler)
wrote:
Nice place there mister. Is that a dedicated bike path?
Yes it is now.
In the early days it had the name "jaagpad" meant for horses and even
people
to pull ships throug the river when it was impossible to sail.
I cannot find better pictures, but it was hard work for people who could
not
buy a horse.
There are a lot of these in The Netherlands, most of them don't exist
anymore, others are made for walking or biking so you still can see the
history.
I found a picture from the Wolga in Russia, same hard labour.
--
Groeten
Bouler (The Netherlands)
Hi Bouler,
I assume 'jaagpad' means 'towpath'. We call it 'towpad' in Belfast.
An old photo of the Lagan canal at Drumbeg near to where I live - Date not
known but would be before 1956 - might even be pre-war. The barge is about
to turn right into the cut at the Drumbeg lock. The arms of the lock gate
can be seen just in front of the horse. I walk the towpad (towpath) here
most days every week.
The barge shown is most probably carrying coal to its owners at the former
Barbour Linen Mill at Hilden about 3 miles (approx. 5Km.) upstream. The
barge is named 'EVA' after one of the Barbour family who were once one of
the linen barons in this area. Horses used to tow barges would develop a
sideways mode of walking which ruined them for other work such as ploughing,
etc.
It might be of interest to you to know that this part of the canal opened in
1757 and the construction engineer was a Dutchman, Thomas Omer. The
condition of the canal deteriorated rapidly after the canal closed in 1956
and is no longer fit for boating. The weirs and lock gates were removed and
the lock chambers are now overgrown and in dangerous condition.
2nd photo was taken today is of the same stretch of water. Clear of duckweed
today but I have seen it covered green about two months ago.
3rd photo shows condition of lock - plenty of duckweed there.
Regards,
Tuppence