The Saga of the Sooty Sam

[Guest Yachtsman1]

I'm always on the lookout for different subjects for my shows & was trawling through a series of comic monologues & found this one from 1908. It was originally called "How We Saved the Barge", the barge in question being called the slimy sal, which I have changed to Sooty Sam. It's a collection of internet images, some of very low quality due to their age. I 'ope it raises a laugh.

Mechanics. Mediafire download http://www.mediafire.com/download/ju5ytz5v5gcdj95/The%20Saga%20of%20the%20Sooty%20Sam.zip

12MB, 40 slides, 1 music track & 1 voice over.

Happy Christmas to all forum members.

Yachtsman1.

[tom95521]

Hi Eric,

I didn't realize that horses pulled boats and barges in canals. Not something you see over here in the states. For me it was a combination of funny and sad (at the end). Instead of horses we used (steam) donkeys.

Thanks,

Tom

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Hi Eric,

I didn't realize that horses pulled boats and barges in canals. Not something you see over here in the states. For me it was a combination of funny and sad (at the end). Instead of horses we used (steam) donkeys.

Thanks,

Tom

Hi Tom

When I was youngster in the 1940's you could still see the odd horse drawn narrowboat which was the correct name. The boats were only 6ft 10 inches wide on the narrow canal systems hence the name. During the second world war women used to captain them as all the men were off to fight in the war. Thanks for looking.

Regards Eric

Yachtsman1.

[JudyKay]

"I got a mule and her name is Sal, fifteen miles on the Eerie Canal."

That was the US: Albany to Buffalo.

Remember?

[tom95521]

I remember those lyrics from a long time ago. "Low bridge, everybody down. Low bridge we are coming to a town". I didn't realize it was about a mule towing a barge on a canal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_Bridge_(song)

Thanks,

Tom

[Guest Yachtsman1]

In the UK after the war a lot of the UK narrow canals fell into disrepair. Then around the late 50's it was realised what we were losing & they started to come alive again with armies of volunteers getting rid of the rubbish in them & repairing the locks, which were essential to free passage. Now due to various factors people are making their homes on them. In my show, a couple of the pictures are modern, I just mono-ed them, they show the Manchester to Huddersfield canal at a place called Uppermill near where I used to live in Diggle Saddleworth. The horse drawn narrow boat gave trips to the tourists at weekends, but it was motorised when I lived there, http://www.saddleworth-canal-cruises.co.uk/

. The disused Diggle to Huddersfield canal tunnel, which I believe was one of the longest in the UK, was 100 yards from my front door & ran under the Pennines. There was talk of opening it up in the eighties, whether it ever got done I don't know.

Eric

Yachtsman1

http://www.saddleworth-canal-cruises.co.uk/

[Guest Yachtsman1]

"I got a mule and her name is Sal, fifteen miles on the Eerie Canal."

That was the US: Albany to Buffalo.

Remember?

What a coincidence, sat down to watch "How the West Was Won" on TV, 50 odd years since I first saw it, the opening sequence was about the Eerie canal & the first verse of the song was sung as a couple of mules were pulling a barge along.

Yachtsman1.