Caladonia canal

[Clyde_Wanderer]

Watching Country File last night and heard the presenter discribing the Caladonia canal as been constructed for the Napolionic war.
Surely that must have been the mistake of the centuary!
C_W

[marisca]

Well it was certainly started in the early 1800 when the Corsican upstart was causing problems. I understood that the original spec. called for locks big enough for frigates, the idea being that when the SW's blew a quick trip up the east coast and then out to the west of Ireland was preferable to tacking backwards and forwards across La Manche with the French having the weather gauge. Like many public works, e.g Kip power station, by the time it was finished the war was over, ships were bigger, steam power was happening and anyway it had taken a lot longer than planned. The idea of using local labour was stymied by the understandable habit of locals taking time off for fishing, peat cutting, harvesting and getting pissed after pay day. Thus an influx of Irish navvies.

[claymore]

British construction practices appear to have a somewhat cyclical nature in their dependence upon 'foreign' labour.The Navigators of Hibernian extraction, domiciled in Kilburn for example where the construction of Motorway 1 et al became the prime focus in the 50's and 60's and 60 years or so on,the reliance upon the good plumbers of Poland.......

Shard - this is more your stuff than mine.

[Clyde_Wanderer]

Would it not be the case that the Irish Navies were willing to do the work that the English and Scottish (English more so) were not willing or fit to do?
C_W

[claymore]

And would that not be the case in terms of Plumbers from Poland?
And was that not what I was saying?
or was that only what I was trying to say but failed to make you understand because of my pisspoor communications abilities?

or is it you?

[Silkie]

You're right - it's your pisspoor communications abilities.

[claymore]

it must be if you didnt get it either
sorry

[Clyde_Wanderer]

And would that not be the case in terms of Plumbers from Poland?
And was that not what I was saying?
or was that only what I was trying to say but failed to make you understand because of my pisspoor communications abilities?

or is it you?

I was actually agreeing with you while adding that a lot of (but not all)English folk werent up to the bullhogg work that was equivilant to a mornings toil for the Irish navies who were used to laying a half mile of road foundation before their bellies were filled with butter milk and a gob full of oaten bread. Oh and a mishrim o the crater, and pure Garbh Schaiten it would be at that.
Many a good night I spent in the National in Kilburn and the Crown in Cricklewood. those were the days.
C_W
There is a few good Irish plumbers around these quarters too.

[claymore]

Not many people agree with me these days. Its got so as I dont recognise agreement when I read it.
Sorry

[spuddy]

Maybe the presenter/scriptwriter got muddled with the Royal Military Canal. This was dug for 20 odd miles across Romney Marsh from Hythe towards Rye.
It was intended to act as a barrier to the French Imperial hordes who might well have landed there and was never used at all seriously for commercial purposes. The thing goes straight for a while then has a kink so that artillery positioned at the bend can fire down a reach....and so on.