Paul H

The London Canal Museum’s photo is of the Lee. Note different engine casing to Anne and the name just discernible on the stern. But the boat is not converted - it was built like that, although it’s converted now! Paul Paul

The river class butty at Oxford is the Beryl - Anne has been fitted with a conventional counter and is in the north west. I’m told that Anne and Beryl, the only two boats not named after 3 letter rivers were named after E C Jones (the builder)’s daughters. Paul

Wow - amazing pic. I’d really like to know whether this was a successful design or not. Opinions seem to vary. The late Laurence Hogg seemed impressed, others not so much... Paul

As previously discussed:

There was a fairly ugly 57ft “budget” narrow boat by the Aintree Boat Company reviewed in Waterways World recently and that was over £100K. I suspect to replicate a boat of Acacia’s quality and fit out would cost over £200K today. In comparison, historic boats are cheap but I suppose it comes down to supply and demand as many modern boaters would be scared of owning one! Paul

Maffers aka Marsworth I presume.

Thank you Dave and others for confirming the painter of my can as Ron Hough. It’s amazing how his style changed over the years and I much prefer his output of the 60s and 70s to which I think my can belongs. You would expect his painting to have loosened up as the years went on but instead it seemed to get tighter and more sparse. Was he reacting to the change to a predominantly souvenir rather than working boat market or were there health issues? But he was still a master although I’ve never liked his castles. Sacrilege I know! Max’s son’s can looks remarkably like the one below (pic stolen from the Nurser family website) which shows a can on Gort which is attributed to Dennis Clarke. But I suppose it depends who’s doing the attributing! Paul

Well it’s been a while and I thought it was about time we had another “who is the painter?” I’ve got my own ideas but I don’t want to “lead the witness!” Paul

I understand that the pictures date from probably 1949/50 and the boats pictured are as follows: Nuneaton and Barnes with Tom Lapworth and family. Thaxted and Fulwell with William Kendall and family. Jackal and Iver with R. Haywood and family. Within a year or two Iver was transferred to day boating on the Paddington to Cowley tip traffic ending up scuttled in Hawley’s Pit, Harefield in March 1956. Paul

Absolutely superb pictures. Thanks Mark. Paul

Isn’t that under one of the aqueducts on the Slough Arm? Paul

Now this is what I call a proper steampunk interior... (Captain Nemo’s Nautilus) Maybe a refit of Capricorn is called for... Paul

Henry’s 20hp Bolinder is said to have ended up in my old boat Marquis when operating on the BCN as the tug Sally. The engine was later restored by Malcom Braine and is I believe in the engine house at Ellesmere Port. Paul

Liz (ex-Elizabeth) Bantock - possibly. Tug/icebreaker - unlikely 60s conversion by someone like Harris Brothers - likely The arty hipster photos don’t help but what do you think? https://narrowboats.apolloduck.com/boat/bantock-bros-36-tug/595822

I don’t think there is any great surprise that boats stored at Stockley Dock survived. It must have been reasonably secure as the GUCCC seemed to store dozens of boats there - it was simply the overflow mooring for non-operational boats from Bulls Bridge. My boat Capricorn was amongst them but at some point they were all moved to Harefield Flash (note in what is now Harefield Marina rather than the further gravel pit where BW later scuttled the ex-rubbish boats including many Josher butties.) In the HNBC article from which I took the map, John Hemelryk says he remembers Stockley Dock to be later filled with scuttled wide boats and it’s rumoured that the Royalty butties ended their lives there. Paul