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Paul H

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    Between boats ☹️
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    Bugbrooke

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  1. Indeed. It was built by Rugby Boats on traditional tug lines for Robert Wilson (of canal book fame) who placed it in the UCC fleet as a “sponsored” hire boat. UCC also had another similar “hire tug” based on the back end of Josher “Bream” mated with the bow of a railway boat. I no longer have an old brochure but recall they featured bunk beds crammed into the front cabins and probably an elsan in the engine room. Them were the days. Paul
  2. Hound was a “station boat” built by Yarwoods for the LMS railway around 1930 and would not have be3n fitted with a cabin. Station boats were fine lined and low sided to take light goods from parts of the Black Country not served by railways to “interchange depots” where the parcels etc. would be transferred to rail. I’m not sure when this practice finished but I think in the 1950s when as a result of nationalisation Hound would have come into the ownership of British Waterways. A few were converted to long distance cabin boats, others to early pleasure boats for hire but the majority were used as maintenance boats often for dredgings. Station boats have a design fault in that there is a lapped joint half way up the hull side which creates a little “shelf” and there is usually serious corrosion behind the knees. Many of these boats have been rebuilt as attractive tugs but I’m not sure if Hound was one of the lucky ones. Quite a few maintenance boats “disappeared” in the north west as the staff allegedly sold them for scrap for cash. Richard Booth of the Historic Narrow Boat Club has made a study of station boats and may be able to help further. Contact him on archivist(at)hnbc(dot)org(dot)uk. hope that helps (a bit!) Paul
  3. All station boats have this hole usually plated over. I’d always thought it was for a portable hand pump. It’s a bit far forward for a towing mast I’d have thought. Paul
  4. The boats are Dane, ex- Thomas Clayton tar boat and Bullfinch a “modern” butty then the base of Tradline Fenders who later moved into on of the nearby buildings. Paul
  5. But quite sensible if the butty is unattended. As built, the boats didn’t have “scuppers” or drains from the hatches (“aft cockpit.”). So rainwater goes into the bilges under the cabin. If you seal the deck/cockpit and introduce scuppers then you’ve got trouble (or wellies!) if you put a load on! Paul
  6. If Hampton was used on the BCN then a “log” might refer to a substantial piece of timber or iron on a chain which was hung over the side of the boat from a ring on a wharf in lieu of tying up - the advantage being that as the boat is loaded or unloaded the mooring self-adjusts. John Teale Ltd rang a bell with me and I realised that they also used to own Elizabeth, Jim Macdonald’s old boat. And amazingly the company still exists seemingly now as a property rather than gravel company. I wonder if they have any archives or historic pictures on their office walls? Paul
  7. Bob May captions the boats as being Hereford and Ilford. Paul
  8. https://www.abebooks.co.uk/first-edition/Monkey-Red-Rose-Heather-Prime-Blackie/31637741747/bd
  9. The boat in the original picture with the handrail is clearly wooden. It was replaced (late 1950s?) with one of BW NW’s chopped -off Josher motors. It was said to be the England but some believe it was subsequently buried when the entrance to the “old” Harecastle Tunnel was filled in. In which case either that boat or the boat pictured cannot be England… (ducks) Paul
  10. Iirc this is the Hythe Bridge arm in Oxford of the Oxford Canal just behind Worcester College. Paul
  11. I think that’s the Dace with the stern of a butty grafted on as the bow. Has been known as Leopard for many years. https://hnbc.org.uk/boats/dace Paul
  12. Almost certainly scrapped. BWB Northwich in the 1970s cut off the bows of a number of Josher motors to form motorised flats or “guniting boats.” Theses included Columbia, England and Mullett (now called Russia) and Cormorant was possibly one of them. In fact the Northwich depot were also quite keen on scrapping whole boats like Eagle because, it is said, the staff did private deals with the scrapman. Paul
  13. Your grandparent’s boat was renamed Mae Bee and is now with Bramblewick Canal Boats https://www.bramblewickcanalboats.co.uk The bad news is that the boat has been recabinned and looks nothing like Warwickshire Lad. The good news is you go on holiday in it! Paul
  14. Vesta is back on the Duck at a lower price (previously £58K) https://narrowboats.apolloduck.co.uk/boat/harland-and-wolff-40-tug-for-sale/735448 Paul
  15. Anyho is, or was, owned by the directors of “Scarisbrook Marina “up north.” The “restoration” was not to my taste… Paul
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