Paul H

I've no idea about Big Woolwiches but here is the set-up on Capricorn Paul on Capricorn

I’m sure one of the Idle Women books mentions regularly moving the butty battery to the motor for charging. indeed Capricorn still has the original battery shelf riveted to the bulkhead over the flywheel. Room for a largeish car battery but probably not the batteries shown being charged at Bulls Bridge. No idea of original dynamo arrangements on Nationals though. Paul

I think that it was the motorised boat the Fred which moored at Battlebridge Basin, Kings Cross sometime after I left. According to a quick google, her name was Kate Jayne. Paul

The Wilkinson's were apparently running a pub in Cornwall by 1949 and therefore Bawtry spent several more years in BW ownership before being passed to Willow Wren. The cabin extension was added at the Wilkinson's expense and I would have expected that they would have been required to remove it at the end of their lease period! it would be interesting to know if Bawtry pops up on any gauging or traffic records in the very early 50s. Paul

Mr Seymour-Walker also told me that he acquired the boat in 1964 but as his log says he took the boat away from Charity Dock in April 1965 having had the boat shortened, recabinned and externally painted this would seem unlikely. I think the reputation of CHarity was that nothing was done in a hurry and boats sat around for at least a year before work even started. Also there was no BW Cardex records for 1962 and 1963 pertaining to Capricorn. So I would say 1962 is a more realistic date for his acquisition. Incidentallly the boat was lying at Gayton and cost him £250 Paul

I believe it was my boat the Capricorn. As you say a condition of sale by BW at the time was that the name of the boat be changed and Kay Seymour-Walker, the first private owner told me he temporarily chose Apricot as it only required a few strokes of the paintbrush to change it! However you had previously told me that the BW disposal date was 1964 so obviously this creates a discrepancy! After being shortened at Charity Dock, the boat emerged as The Poot. Paul

I think this is one of the expressions that has changed or become misused over the years. A thumbline used to be a holding back string for butties in GU locks but now appears to be used for a gateline. A swans neck used to be decorative rope work but now is used to refer to a the rams head on a motor. And back on topic, Gertrude was broken up at Newbury about 12 years ago. Paul

There are of course 2 Hazels Also off the top of my head... Large Ricky Byfield Midland and Coast Star FMC Fazeley Must be more! Paul

Rose of Sharon was built by Shropshire Union Cruises for David Owen in 1966 and is described in his book Water Rallies. It was I believe one of the first if not the first of their production craft. The very first boat, apart from perhaps the one built for a friend as described by Alan W, was Castle Rose, a diminutive trip boat built for operation at Stoke Bruerne replacing the tug Redcap. I wonder if the first steel narrow boats may have been built for Constellation Cruisers of Higher Poynton in the early to mid 60s but they were barely more than pointed steel tanks with no top bends or even rubbing strokes so perhaps would better be described as steel cruisers. I remember Aquila being moored below Crowley Lock in the early 70s - very basic uninsulated cabin with petrol engine driving prop shaft via belts under the stern deck. Can I recommend www.canalscape.net and particular the section Don’t Call it a Barge for details of earlier canal pleasure boats? It incidentally mentions an early steel boat operated by Ladyline called Lady Barbara which I’m not familiar with. Paul

On reflection his surname was Baugh which could well have been pronounced boff.

Black Country Narrow Boats was iirc run by a David Brough so I suspect the reference was to "Broughy." Paul

Yes this is my boat Capricorn. I don't have my notes to hand but understand from Pete H that it was hired to SE Barlow as a change boat for a couple of trips after the end of the war. It had been used as a women's training boat during the war and obviously had a hard life with minimal maintenance. What maintenance there was was likely to be make do and mend hence the blue roof. This was likely to be the last load to be carried by Capricorn as it went on to maintenance soon after until sold off in 1964. The boat lurking in the background incidentally is Friendship. Paul

The boat name and number should be 4" high as can be seen on historic photographs. Also be careful with the spacing and type style - many people get the Rs wrong! The boats were originally lettered with a transfer so there were not the wide variations you see on restored boats today. Have a look at Jim Payler's black and white photos on www.blisworth.org.uk for inspiration! Paul

A quick Google produced this. 1934 apparently.

hi Binkie's Grandson, I am secretary of the Historic Narrow Boat Club and we are indeed establishing an archive of historic documents and photographs. Items are digitised and indexed and the originals safely stored in an old salt mine where atmospheric conditions are stable and there should be no deterioration. You can contact me at secretary(at)hnbc.org.uk. replace (at) with @ Many thanks, Paul

Some intersting pics including some I haven't seen before - thank you. The paint spec is a useful guide but is not of course a contemporary document. I would also say it includes a typo - the boat name and fleet number should be 4" high. Paul

The late Chris Lloyd owned ex-Clayton's Stour and also built a few replica tugs one of which was called Tamar. He was an accomplished decorative painter as well as much else besides so this could be one of his. Paul

I am of course the PH referred to as the source of this information. I was brought up in Uxbridge in the 1970s when Water Vole (ex-Kelso) was on the Benbow Way houseboat moorings at Cowley. I was told by more than one person that the stern was on Cowley Tip. Neither of these were Sam Lawton who was lock keeper at Denham at the time but I accept their information perhaps could be traced back to the same unreliable source although this was only about 15 years after the conversion date. I have a photocopy of the BW staff magazine dated May 1959 showing Aurora at Stanley Ferry but Kelso is not alongside. If a photo exists of the two boats together it unfortunately means that the boat was not converted at Bulls Bridge or Birmingham and both the oral history and the documentary history are wrong! In fact the situation may have just been more complicated than it first appears with an individual boat being worked on at more than one yard. I get the impression that one of the motivations in converting these boats was to provide work for otherwise idle craftsman at the various yards rather than with an eye on efficiency or economy. Certainly the boats were converted to a very high standard regardless of expense - I once looked after the sole converted lifeboat from the fleet which had a cabin that was incredibly solidly put together in chunky hardwoods - the cabin would have outlasted the hull by several decades! Paul

My guess is the painter is Penny Burdett who used to live on NB Fern at Cowley nr. Uxbridge in the late 70s

The Historic Narrow Boat Club will shortly be holding another auction of canal and narrow boat collectables. Amongst the items we are cataloguing are a number of "Cooke" windlasses. Some have the name G H Cooke stamped and others just the clay pipe mark. Can it be confirmed absolutely that a windlass with the pipe but without the name is made by a relative of G.H but not the man himself. There are also a collection of brass miniature windlasses with the kite mark. It has been suggested that they were made as boatman's gifts but could they be modern copies? Also one or two have notches ground out around the eye - was this a boatman's way of identifying his own windlass or something else? Further details of the auction nearer the date! Paul

Very fond memories of Fern as it was the first real boat I ever steered but now imho has a rather unsympathetic conversion. Rumoured also to be too wide to get through Hurleston and off the Llangollen (it was craned in.) Paul

Joel

Presumably Vanguard photographed towing on the Regents was officially in the maintenance fleet?

I know the boat looks in some shots only about 45ft but that is due go foreshortening as a result of perspective and indeed when the boat is first glimpsed behind the gate handrail it appears much longer. Other distinctive features of Bison were the cabin roof curving down at bow, segment of tyre over stem bar and the castle panel at the stern. All very distinctive and as far as I know unique to Bison. I remember the boat at Cowley in the late 60s from "boat spotting" walks as a schoolboy and was always intrigued by its hump-backed appearance. Paul