John Brightley

I know the answer but I have the unfair advantage of local knowledge so I'm not going to say ! Nice set of photos David.

Thanks for posting the links. I've not seen them before.

If it is Chance 2 (and it appears to be), then previous threads said it was at Chester, then moved to Hurleston about the time you say, found it couldn't get up the Llangollen, was taken back to Nantwich and craned out there.

Episode eight also includes a section which shows the canal children's boarding school, Wood End Hall Hostel in Erdington. Information online shows that the Hostel operated from 1951 to 1968, and by the time of its appearance in 'Flower of Gloster' only a small number of children were resident there.

And previous threads suggested that Chance 2 was the last narrowboat with a Hotchkiss Come, and that had an Enfield engine. From other photos online the boat for sale today does appear to be Chance 2, but if anyone can confirm this it would be useful for posterity. It certainly looks like it is beyond saving now.

Text of advert: "70ft Oak canal boat, been out of the water 5 years. Boat is believed to be built in the 1940s. Purchased with the intention of renovation but change of circumstances forces sale. Boat is complete with Enfield Engine and hotchkiss propulsion system. Can’t guarantee fully working condition. This would be ideal to break down into oak lengths for multiple uses. Please Contact Rod on [hidden information] with enquires and viewings. Located Rednal near Oswestry Shropshire." https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/797960758223402/?ref=search&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post&locale=en_GB

Episode eight now on YouTube. I really enjoyed it. Has great shots of the BCN and Birmingham. Includes a cameo performance by a young Graham Wigley of Birmingham and Midland. But who is the 'industrial archaeologist' at the beginning of the episode? Bob May perhaps?

MajorDolby'sCat has now uploaded episode seven, which includes an interesting scene at (what the film says) is Spon Lane Locks. It includes shots of a disused boatyard which may be Clayton's.

Thanks. I thought it probably was.

I seem to remember the Flower of Gloster being dismissed as just another children's TV series at the time, but in reality it is an interesting mix of documentary and drama. Episode 4 features Ken Nixon and his family on the boats Lindsay and Snipe. Were they the last family working a pair of boats on the Shroppie ? Mike Webb's photos confirm that these boats were being worked by the Nixon family in 1967, but also show that by the end of 1968 Lindsay was being used by Alan Galley of Anderton CCC.

Thank you for uploading the Flower of Gloster to YouTube. It's certainly a valuable historic record of places, people and boats which in some cases are no longer with us. The lack of continuity in the first few scenes of episode 1 is amazing. Clearly the first scene is at Pontcysyllte, and the third scene at Dutton. Is the second location Preston Brook ? It's also interesting to see a young Tony Lewery -explaining the details of the boat painting as if it were a documentary rather than a fictional story. Does anyone know who it is doing the caulking in episode 2 ?

I think it's worth noting that you could easily spend half a day looking around Shugborough Hall and its grounds, so you don't need to worry about things to do if you get back to the Great Haywood area early.

I saw that very boat advertised for sale recently -I think it was on eBay but it's not there now.

Fenmatch boats were mid-market at best. As David Mack said above, because of the boat's age and the fact that it's just a shell now, the original build quality is much less important than the quality of the recent overplating/ replating.

That would be Starline Narrowboats at Upton on Severn.

Correct Patrick, they were at Evesham and did build a few wide beams as well as narrow boats. Most of the boats they built went into hirefleets but I think they did make a small number for private owners. They seemed to build quite a lot of boats in a relatively short time.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this topic over the last day or so. It is a subject which I am particularly interested in. I have collected a large number of old hire boat brochures over the years and indeed a couple more (from eBay) arrived in the post today. You are quite correct to say that @Joseph has researched the topic. Articles by him are in Waterways Journal vol 7 and 17. It appears that the first canal hire company was the Inland Cruising Association at Rowton Bridge, Chester, which started in the 1930's. This was followed by Canal Cruising at Stone started in 1948. Canal Pleasurecraft was formed in 1950, and both Wyvern Shipping and Alan Tingay's Anker Valley Cruisers (also known as Ashby Canal Cruisers) started hiring in 1956, as well as British Waterways first hire boat Water Arabis in the same year. From the information I have to hand, these were the first, but by 1965 there were quite a few more. Coincidentally my first canal trip with my parents was also with Gordon's, at Easter 1977. We had boated on the Broads, Thames and Fens before that.

Would that be Cliff Richard's film 'Take Me High' ?

Just to add- don't try to go straight on to the pontoon when heading downstream. Go 100 yards past the pontoon, turn 180 degrees so that you are moving against the current and you will have much more control of the boat to easily glide up to the mooring.

There have been a number of similar Harborough Marine boats advertised in the last year at prices around £10k. If you like that style of boat, there's lots of them around and there's no reason for you to pay £30k plus for one. Just wait a little while and another will come up at about £10k.

I didn't know myself, but found out from Wikipedia that this is a reference to the Locomotive Act of 1861, the 70th Act passed in the parliamentary session that started in the 24th year of the reign of Queen Victoria and finished in the 25th.

By googling 'ferry''cambridge' I found this photo, which could have been taken at the same time as the original one. https://www.alamy.com/cambridge-boat-race-crews-take-ferry-for-practice-four-months-before-the-boat-race-on-2-april-cambridge-crews-have-commenced-serious-training-on-the-river-cam-at-cambridge-where-they-will-practice-until-march-before-moving-to-the-thames-photo-shows-cambridge-oarsman-crossing-the-cam-by-ferry-for-practice-5-january-1938-image359624151.html It's obviously back to front, but it confirms the location, and if it was taken at the same time, the date is 1938.

Matty is correct - the bridge below Warwicks Fly is the pinch point (at waterline). It is supposed to be 12'6", but the bridge has subsided/moved slightly over the years so there was the incident about a year ago when a 12'6" wide boat came to it from Warwick and got stuck, before CRT worked out a way to enlarge the opening slightly to get it through. However the bridge by the Blue Lias is reputedly narrower at cabin height -I seem to recall that there was a boat which got through the Warwicks fly bridge but stuck at Blue Lias because of the lack of tumblehome on the cabin.

Well, Mutford Lock and the cut leading to it are about 80 metres long, which is a fair bit longer than the Wardle Canal which is 47 metres according to Wikipedia. Now, I must go to bed ...we can have more discussions tomorrow 🙂

Well, Mutford Lock, Lowestoft actually beats Oulton Dyke or Haddiscoe, as it was a new canal constructed in 1828. (Off topic: it could also be the only lock in the UK to have different tides either side of it)