Hi all, I'm trying to find out as much as I can about the past life of a boat I have just purchased.
It's an old CRT seizure (and in a bit of a state) so I can't ask the previous owner any questions and I'm hitting dead ends trying to find things online - I thought you lot might be able to help me.
It was built by David Jones of Chester, and most results when searching this is the for-sale listing for my boat, although I've found a few mentions of a David Jones working at a Chester boatyard. Its registration number is 62624, and a search only lists its name and D. Jones as the builder, no date. The number indicates it was registered in 1980/81 but obviously this means nothing as it could have been going long before 1980.
I wouldn't be so interested if it wasn't for the layout of the boat. There is a traditional back cabin which is completely separate from the rest of the boat, there is no connecting door (and if there was, it would go through to the engine room). The main internal fit out appears to be from the mid 80s, but the main body of the boat doesn't look as though it's a later addition (ie converted from a working boat) and the surveyor agreed. It is also painted in the British Waterways livery, although of course this doesn't mean anything either.
What I'm trying to figure out is, if this boat was built in the 70s/80s, why include the traditional and separate back cabin - and if it was built earlier, should it not have been a working boat which has been converted? Were traditional back cabins ever included as a novelty sort of thing?
Thanks in advance for any light anybody can shed on anything.