ANDREW P

My apologies, Everton was only partly rebottomed at Worsley, I remember now it had concrete in the bottom of the hold that would have needed jack hammers to remove, its a long time ago but I think the greater part of the bottom was replaced on the Soar as stated by Fanshaft. I do not know if it was on the gravel run.

Everton may have been sandblasted at Wigan but was rebottomed at Worsley, I remember Richard Barnett collecting materials in his Mini pickup.

Everton was re-bottomed at Worsley Dry Dock July / August 1976, I remember they were hoping to attend Peterborough national rally following the docking but lack of time and low water levels that summer intervened.

The Rose belonged to Ernie Gough in the nineties, I think he had her built by Doug, she was moored at the bottom of his garden at Adlington on the L & L. I was under the impression the Ruston was one of the reproductions manufactured in India.

I spent two weeks at Harborough Marine, April 76. I am sure Victoria was there at the time and would have been about a year old, it was not a hire boat then in fact the opposite, built to a higher standard and powered by a BMC 1.5 instead of the usual Lister. From memory the original gel coat colour of the the cabin sides was a light green.

Saunders ended its days sunk in Croxton flash near Middlewich. I remember seeing it advertised for sale in Waterways World years ago as Saunders, ex Clayton tar boat Beaver.

As matter of interest it was the coal shute at Boothstown Basin illustrated on the film clip Where No Tides flow from Nov 28th, Short boat Denise Ex Pluto loading coal circa 1961.

Ribble was not in the basin, Frank, Lily, Catus, Tom, Lark and Kite are the named boats I remember the others just had numbers. The car was a Volvo 340.

Sai Wen Two the Taylor boat is still about I am not sure if the name has been changed, it was moored at Nantwich when the original owner had it. The old Sai Wen Mr Herbert Smiths boat was on the Macclesfield Canal for many years, if you look at North Cheshire Cruising Clubs web sight there are some short clips of DVD Sai Wen is on the third one, the cabin had been altered to provide more headroom by this time although you could still only stand up in the one part of the boat. It was a shame to break the boat up but it was worn out, the double skin hull was on 5/8 inch thick and 50 years of canal use had taken its toll and it had rotted in various places. I did ask the boatbuilder who was working on my launch to have a look at Sai Wen when it was for sale in 1981,he said it was beyond economical repair.

Two articles were published in the Motor Boat by Cyril Herbert Smith. Jan 23rd 1931 titled Fourteen days hard labour Chiswick to Tewksbury and Sept 23rd 1932 Ditch crawling on the Warwickshire Avon, a photo of Russian appeared in this article. His boat was a converted Thornycroft sea plane tender built in 1916, listed in Lloyds as Hurry Home it carried the name Happy Home, renamed Sai Wen in the 1950's after been sold by Smith the next owner but one had a new boat Sai Wen Two built by J H Taylors at Chester the last wooden boat built there. I bought Sai Wen in 1988 it was sunk and beyond restoration, I own a Thornycroft Launch the same as Sai Wen and the old boat was had plenty of useful parts on it,the remains were burnt on bonfire night 1988.

In the March 1955 edition of the Motor Boat & Yachting there is an article with plans of a 38ft x 6ft 9in canal cruiser under construction by the General Engineering Co of Staylebridge for a Mr H Bell of Ashton under Lyne. Designed by a naval architect it was centre wheelhouse,chine steel hull of 1/8th plate and powered by a Meadows petrol engine. Morrell Mills Ship repairers of Trafford Wharfe Manchester built a steel hulled canal cruiser, it was built off the lines of a W W 2 seaplane tender with reduced beam, named Morrell Venture it was exhibited at the 1965 I W A Blackburn Rally.The hull was well built, the top was more of a temporary construction and it was powered by a borrowed Scammel marine petrol engine. If Morrel Mills had taken the lines off a narrow boat they would probably have had some customers. Morrell Venture sat on Trafford Wharf as bare hull until the early 1970's then sold. Renamed Rose of Yorkshire ? I saw it at several rallies in the eighties. In !967 we were moored at Ladyline Market Drayton, the boat behind us Talisman had a Harris hull built in 1959/60 the owner Colin Evans a boater since before the war had built the top himself I remember we had a guided tour of the boat. Colin wrote an article in Practical Boat Owner on the build of the hull and the construction of the cabin, I still have a copy.

A chap named Gavin Cook bought Water Valiant off b w b when it was retired from the hire fleet, I think it was his intention to either hire it out or downsize from Morag, ex Seagull the converted ex Cowburn & Cowpar motor boat he owned. Valiant was sold within two years, Morag / Seagull sold about 1977.

The Gardner was installed in 1996, originally fitted in an E R F it had been latterly used as a fairground generator, the gearbox came off a Ford 6D from an old fishing boat conversion that had been broken up at Tarleton. As a bit of trivia Touchwood was on dry dock over the winter 81/82 at the same time as Castlefield was being converted to a motor/ trip boat the rudder off Touchwood was donated to Castlefield as it had come off a wooden motor boat that was sunk down the Aylesbury arm,the fuel tank presumably off the same boat was also part of the inventory I cannot remember what happened to that.

I bought Touchwood early 1981, the Dorman was only fit for ballast but I salvaged the Paragon gearbox and fitted it onto a Ford D series engine, with a temporary shed at the fore end and 45 gallon drums full of water as extra ballast we set off for Worsley, Blisworth tunnel was closed at the time so we had to go via the Thames with a detour up the K&A as far as was navigable at the time.I owned Touchwood for 19 years.

The engine in Monarch when Andy Millward bought it was a 6 cylinder Morris Commodore mk 2 petrol parrafin engine, Andy sold the gearbox and gave the engine to a character nicknamed Dry dock Mike the owner of a Bridgewater Canal Boxboat, the engine was fitted with another gearbox and powered the boat until its demise.

The original Tremorden, renamed Maureen became a member of Deans hirefleet until the boats were sold off circa 1970.In private ownership and renamed Otter it was moored at Agden on the Bridgewater Canal for several years. The 1962 Tremorden was put on brokeridge at Ladyline Market Drayton probably towards the end of 1969 it not sell very quickley the manager blamed the Kenyons colour scheme of several shades of green.Repainted white with blue strakes it did sell. I remember seeing Tremorden 2 at Rodley in 1972 renamed I think Sea Horse, from memory I think the boats home mooring was Scarisbrick, in 1985 it was moored on the Coventry or possably the North Oxford looking its age,I do not know its fate. The 1970 Tremorden was built at Middlewich by Kings Lock hire cruisers a 46 foot steel hull with centre and stern cockpits wheel steering and a Perkins engine. A heavy smoker Roy died of a heart attack at Norbury as he was filling the boat with fuel in 1972. The boat was sold soon after I remember seeing it around the Barbridge area for several years. I believe Shirley Kenyon and Elsie her mother had a boat moored at Venetia Marina for several years I do not know any details.