[Marcellus]

Marcellus looking lovely and shiny earlier.

 

https://flic.kr/p/Fqyamj

Thanks for posting..not often I get a picture of myself and Marcellus!!! Great to say Hi as well....regards

She was still in Calcutt marina Thursday

She gets about does Marcellus!!!

[Marcellus]

Definitely the stern end of MARCELLUS, and I am responsible for talking a previous owner into renaming it from MARCEL back to MARCELLUS

Well I for one am glad that you did convince them.

[Then and Now]

John Edwards owned MARCELLUS from 1981 to 1983, and at that time it was still lived on as an unconverted butty. As with BEAULIEU it carried the final incarnation of the plain blue 'British Waterways' livery. I am pretty sure MARCELLUS was still composite at that time, i.e. retained its wooden bottoms - and of course its cabin was wooden as well.

 

I photographed MARCELLUS on 20 October 1990 near Shardlow, and I imagine mine are amongst the last photographs taken of it as a floating unconverted butty as it was cut very shortly afterwards.

 

I consider John Edwards to be a friend and I feel it would be paying him a disservice to discuss his background on a public Forum with somebody I do not know

Apologies, I certainly would not want you to 'discuss' any persons background I was merely picking up the various threads of history....regards

[Then and Now]

I prefer all of the 1980's images you have published here, they remind me of good times as I was working on the boats myself back then and lived just around the corner at Sherborne Street Wharf.

 

edit = The man on the towpath with the dog is John Edwards, long term owner of BEAULIEU and CAM, but at this time would have still owned MARCELLUS

Marcellus you say....excellent to find all of these links....what is the background to John Edwards?

[Then and Now]

do you know if these were taken from the same place Tim? So hard to tell with all the changes that have happened.

looks like it, you can just make out the verdigree roofed tower

[Marcellus]

Marcellus passed from me as an intact Butty.

Ian Clifton turned the Back end into a bow and made a shorter boat originally called Marcel. Originally he got the rivet line wrong and there was a step in the line nearer the back end (this may well have been corrected by now) I think he told me it was due to forgetting about allowing for the wooden cant line on the original and then starting welding rivets from the back instead of following back from the original rivet line. He also welded a hollow stem post onto what was the original cast stern post. It was good, but never looked authentic as a Woolwich front because of it.

 

The front end was by far the larger part of the original hull and Ian constructed a very good counter and back end to weld onto the the much larger front end. He had a good eye and that was the boat he kept to live on with his wife.

excellent thank you for the details.....there is obviously a lot of history behind the boat.

[Marcellus]

 

Unfortunately, you are now doomed to endless jokes from historic boat fans about how you are travelling backwards

 

Richard

so that's why it steers so well in reverse...

[Marcellus]

Yes the orginal bit is 'now' the bow of the new boat...sorry for the confusion

you guys know more than me really!!!! Which is very helpful of course....

[Marcellus]

I believe that Marcellus was a butty, and so the remaining original section is a small length of the bow....

[Marcellus]

My Marcellus is 48ft

and 'carry on up the junction'

[Marcellus]

Hello All,

I am the proud new owner of Marcellus (front end) and thought I would make contact and say Hi.

Regards

Paul