Tom909

Thank you all so much for all the info. I run a secondhand tool stall and I couldn’t believe it when I saw the boat on the next door stall. It was 7 in the morning and a dealer was straight in there negotiating to buy it - I was gutted. In the end he wouldn’t pay the price my neighbour wanted, so as he walked off I just got my wallet out and paid for it. I can’t wait to get up to the museum now to take a look at the other models.

Just before Xmas I picked up this model of an old narrowboat. It is 39” long and done in what might be described as ‘a naive style’. I think it is a real beauty! i’m wondering if it is a model of the Hardy that was in the news this year for sinking, and that is being currently restored.

Grumpyness on chat boards doesn't show up most of the time so no worries there Joe.

Jess, David - Thank you for your replies. I am slowly realising that this might be a difficult search. It is just going to be luck if the right person sees and recognises the number. I did get a good response to the name, but as I say, it is all very recent. Mind you, very grateful for it anyway.

I am hoping to get some info on the early years of my narrowboat. A couple of weeks ago I put up a similar thread but using the boat name, not the number. It has just occurred to me that it is quite likely that the name has been changed and consequently would mean nothing to anyone who knew the boat before the name change. If you do recognise this number please take a look at my earlier thread about 'Detrytus' and let me know if you recognise this boat.

Jo, Thanks for extra pics, and yes, that is indeed the engine that is still in the boat - a Beta Marine 35. BWM, That is a possibility, but it is a mistake on the part of the people who then said the boat was built in 1992. I get the feeling that the numbering system is accurate in that the numbers were handed out in the year that the boat was first registered - so the boat can be older than the number, but not younger. My apologies to anyone bored by all this, but I'm going to put the thread up again but this time using the number instead of the name. I think the name may have been changed around 2007 which is possibly the reason that I can't get any info before that date.

Jo, many thanks for all the pics!! Some great views of Detrytus there. Really grateful for these. I did think about messaging you when I read your comments on this forum from 2015 so I'm glad you've got in touch. It's interesting what new info comes out over time - do you by any chance remember the make of the new engine? Also, re over-plating, pretty certain none was ever done, and the survey I had done before purchase gave the hull a clean bill of health, so don't know what happened there. It does look as though the trail runs a bit cold around this time. I've got one or two other irons in the fire so not giving up just yet. But it really is astonishing how history can almost disappear in front of our eyes. I know to a lot of folks this is all pretty recent stuff and maybe doesn't seem that important, and of course it's not really, but give it a few more decades and any info/history about the 80s/90s boats and boat builders will be gold dust. I've got to be honest I've found the whole business of researching and buying a boat absolutely fascinating. One thing that is really interesting is how the info out there can't be verified. I've filled in quite a few forms asking for the name of the builder and the date the boat was built. I could have said anything really, and it would soon become fact. Someone somewhere gave the date of build as 1992 and now it is an accepted fact on the record even though it is clearly wrong. By the way, apologies for my extreme nerdyness here - I'm like this with my tractors too, in fact anything I can put a note in or on that gives something a bit of provenance - I just can't stop myself.

Thanks for the replies re Detrytus. The boat is now solid army green - it looks ok and the main thing is it is well protected from the elements. I'd like to repaint it one day - be great to find out what it looked like early on in its life - I've got the feeling that the name is not original - it is such a distinctive name that there would almost certainly be folk out there that could remember seeing it. Interesting that it may have been used as a mobile herbal dispensary unit for a few years there - it actually has a safe in the engine room with no keys - wonder what's in there!!!!

I can't remember where I saw that the boat is called Detrytus because it was originally fitted out with stuff taken out of other boats. When I bought it the vendor was really embarrased about the name, but I've actually got used to it now - in fact I quite like it.

My boat 'Detrytus', licence no 45436, shows up on this forum quite a bit already, mostly references concerning when it was for sale at Whilton Marina in 2015. I also have an old survey from 2007. There the trail goes cold apart from what comes up on Canalplan which tells me that the boat was built by Jonathan Wilson. I have messaged him to see if he keeps records. I had a nice reply back saying that back in those days no records were required and none were kept. All the paperwork that I have says that the boat was built in 1992. In fact the licence number indicates that the boat was first registered in 1988. I have attached a photo from 2015 - Detrytus no longer looks like this by the way. I really enjoy piecing together old history and would love to get any more info about Detrytus that might be out there. Thanks for reading. Kind regards, Tom