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JoeSlow

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Posts posted by JoeSlow

  1. 5 minutes ago, Ray T said:

    Up until his departure from this mortal coil I believe many of Tony's canal artifacts were on display in Badsey's Cafe at Hillmorton.
    These were returned to his family on his demise.

    Tony in 2008.
    Again I am unable to credit the photo.

    Tony Miles in 2008.jpg

     

    I have no connection other than being an amature canal historian.

    The photo's are "full size."

     

    I am unable to give consent to copy them as the originals are not mine.

    OK, no worries. Thanks anyway.

    I'm sure my dad will enjoy seeing these pictures. He's there somewhere out of shot. That's Hawkesbury at the back by the looks of it.

    That was our home and mum tells me we lived in the hedge at Braunston all summer while it was being used for the shoot. I'm really not sure where we slept.

     

    So this is Tony, who Kim sold Grace to.

    You may be interested to read another thread I started yesterday regarding Kim's other boats, specifically Sirius, which I was born onto and i have now tracked down to Jem Bates' yard reunited with Arcturus.

  2. Update on Sirius: Found

     

    Thanks to you all for helping me trace Sirius. I've just been on the phone to Jem Bates and yes, Arcturus and Sirius are both there so I am going to be able to go and visit my first home. I am really chuffed.

    My question was why are these boats 'famous'? well they were prototypes of the Star class in 1934 and Jem has told me they are the last surviving original pair of wooden boats. He is holding onto them with an eye to renovation when possible. I will be providing him with photos and a little more info I have from the 70's to add to the boats provenance and known history - mainly pictures with me in :)

    Thanks again

    Joe

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    • Happy 2
  3. 17 hours ago, JoeSlow said:

    That's amazing - my expectation from this post have been blown out of the water.

    I will talk to Kim and get back to you (like who he bought it from and sold it to) but what I do know is that he decked it out with bunks around 1976 and took groups of kids (scouts I think) on trips for £1 each per day. He also used it to pull other boats about between yards as they were being done up. They sold up and moved to Devon soon after, probably '77.

    I believe my mum wanted to stay and live in Braunston but we went to Devon and the rest is history. I so easily could have had a very different childhood.

    So...

    Hawkesbury was bought from a guy called Tom Lavender in 1975 and sold on to people (unknown) from Bournemouth in 1976. Kim says buying and selling boats then was like bicycles. They turned up handed over cash and took it away. Simples.

    It was used with Sirius (butty) initially then Bingley where it had 12 bunks in each for 24 kids in total on boat trips.

    Hawkesbury & Bingley were used in the making of The canal children series for the BBC, carrying cast and crew during filming. The boat seen in the series was Grace, my dad's first boat that was then owned by a guy called Tony. I have always thought this boat was Sirius but no so.

     

     

  4. On 20/01/2021 at 18:28, ChrisJBrady said:

    Canal Children - episode one

     

     

    This had been my dad Kim McGavin's boat, Grace, a couple years before this - It belonged to a guy named Tony at the time of filming. My dad's friend Stef worked for the BBC and they rented Grace and our boats Hawkesbury & Bingley to ferry the crew and cast about.  I've always been told this story and I've since watched the film online and I've always thought this was our boat, Sirius, at the time but I was wrong. So many boats in such a short period.

  5. 4 hours ago, BWM said:

    We currently own Hawkesbury and have done since 2013, it would be great to know more about the time spent in your Dad's hands as this period is missing from the folder of information we have.

    That's amazing - my expectation from this post have been blown out of the water.

    I will talk to Kim and get back to you (like who he bought it from and sold it to) but what I do know is that he decked it out with bunks around 1976 and took groups of kids (scouts I think) on trips for £1 each per day. He also used it to pull other boats about between yards as they were being done up. They sold up and moved to Devon soon after, probably '77.

    I believe my mum wanted to stay and live in Braunston but we went to Devon and the rest is history. I so easily could have had a very different childhood.

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  6. 1 hour ago, Derek R. said:

    Last heard of on here as being at Jem Bate's boatyard at Puttenham three years ago:

     

    Thank you Derek. This is a great lead. I don't think these two were together when we had them so I guess they were reunited. They seem to be a bit famous. Can you tell me why?

    50 minutes ago, hughc said:

    I can't help with Sirius but we bought Avon from Kim McGavin in 1975. This was in 1975 and she was in fairly poor condition but we needed a boat and so didn't haggle too much. Over the years we did a considerable amount of work on her including replanking and de-hogging. After we sold her she started the inevitable slide into wooden boat decrepitude with numerous owners doing little or no maintenance. It was finally broken up at Puttenham in lieu of monies owed.

    AVONTREV (2).jpg

    Wow. Thanks, that was very unexpected. Were you a haulage company or private?

  7. I'm trying to track down an old working boat that I was born on in 1974 (well we were in Leamington Spa when mum had to dash off to the hospital to give birth)

    I'm not a boater now but I was born onto the canals and spent my earliest years between Rickmansworth and the Midlands, and living at Braunston for a short time. My dad, Kim McGavin, ran coal up and down the GU on boats Grace (Originally no.88 of the Samual Barlow fleet), then Avon (?), then the boat I lived on, Sirius (Built in 1934 by Walker's of Rickmansworth), which is the boat I'm trying to track down if it's still afloat. He then switched to group tours on Hawksbury (which I believe is still around).

     

    The photo attached here was a postcard made without mum's knowledge or permission (Braunston 1975) and was found much later by accident in a shop (surprise!) but it's where the information comes from, leading me to the Historic Narrow Boat club website. https://hnbc.org.uk/boats/sirius

     

    So any information or leads on Sirius would be greatly appreciated.

     

    Thanks, Joe

    IMG_8484.jpeg

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