alan_fincher

I have two Yarwoods built narrow boats, and, don't get me wrong, I love them both to bits. However when taking on something that is 88 years old you do need to be a bit realistic about the possible problems that come with something that old!

Arguably a Woolwich boat can be a better bet than a Nothwich. Northwich boats have fewer rivets fastening the side plates to the knees so they are more prone to developing corrosion between the two.

Size? Style? "Traditional" or modern? Some clues would help!

Yes it is a Woolwich not a Northwich. I believe it is for sale, but can't recall seeing advert.

I found this really interesting. I had no idea just how impressive her achievements were as from my limited contact with her she seemed just a very nice and committed historic boater. What a legacy!

Arguably as it is a butty the only historically "correct" engine is no engine!

I'm only repeating what has already been said, I think. But it seems like a "no brainer" to me that if CRT considers a lock closed that they should have placed padlocks on it. If they haven't done so then I don't think a boater can be blamed for attempting to pass through it. I'm also aware that a very small minority of boaters might try to take bolt croppers to it, but I would argue it is indeed extremely rare that this happens.

Alf went on to eventually work as BW maintenance staff. In the pictures I took of our SICKLE in the 1970s it is Alf on the tiller in each case, and my understanding is that he was a regular steerer of SICKLE.

Excellent stuff - thank you for bringing it to our attention. Amongst the many things noted, (the Grand Union is my home patch), were:--- First small plywood boat they pass was a British Waterways "Water Baby" hire boat. The first boat my family owned was one of these - it could even have been that one Strange reference to 8 locks close together - the biggest number is surely the 7 at Stoke Bruerne. House still in situ above the Southern tunnel mouth at Braunston Tunnel. The humongously large gear wheel on motor TARPORLEY - try getting into and out of the back cabin with that in the way! I suppose what surprised me most was the immaculate condition of all the BW, Willow Wren and Samuel Barlows hire boats- if there was an untidy one, then I missed it. The only slightly scruffy boat seemed to be CANADA GOOSE. I'd love it if someone could find more like this, particularly if of this quality.

Our SICKLE, another conversion to a maintenance boat, now has at least its 3rd counter, and possibly even its 4th, (based on available photographic evidence). Not all of a 1930s boat was necessarily built in the 1930s.

My apologies if I am stating the obvious, but, just in case, this boat is 8' 6" wide, so will only be able to access broad canals and rivers. This is hugely restrictive as a huge part of the waterways system, including the only links between North and South of the country, is narrow canals. To access these requires your boat to be no wider than 7' 0".

I'm not sure that is correct. PRM switched some time ago and says "ATF" (Automatic Transmission Fluid) should be used in their manually operated (and smallest) gearboxes, such as the P120. These boxes (unlike the larger hydraulically operated ones) do have a reputation for being quite clunky / noisy. Has it always been as it is now, or has it got this way over time.

It doesn't.

I agree with David. I'm sure there are other ex BW workboats that got this treatment, but I also can't immediately remember which. ***EDIT*** Ex FMC Panther certainly has its front end so treated. I'm not sure about the back end.

The version of the product that is self adhesive is, in my view, barely adequate to support the considerable weight. (Whilst you might think "foam" it is actually pretty dense, particularly when you factor in the "lead-like" layer). I would only use the non adhesive variety, and use very considerable amounts of a suitable glue to attach it. My adhesive of choice was EvoStick.

I think that your £40K budget should enable you to buy a reasonable boat, particularly if you are not to hung up on age, or on detail of the interior. The tricky bit will be weeding out boats priced around that level which are simply worth nowhere near £40K, and to focus on ones where that price is sensible. I suspect the will be more boats in the "not worth it" category than in the "reasonable value" category, so you may have your work cut out. The forum is a mine of useful information, so I would urge you to keep asking questions.

You could call it Yarwoods of Northwich style. And based on our experience, (2 different boats), you are absolutely correct. One is welded, the other riveted, but the creeping rust still seems pretty well unavoidable.

Yes, I am pretty sure you are correct.

Yes - rebuild was by the late Keith Ball, at Industry Narrowboats. I am surprised to be told this was originally a Liverpool Boats shell - to my eye it didn't look much like one.

Here is how my old BMC 1800 on a boat I no longer own was arranged... It was a bit of a faff fitting the hose, but none-the-less quite possible...

I think you have the right Mary. It seems she was Doctor Mary Gibby OBE. I really had no idea!

I agree that many historic narrow boat sales seem to be by word of mouth, rather than advertising publicly. As suggested some potential vendors maybe keep contact details for people who have expressed an interest in owning the boat concerned. I obviously never achieved the "canal cred" to make it on to any of these "preferred buyers" lists, so could only ever look to buy boats that were openly advertised - quite a limitation, as I suspect more are "not advertised" than those that are. Both my current historics came via Apollo Duck. Back to the original question though - some unconverted boats in largely working trim do make it on to Apollo Duck, Ebay, etc., though I don't remember many recently. Another approach is to buy a boat with a largely life expired conversion or even a part completed conversion. BRISTOL (aka DIPPER) was an example of the first and OTLEY an example of the second.

I don't think they wanted to sell it before, and I don't believe they do now. What they actually always wanted to do was to pull it down and redevelop the site for housing. Not having been allowed to do that it has been allowed to fall into a state of dereliction, and one can imagine they are hoping for it to fail enough that it is beyond restoration. When it first closed and was put on the market a friend of mine tried to buy it with a plan to put it back into use as a pub. She offered the (then) full asking price, but the vendors showed no interest in accepting it. A shame as my friend is local to the village, and would I feel sure fought hard to make it a successful concern.