pete harrison

I have V.R. II in my records as a large Ricky butty converted to a house boat, but I do not recall seeing a photograph of it and I do not know its original identity. My records indicate that this boat was renamed from V.R. II to PEGGY sometime during the 1970's and the last note I have is dated June 1980 when it was in use as a house boat at Battlebridge Basin near Kings Cross, London. My understanding is that V.R. II was owned by a chap named Jim, Charity Dock when it appeared in the film. When I had more of an interest in 'historic' narrow boats I used to do illustrated talks on them (slide shows) and on 26 April 2000 I did one for Reading Transport Group. Following my presentation I was approached by a middle aged lady who once lived on V.R. II - but I failed to take her name

No - this is wrong information regardless of what might be claimed by both the H.N.B.C. website and David Williams / Peter Silvester's book Historic Working Narrow Boats Today - 2 page 72. The stern of the small Woolwich butty AURORA did become WATER VIOLET but was renamed SHEARWATER following its sale into private ownership. I last saw SHEARWATER a couple of years ago tied in the marina at Abels Boatyard, Bristol and this boat has a known history. The stern of the small Woolwich butty currently named SAFEST HAVEN is a completely different boat, and back in August 2001 was named MISS B'HAVING and tied at Shardlow. I have my suspicions what this boat was originally, but as this is only an opinion I am keeping it to myself - just like last time this boat was discussed on this Forum edit - I have photographs of both MISS B'HAVING (09 August 2001) and SHEARWATER (08 May 2000).

ORION sold in mid August 2019 for the maiden bid @ £7500 edit - add boat name.

This is one of several errors in the advert - ORION was built with a nominal length of 71'6'' in common with other Grand Union Canal Carrying Company Ltd. narrow boats. The engine is a 3 cylinder (FR3M) rather than 2 cylinder and its serial number dates to 1954 rather than 1957. I have texted the seller, so the advert might change

This is the fore end of ORION, last sold via Ebay in mid August 2019.

Yarwood's did not built many wooden boats, but like many other of the larger and established builders they churned out iron and steel narrow boats in quick succession, and pretty much in the timeframe you have quoted - as did the builders of wooden narrow boats such as Yates in the Black Country and W.H. Walker & Bros Ltd. at Rickmansworth amongst others You will like this image then courtesy of Colin Scrivener

Except that the £15k would more likely be spent on story / interpretation boards or blinds in somebodys office or a managers bonus or suchlike. The 4LW will not make BIRCHILLS shift on its own as it needs to be mated to the correct gearbox and propeller. I suspect the shape of the hull and its draught will help, but ultimately it is the steerer and their understanding of how the boat interacts with the water that will make BIRCHILLS 'shift'

Except that I am one of those committed owners who is have a 'historic' boat restored at considerable cost, and I would like to retire sooner rather than later

Definitely not an E-Type as I do not like them (but I do appreciate the heritage), but a late XKR-S coupe in Italian Racing Red...……………………could be tempting

ARIES has clearly suffered in a similar way to many wooden narrow boats, even though it was subject to major works 40 years ago. In working days wooden narrow boats had a life expectancy of 20 to 30 years, and during this time would be subject to regular dockings and maintenance. In working days there were countless boatyards throughout the waterways system that had the facilities as well as the skilled workers to maintain these wooden hulled boats. As commercial carrying came to an end so did the majority of boatyards that could maintain a wooden hull, leading to the condition of most wooden boat deteriorating and losing value - and when combined with 'enthusiasts' buying them as cheap boats is far from ideal. A few 'enthusiasts' had / have the commitment and finances to restore these life expired boats, regardless of time and costs, hence a boat like ARIES being a survivor. Once a wooden boat is restored it then goes straight back into the 20 to 30 year life cycle again, although a boat restored nowadays probably will last longer as modern building and coating practices are much improved. The vast majority of wooden narrow boats restored in the 1970's and 1980's have suffered through lack of docking as boatyards with the facilities and skilled staff remain few and far between, so problems that should be dealt with regular dockings are usually left to the point of near failure by which time an expensive repair is required that can easily be more than the value of the boat. This is harder to accept with a museum exhibit such as ARIES, which clearly has not been maintained for several years by its owners at Ellesmere Port - for which they will claim multiple reasons. I expect restoration cost for ARIES would easily exceed £100k, but its end value would be less than £50k (and that is being generous). It has to be said that whilst metal hulled 'historic' boats appear a better proposition they are not really, except that worn out or heavily corroded iron / steel can be patch overplated and worn rivets welded up. This method of repair is O.K. if done properly but can cause bigger problems later on, but because these boats are 'desirable' an owner will sooner or later replate the hull - and a good restoration of a metal hulled boat will easily exceed its end value just like a wooden boat. I am not sure how much of the above is just my perception or whether I have answered you question edit = and do I regret selling my Jaguar XK Dynamic R - yes I do, but I do not regret buying my boat.

I can't see there being many takers for ARIES as its restoration costs would be horrendous with its final value being quite low. It does however have some valued parts which could help in the restoration of other 'historic' boats (I know which bits I would like). I do hope BIRCHILLS finds the right new owner as it would be such a shame for it to lose its history and character with the fitting of a steel bottom, steel gunwales and steel cabin - let alone overly shiny paint and the internal fittings of a modern pleasure cruiser. For the record the engine in BIRCHILLS was / is a Gardner 4LW, unlike ENTERPRISE which has a GARDNER 5L2

No. The CLARA in the photograph above is best known as Samuel Barlow Coal Company Ltd. motor of the same name. Barlow's acquired CLARA from British Paper Company Ltd., Frogmore on 31 July 1947, but it had been built as a horse boat for Isaac Lapworth, Nuneaton in 1922 and converted to a motor for the same owner in 1934. Barlow's sold CLARA to Leamington Boys Club in 1949 upon which it started its new life as a pleasure boat

I wouldn't mind a piece of plank like this...………………………………….ummmmm……………………..hang on...…………………ummmmm……………looks familiar...…...ummmmmm

You do not have to look as far as Holland as there are numerous old iron and steel 'historic' boats on the UK's waterways. My boat dates to 1936 and worked pretty hard right up to 1970, and has worked less hard since then. It has been re-bottomed and re-footed at least twice (possibly three times - last in 2003) by removing and replacing the steel, and has been subject to some over-plating - although some of this has recently been removed with the thin steel cut out and replaced. Dealing with thin steel / iron on 'historic' boats has been ongoing for donkeys years, but as pleasure boats age it will inevitably effect them in a similar way

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I think it was me that mentioned Tom Foxon's book Following The Trade. This is the last of a trilogy covering Mr Foxon's experiences as a professional boatman, both working for others as well as being an owner boatman. The references to a couple of LMS boats and their trade to Worcester are in passing and are probably not worth buying the book for. The book is however an interesting insight into Mr Foxon's carrying activities as well as the latter days of carrying, especially if read in conjunction with his Anderton For Order and No. 1 edit - add the word being edit 2 - you are welcome to borrow my copy of Tom Foxon's Following The Trade, but I will want it back.

No comment

I have received notification of a forthcoming 'workshop' where the subject is "Developments of internal combustion transport on British navigations". I am wondering whether this thread has been started in order to gain information for this event

IBEX back on Apollo Duck at £44950 https://narrowboats.apolloduck.co.uk/boat/fellows-morton-clayton-70-traditional/622118

DORY now on Ebay with a number of £65K https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dory-70-foot-traditional-working-narrow-boat/174174294425?hash=item288d98d199:g:De0AAOSwvwFeMVzH

I bought my boat a couple of years ago and prior to bringing it back onto the canal system I had to licence it (it had been on the Thames for 10 years). When I phoned CRT I was told my boat had previously had the historic boat discount so it was applicable there and then. There were no questions about modifications or conversions (it had been fitted with a full length steel cabin whilst on the Thames - but this has now been removed) and there was no mention of the National Historic Ships Register (which it is not on - and will not be if I can avoid it). Obviously I grabbed the discount, which along with the discount for prompt payment was appreciated as I need every penny for the renovation fund - and both the renovation and the required fund have grown considerably. It certainly appears that the historic boat discount is applied inconsistently

The vast majority of what I have amassed / published on 'British Waterways' pleasure boat conversions is based upon first hand research and taken from original documents. This research was done by me several years ago with documents found in archives and private collections all around the country, and almost 20 years ago I was fortunate in that I was given exclusive access to live records held by British Waterways Board at Bradley Workshops and the workshops at Sharpness. The only error I am aware of in my publications is transposing 'L' and 'H' in the name DELHI, but that was my fault and a careless mistake. Ironically I had little interest in most of these conversions as at that time I was focussed on researching Grand Union Canal Carrying Company Ltd. narrow boats, so needed to work out what was what to prove how the Grand Union boats were converted. As far as I am concerned there are still a few lose ends (no pun intended), but these relate to conversions of exF.M.C. Ltd. horse boats / buttys, i.e. I know what the 'British Waterways' pleasure boat names (WATER ……………..) became and I know which end became which, but I do not know the original identity of the hull - and unlike other 'enthusiasts' / 'researchers' I am not prepared to speculate. As with all narrow boats once these conversions were sold out of trade most records will be observational, with conversations with both past and current owners being critical

As does LINDSAY. The Parsons Merganser engines currently in LINDSAY and MOUNTBATTEN have serial numbers that are not too dissimilar, which suggests that they might still have their original engines in place

As a 'British Waterways' maintenance boat COLUMBIA became dumb, i.e. it had its engine removed. The Parsons Merganser was fitted into COLUMBIA as part of its rebuild into a trip boat by Colliery Narrowboats in about 1979, having previously been in the exF.M.C. Ltd. motor PETREL but in storage by Colliery Narrowboats for quite a while. The last time I checked this engine was still in COLUMBIA (I have the serial numbers). 'British Waterways' (and Barlows) fitted Parsons Merganser's into several of their carrying and maintenance boats during the mid to late 1950's, and over the years these have been swapped and changed into all sorts of other boats. There are also quite a number of industrial AS2's that have been modified and installed, as well as Parsons Merganser's sourced from other applications such as ships lifeboats