Jump to content

Tonic required. Send in your photos of what is nice on the waterways now.


DandV

Featured Posts

This is the Water Wanderer, introduced in 1960 as a hotel-barge by British Waterways of blessed memory. Cruising between Nottingham and Lincoln she carried 16 passengers.

 

In 1973 I received a letter from  Cyril Moores, who had bought the boat and hired a crew to get her across the North Sea. Six miles off the Norfolk coast however, the fuel pump seized and she was left wallowing. Whereupon the captain of a German freighter, who had been watching on radar, came back and towed them the 110 miles to Rotterdam at reduced speed without claim or reward.

 

Eventually she reached the Canal du Midi, as pictured, operating successfully there, with eight passengers this time, for several years, before disappearing from view.

PICT0192.jpg

  • Greenie 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, John Liley said:

This is the Water Wanderer, introduced in 1960 as a hotel-barge by British Waterways of blessed memory. Cruising between Nottingham and Lincoln she carried 16 passengers.

 

In 1973 I received a letter from  Cyril Moores, who had bought the boat and hired a crew to get her across the North Sea. Six miles off the Norfolk coast however, the fuel pump seized and she was left wallowing. Whereupon the captain of a German freighter, who had been watching on radar, came back and towed them the 110 miles to Rotterdam at reduced speed without claim or reward.

 

Eventually she reached the Canal du Midi, as pictured, operating successfully there, with eight passengers this time, for several years, before disappearing from view.

PICT0192.jpg

 

18 minutes ago, jenevers said:

 

Is she a West Country Keel?

Edited by jenevers
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, jenevers said:

 

Is she a West Country Keel?

The background to this boat is uncertain, though Robin Smithett in 'Precious Cargo - 50 years of Hotel Boats'  tells us she was previously the Pauline, and very likely a Thames barge of that name, brought to the Norfolk Broads. There, between 1923 and 1929 she worked as a very early hotel-barge, . Originally 80 feet long, by the time British Waterways introduced her she had her square stern replaced with a rounded one and was shortened somewhat.

 

Under BW's patronage "the waiters wore white jackets" and she was supposedly air-conditioned. Tantalisingly Robin Smithett also tells us "The boat was flooded at Whitsun in 1960 at Newark nether Lock, and in 1961 cruised to Boston" but gives no further details.

PICT0616.jpg

Edited by John Liley
Mis-spelling of date - added a necessary digit
  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, John Liley said:

The background to this boat is uncertain, though Robin Smithett in 'Precious Cargo - 50 years of Hotel Boats'  tells us she was previously the Pauline, and very likely a Thames barge of that name, brought to the Norfolk Broads. There, between 1923 and 1929 she worked as a very early hotel-barge, . Originally 80 feet long, by the time British Waterways introduced her she had her square stern replaced with a rounded one and was shortened somewhat.

 

Under BW's patronage "the waiters wore white jackets" and she was supposedly air-conditioned. Tantalisingly Robin Smithett also tells us "The boat was flooded at Whitsun in 1960 at Newark nether Lock, and in 1961 cruised to Boston" but gives no further details.

PICT0616.jpg

From the records I hold, Water Wanderer was originally an A&CN long boat built in 1879, which was lengthened in 1913. There is a Pauline, an A&CN short boat, ie West Country size, which Paul Lorenz owns and which is moored at Leigh.

  • Greenie 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Pluto said:

From the records I hold, Water Wanderer was originally an A&CN long boat built in 1879, which was lengthened in 1913. There is a Pauline, an A&CN short boat, ie West Country size, which Paul Lorenz owns and which is moored at Leigh.

This sounds much more likely, and fits the appearance. There seems little point in the rebuilding of the stern that Robin Smithett describes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Tam & Di said:

That's an interesting vessel, quite high up in the air on minimal support from what I can see of the photo.

1 hour ago, Victor Vectis said:

And a Barry Hawkins job at the place of it's birth.

Slightly more detail from the image with a different crop L2909_2019-P9039316t.jpg.64b49568d1612249581d5b4d8ad1c8a5.jpg

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Victor Vectis said:

Are the 'no mooring' signs there because the people in the houses don't want people on boats looking into their bedroom windows?

Somebody else will recall the exact detail but yes it was something along those lines.

 

Nimbys at work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.