NB Whitefield is back!

[MrsM]

I know she has attracted a lot of attention ? on this forum, not to mention the cut, over the years, so I thought you might be interested to hear that NB Whitefield is coming back on to the market at Midway boats. Price £125,000. Strangely she was my first introduction to narrowboats as I was commissioned to paint some marble effect panels for the bathroom. I never saw the finished product. This was a long time ago now and little did I know that one day I would be looking for a boat of my own. Think I'll be sticking to the tried and tested type though!

[Alan de Enfield]

11 minutes ago, MrsM said:

I know she has attracted a lot of attention ? on this forum, not to mention the cut, over the years, so I thought you might be interested to hear that NB Whitefield is coming back on to the market at Midway boats. Price £125,000. Strangely she was my first introduction to narrowboats as I was commissioned to paint some marble effect panels for the bathroom. I never saw the finished product. This was a long time ago now and little did I know that one day I would be looking for a boat of my own. Think I'll be sticking to the tried and tested type though!

 

You've not taken long to find one of those 'marmite' subjects - what's next - toilets ?

 

?

[MrsM]

4 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

You've not taken long to find one of those 'marmite' subjects - what's next - toilets ?

 

?

Brilliant!! Hubby and I were just having the old cassette v pump-out discussion last night. He's pump-out and I'm cassette. As a bowel cancer survivor this is a subject that is close to my heart! ? #sharingtoomuchtoosoon

[Cheshire cat]

She broke down last summer and had to be abandoned at Gt Haywood marina. That might have been the final straw.

[dmr]

£125,000 is just too much, MUCH too much for a second boat, especially an eccentric one.  Could get a nice real replica tug from a "named" builder for that money, plus a couple years worth of diesel and beer money to enjoy it..

 

................Dave

[Jen-in-Wellies]

I don't know. I post a new topic about a perfectly sensible boat and now someone brings up Whitefield and General Boating has gone all silly again. 

Jen ?

 

Whitefield.

 

A sensible boat:

 

Edited June 18, 2020 by Jen-in-Wellies

[MrsM]

1 minute ago, dmr said:

£125,000 is just too much, MUCH too much for a second boat, especially an eccentric one.  Could get a nice real replica tug from a "named" builder for that money, plus a couple years worth of diesel and beer money to enjoy it..

 

................Dave

I couldn't agree more. Don't want to start another heated debate about the positives and negatives of such a boat but (and aesthetics aside) .... I can only dream of owning a boat from a builder that put in so much time and effort and attention to detail as Fernwood. 

[Ray T]

3 minutes ago, MrsM said:

I couldn't agree more. Don't want to start another heated debate about the positives and negatives of such a boat but (and aesthetics aside) .... I can only dream of owning a boat from a builder that put in so much time and effort and attention to detail as Fernwood. 

They got paid, circa £250K if I remember correctly.

Edited June 18, 2020 by Ray T

[MrsM]

11 minutes ago, Ray T said:

They got paid, circa £250K if I remember correctly.

Indeed. Was merely commenting on my limited experience of the the integrity of the builder. From my hours (read: days/weeks/months) of stalking the forum it seems that this is not always a given. Perhaps the low volume nature of boat production is a field in which skilled craftsmen can come to the fore?

[mrsmelly]

31 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

I don't know. I post a new topic about a perfectly sensible boat and now someone brings up Whitefield and General Boating has gone all silly again. 

Jen ?

 

Whitefield.

 

A sensible boat:

 

Remember it well coming into being. a complete pile of idiocy but neverthe less to the uninitiated who want lots of useless problematic toys its cheap now.

[matty40s]

3 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Remember it well coming into being. a complete pile of idiocy but neverthe less to the uninitiated who want lots of useless problematic toys its cheap now.

I would hardly call £125k cheap.

Cant believe that with all that front end camera kit they still ended up hitting a bridge with the lovely rising metal cratch.

[tree monkey]

For those who have no clue what all this is about

 

https://www.midwayboats.co.uk/boatsforsale-315.html

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, tree monkey said:

For those who have no clue what all this is about

 

https://www.midwayboats.co.uk/boatsforsale-315.html

Well she has either had a re paint or been kept out the sun, but that red paint has held up very well.

 

 

 

Edited June 18, 2020 by The Happy Nomad
Spooling mistake.

[tree monkey]

Just now, The Happy Nomad said:

Well she has either had a reapaint or been kept out the sun, but that red paint has held up very well.

I was surprised at how tidy she looks, I wonder if they are original photos

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, tree monkey said:

I was surprised at how tidy she looks, I wonder if they are original photos

I think you are correct. The listing would suggest she's not actually at the brokerage just yet.

[Rob-M]

The outside shot looks like the corner of Great Haywood marina as we used to moor in that berth.

[ditchcrawler]

8 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

The outside shot looks like the corner of Great Haywood marina as we used to moor in that berth.

I saw her at Gt haywood just under the bridge towards the aqueduct 

[mrsmelly]

53 minutes ago, matty40s said:

I would hardly call £125k cheap.

Cant believe that with all that front end camera kit they still ended up hitting a bridge with the lovely rising metal cratch.

It's a pile of crap but nevertheless the useless kit cost a bomb. 

[dmr]

35 minutes ago, tree monkey said:

For those who have no clue what all this is about

 

https://www.midwayboats.co.uk/boatsforsale-315.html

Just read that, I had forgotten just how daft this boat was. I s'pose the good thing is that when you cruise through the Black Country and the local kids say "how much did that cost" you can really impress them.

 

I guess the 5 TVs are a good idea, you could turn them all on at once to miss the crap programs that you don't like watching.

 

................Dave

[Ray T]

I believe Fernwood Boats went into administration a while back.

 

https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/08263142

 

Edited June 18, 2020 by Ray T

[mark99]

It could be a subject of a thesis or two.

 

"How to fly in the face of 200 years of refined design and fall flat on your 'rse".

 

IF and I mean IF, they changed the steering for a tiller I could imagine it selling to a newbie.

Edited June 18, 2020 by mark99

[dmr]

link copied from a recent thread on this forum:

 

https://narrowboats.apolloduck.co.uk/boat/narrow-boats-tugs/610116

 

I don't totally like the interior, but compared to Whitfield it is very very desirable, why would anybody buy Whitefield when they could have this (and for much less money too)?.

 

................Dave

 

[mark99]

Just now, dmr said:

link copied from a recent thread on this forum:

 

https://narrowboats.apolloduck.co.uk/boat/narrow-boats-tugs/610116

 

I don't totally like the interior, but compared to Whitfield it is very very desirable, why would anybody buy Whitefield when they could have this (and for much less money too)?.

 

................Dave

 

Gizmo's, clever broker and being different I guess.

[Ray T]

13 minutes ago, mark99 said:

It could be a subject of a thesis or two.

 

"How to fly in the face of 200 years of refined design and fall flat on your 'rse".

From a blog Sept 2009: http://nbnorthstar.blogspot.com/2009/09/concept-boat-whitefield-for-sale.html

 

"The discussion on the forums has been intense and generally extremely negative, although with a visible minority suggesting that they would go for it, with a few changes. The owners probably didn't endear themselves to the waterways community with some seemingly aloof comments about boat shows, boat yards and other narrow boats; all these comments are in the test report.

It was a brave attempt to break into new ground, but these kinds of concept boats have not done well in the past. It is fair to say that there is a higher proportion of olde worlde traditionalists of a very conservative nature on the Cut than almost anywhere else. It is admirable to be different, but it could turn out to be difficult to sell something quite so unique into such a conservative market; the owner is relying on their being one other boater with such avant garde taste and a serious amount of cash. This other boater also needs to be in the market for a second hand boat some time soon. That seems to be a lot of planets needing to be lined up at the same time."
 

 

Edited June 18, 2020 by Ray T

[Alway Swilby]

21 minutes ago, Ray T said:

I believe Fernwood Boats went into administration a while back.

 

https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/08263142

 

The original Fernwood owners retired round about 2012/13 ish and I believe they sold the company then. The Fernwood that went into administration "a while back" wasn't the Fernwood that built NB Whitefield.