BCN Iceboats

[agg221]

Hello Everyone,

 

Although as per my introductory post I have been somewhat invisible for the past 20yrs due to other things taking priority, I have a longstanding interest in ice boats, particularly those of the BCN.

 

Twenty years ago, there were more people around who remembered the days of working boats, but very few of them had internet connections. Therefore I thought it was worth putting the question out there as to whether anyone can fill in any gaps. Below is a complete list taken from the BCN boat books (up to 1947) and various engineers' notes, with the additions from the 1952 list, plus the oral history I received either first-hand or from other people who undertook the same exercise before me. If anyone can add anything, or knows someone who might, even if they are not entirely sure of it, it would be useful in order to give something to follow up. Anything is of interest, from 'my uncle steered that' to 'I saw that one on the bank in 1985' if that extends the history.

 

Thanks

 

Alec

 

BCN Ice boats (alphabetical order):

Name	Wood/Iron	Build Date	Cut Up	Last Known Date	Notes
Antartic	I	c1830		1999	Converted
Arctic	W	be1858	23/9/1887
Arctic	W	1887		1947
Baffin	W	be 1858	1888
Baffin	W	1887	1912
Baltic	I	c1840		2018	At Bath, full length cabin
Bherring	W	be 1858	1888/9
Byrd	W	01/01/1939		?
Empress	I	c1860		1970s	Last seen being used as a mud hopper by the Coventry Canal Society
Esquimaux (Oates)	I	c1855		2021	At Redhill Marina, converted
Esquimaux	W	10/11/1898		?
Fram	W	01/09/1902		1947
Franklin	W	be 1858	be 1876
Glacier	W	be 1858	be 1876
Grant	W	c1863	22/1/1880
Iceberg	W	1874		1939
Kamschatka	W	be 1858	be 1876
Labrador	W	be 1858	be 1876
Laplander	I	c1830		2014	Converted to steam
McClintock	W	1887		1947
Nansen	W	6/11/1891	1940
Nares	W	22/1/1880	1928
North Star	W	1874	Sold 1904	2021	Returned to BCN as Samson by 1947
North Star II	W	1904		2019	At BCLM as a land-based exhibit
Pandora	W	3/12/1880	06/12/1929
Parry	W	be 1858	6/1895
Parry II	W	31/10/1895		2014	At Ellesmere Port, dilapidated
Peary	W	1910		2003	At Bates’ Boatyard, Puttenham
Polaris	W	6/3/1896	1938
Ross	I	1847		2019	Deconverted at BCLM
Scott	W	01/01/1934		1998
Shackleton	W	18/10/1934		1998
Speke	W	af 1858	c1888
Speke	W	1/1884	1940
BCN post 1952
Atlantic				1999
Nansen II	I			1998
Tardebigge				?
Wilson	W			1998
Worcester				?

[Heartland]

Quite a comprehensive list, it will be of interest to see what comments are made

[agg221]

Some updates:

 

Antartic - 2023 at Alvecote

Baltic - 2024 at Cassiobury

Esquimaux (wood) - 2024 sunken remains at Bradley

Esquimaux (Oates) - 2024 based at Market Drayton

Laplander - 2022 converted from steam to a diesel engine

Parry II - 2022 no longer present at Ellesmere Port, appears to have been disposed of

Shackleton - 2023 at Baddiley

Tardebigge - 2024 at Withymoor Island

Worcester - 2023 at Ellesmere Port

[ditchcrawler]

On 15/05/2024 at 20:39, agg221 said:

Some updates:

 

Antartic - 2023 at Alvecote

Baltic - 2024 at Cassiobury

Esquimaux (wood) - 2024 sunken remains at Bradley

Esquimaux (Oates) - 2024 based at Market Drayton

Laplander - 2022 converted from steam to a diesel engine

Parry II - 2022 no longer present at Ellesmere Port, appears to have been disposed of

Shackleton - 2023 at Baddiley

Tardebigge - 2024 at Withymoor Island

Worcester - 2023 at Ellesmere Port

Laplander at Alvecote 

[agg221]

1 hour ago, ditchcrawler said:

Laplander at Alvecote 

Thanks Brian

 

Alec

[Derek R.]

LAPLANDER converted to diesel? Did the owner sell?

[ditchcrawler]

7 hours ago, Derek R. said:

LAPLANDER converted to diesel? Did the owner sell?

It may still be for sale, that I dont know

[agg221]

On 18/05/2024 at 16:15, ditchcrawler said:

It may still be for sale, that I dont know

Laplander is still in the same ownership as when it was steam powered. It is currently having a big end bearing replaced.

 

Alec

[Derek R.]

So, the Gent that drove LAPLANDER when steam powered (as in 2010) has gone over to diesel powered? And the 'big-end' refers to the diesel engine? Or the steam? Just curious.

[agg221]

3 minutes ago, Derek R. said:

So, the Gent that drove LAPLANDER when steam powered (as in 2010) has gone over to diesel powered? And the 'big-end' refers to the diesel engine? Or the steam? Just curious.

Yes, he has gone over to diesel powered. I believe the conversion may have been done by Paul Barber, although don't quote me on that. The big end refers to the diesel engine.

 

I went over Laplander inside and out in around 2000 when the boiler was out and took a lot of photographs. It is unlike any other hull out there, but the same is true of all five known surviving BCN iron ice boats - each of them is unique so far as I can tell (I haven't seen Baltic out of the water). One of the issues with steam was the sheer volume dedicated to it in what is a very small boat, both length and width. Diesel will be a lot less trouble, but also make the boat significantly more habitable, even just for weekends.

 

Alec

[Derek R.]

Thanks Alec.

[agg221]

In response to some pictures posted by @Speedwheel on the Historic Boats thread of a BCN ice boat which was pulled clean out of the water onto the ice, here are the pictures which I have of the same event. Two of them appear to be identical to those posted. I had previously commented that I had a recollection of Sneyd as the location but that is a different set of pictures (boats are in the water). The location looks very northern BCN though.

 

Alec

 

 

Edited January 19 by agg221

[Speedwheel]

2 hours ago, agg221 said:

In response to some pictures posted by @Speedwheel on the Historic Boats thread of a BCN ice boat which was pulled clean out of the water onto the ice, here are the pictures which I have of the same event. Two of them appear to be identical to those posted. I had previously commented that I had a recollection of Sneyd as the location but that is a different set of pictures (boats are in the water). The location looks very northern BCN though.

 

Alec

 

 

So they are! 

 

A great set of pictures. I'll have a dig around and see if I've got any more. 

[agg221]

45 minutes ago, Speedwheel said:

So they are! 

 

A great set of pictures. I'll have a dig around and see if I've got any more. 

I would be very interested to see what you've got. That tractor towing picture was a new one on me.

 

If you happen to have any pictures of the hull of Baltic, that would also be of great interest.

 

Alec

 

p.s. your photo of the name board for Baltic is my text source for identifying the font to do the signwriting on Oates.

[Speedwheel]

I'll have a dig around and see what I can find. 

 

 I've got loads of pictures of Baltic. My mother converted her in the 70s. I'll find some and send through to you. I've also got some pictures of Ross when she moored on Gas Street and had a cabin on; I'll find those too.

 

I've still got the piece of wood with the name on. It was cut from the inside of the old cants when they were replaced during the conversion. I don't know the date the carving was done but they were solid bits of oak so I assume they had been there a while. You're welcome to have a look at some point. It will probably end up on my soon to be acquired new project boat at some point. 

 

Edited January 19 by Speedwheel

[Ray T]

Whilst on the topic of ice boats, is / was this an ice boat?

 

It is in one of the single locks beside lock 41 on the Hatton flight. It appears to have rounded chines and rounded knees.

I have made enquiries elsewhere and so far, drawn a blank. The pounds were drained for lock gate replacement in November 2021.

There were also the remains of wooden butties in the single locks 39 & 40.

It appears at some time in the past these boats were sunk in the single locks to dispose of them.

 

 

Edited January 19 by Ray T

[Speedwheel]

Where was Autherley based? I know she was used as a tug on the BCN but have a feeling she started life on the Staffs and Worcester. 

[agg221]

40 minutes ago, Speedwheel said:

Where was Autherley based? I know she was used as a tug on the BCN but have a feeling she started life on the Staffs and Worcester. 

I believe Autherley was originally a Shropshire Union boat. All the Shropshire Union boats were named after places along the canal. There were two variants - those built by the company such as Middlewich (at Ironbridge) and Marbury (at Ellesmere Port) and those built for them by the BCN; not sure whether any of the latter survive. Distinguishing features are that the company boats have wider frames (4" from memory, compared with 3" for BCN boats) and the towing ring posts are much taller with a pronounced stem before the ring whereas the BCN boats have almost no stem, the rings almost flush to the gunwhale. If I am right on the origins of Autherley then identifying the original builder from the above would be pretty straightforward.

 

Alec

 

Edit: Wilson was a Staffs. & Worcs. boat.

Edited January 19 by agg221

[Ray T]

As a side Byrd was used as a leisure boat with a full length cabin by Mike H. I do no have any dates unfortunately.

A thread here on Parry II. Unfortunately the video is no longer available.

 

 

Edited January 20 by Ray T

[ditchcrawler]

2 hours ago, Ray T said:

As a side Byrd was used as a leisure boat with a full length cabin by Mike H. I do no have any dates unfortunately.

A thread here on Parry II. Unfortunately the video is no longer available.

 

 

Not the same video but Hugh on his icebreaker and not a lifejacket in sight. imagine that on the BBC today 

 

Edited January 20 by ditchcrawler
I like adding bits

[Francis Herne]

This image appeared in Keith Hodgkins' BCNS talk earlier this month. He described the boat as 'a rather crude cabin cruiser' but I think it might be Nansen II in original wheelhouse form? It looks very similar to the plans Alec posted earlier in this thread.

 

The location is Ocker Hill (upper) BCN depot.

[John Brightley]

The Ocker Hill photo above is by Philip Weaver, and is from the RCHS archive.

Another Philip Weaver photo in the RCHS archive is this one which shows BYRD at Batman's Hill depot:

https://rchsimagearchive.org.uk/index.php?album=Canals-Inland-Waterways/BCN/2-BCN-OML/2g-Wednesbury-Oak-Loop&image=045905E.jpg

 

[agg221]

On 19/01/2025 at 18:20, Ray T said:

Whilst on the topic of ice boats, is / was this an ice boat?

 

It is in one of the single locks beside lock 41 on the Hatton flight. It appears to have rounded chines and rounded knees.

I have made enquiries elsewhere and so far, drawn a blank. The pounds were drained for lock gate replacement in November 2021.

There were also the remains of wooden butties in the single locks 39 & 40.

It appears at some time in the past these boats were sunk in the single locks to dispose of them.

My inclination is no, for three reasons:

 

1. The frames are very widely spaced and the planks look rather light. Ice boats tend to be heavily built.

2. There is no sign of heavy gunwhales. Although the top has largely gone, I would expect to see some sign of residual bolts.

3. There is no sign of ice plates. The whole boat would need to have been covered in them.

 

My guess is that it is some other kind of maintenance craft.

 

Alec

[John Brightley]

4 hours ago, Francis Herne said:

This image appeared in Keith Hodgkins' BCNS talk earlier this month. He described the boat as 'a rather crude cabin cruiser' but I think it might be Nansen II in original wheelhouse form? It looks very similar to the plans Alec posted earlier in this thread.

 

The location is Ocker Hill (upper) BCN depot.

I've now compared the original image with the photos of Byrd and Nansen II, and the hull (and cabin) shapes are all different, so, no it isn't Nansen. It does look more like a cruiser hull to me as it doesn't have an inward sloping top bend. 

[Derek R.]

And what of the van? I suspect it may be a Standard Vanguard Service van. Though in real life I have never seen such a beast.

 

https://www.carandclassic.com/auctions/1955-standard-vanguard-van-43Rddn

 

Great yard if unkempt. Reminds me of a Council depot where I worked for a while in 1966.