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"Jolly canal couple to realise dream of restoring 'floating village hall'"


StephenA

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51 minutes ago, zenataomm said:

The boat – first built in 1959 ????

 

It's a butty, so perhaps an original working boat. The admiral class boats were built in 1959-60, I believe.

Edited by Athy
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If the original name was Vanadium, as claimed, it seems more likely to have been a BCN day boat.  Harris Bros, at least, were still building day boats until the 60's.

 

It needs a push tug to move it, so was it one of the GKN Hardy Spicer boats built to work on the Tame Valley and Brum and Fazeley?

N

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There was another thread about it recently and it is indeed one of the Harris built short joeys for the GKN traffic, now shallowed considerably in hull depth.

 

It will be interesting to see what they find as an historic tug to push it around. Bantams and Bird class wouldn't be suitable, which narrows that field to one which I aware of which I don't think is for sale.

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6 hours ago, Athy said:

It's a butty, so perhaps an original working boat. The admiral class boats were built in 1959-60, I believe.

My post questioning "built in 1959" was based on the photo of it I found by following the links in the article.

245320815_6559933640684233_2572445581749

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On 08/01/2022 at 20:17, zenataomm said:

My post questioning "built in 1959" was based on the photo of it I found by following the links in the article.

245320815_6559933640684233_2572445581749

W hat is there in the photo that suggests it wasn't built in 1959?

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3 hours ago, Athy said:

W hat is there in the photo that suggests it wasn't built in 1959?

I am not aware of any rivetted mud hoppers built on the cusp of those decades.

 

Although as said previously it could be a Harris Bros, Bumble hole in the 30s.  Search a photo of "Ben" for comparison.

Either way the vertical joins of the hull plates is BCN style.

Edited by zenataomm
Gubbins fell off
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8 minutes ago, zenataomm said:

I am not aware of any rivetted mud hoppers built on the cusp of those decades.

You have the advantage over me. I'm not well up on the dates of construction of such craft. When, then, were they constructed?

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Arc welding has been around since the late 19th century, but it was during and after WWII that it really took over from riveting in the fabrication of structures and boats.  Smaller yards, such as Harris Bros of Netherton, continued with the technology they knew, but by the late 1950s when Vanadium was built, the vast majority of new steel boats would have been welded. The contemporary River and Admiral class boats built for BW were all welded.

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On 08/01/2022 at 14:21, Rose Narrowboats said:

There was another thread about it recently and it is indeed one of the Harris built short joeys for the GKN traffic, now shallowed considerably in hull depth.

 

It will be interesting to see what they find as an historic tug to push it around. Bantams and Bird class wouldn't be suitable, which narrows that field to one which I aware of which I don't think is for sale.

 

Would Mouse be suitable? No idea whether it would be available but it certainly looks unloved.

 

Alec

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5 hours ago, zenataomm said:

I am not aware of any rivetted mud hoppers built on the cusp of those decades.

 

Although as said previously it could be a Harris Bros, Bumble hole in the 30s.  Search a photo of "Ben" for comparison.

Either way the vertical joins of the hull plates is BCN style.

A batch of short joys (not as mud hoppers, they weren't tanked) were built, of rivetted construction, by Harris's in the 50's for working with push tugs on the Tame Valley and B&F for GKN as stated further up thread and this boat was one of them. At least four of them later passed to Alfred Matty.

25 minutes ago, agg221 said:

 

Would Mouse be suitable? No idea whether it would be available but it certainly looks unloved.

 

Alec

It hadn't occured to me to regard Mouse as historic!

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Mouse & ...Mole(?)

Built to wind inside the tunnel.

 

Weren't Spitfire & Hurricane (?) built by Harris Bros?  Many think they were commercial because of the rivets, yet they were pleasure craft.

Edited by zenataomm
driblets in the trunks
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They did indeed. Malcolm Braine once told me they wouldn't have any welding kit on the premises!

Eventually, they went into the holiday cruiser trade, but those they built were all riveted.

There's one moored at Lyon's Boatyard on the N. Oxford at Warstock  South Birmingham. 

I think it's 'Victoria'.

There is a thread on here of a few years ago about it and Harris Bros.

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1 hour ago, zenataomm said:

Mouse & ...Mole(?)

Built to wind inside the tunnel.

 

 

I believe it was Frog. 
 

Mouse is looking sad. PeterScott has a lovely picture at a historic meet in full flow 
 

She has UCC Ltd on her and is moored just up from UCC hire fleet so perhaps something to do with them 07DD4435-FA6A-4D46-AD06-2DC731E5B814.jpeg.25edc15720d3fafaee651470a68b2298.jpeg


DED4FD3A-C22D-4940-8392-6C3BCBAA5B80.jpeg.16a209376aa6c7174ba2e044df03608e.jpeg

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Rather than the Blisworth re-line (which was done with the tunnel dried out and road vehicle access from the Blisworth end)  Mouse and Frog were built for the major repairs to  Braunston tunnel, a bit earlier.   UCC had the contract for moving the brick and mortar boats in the tunnel, so had Mouse and Frog built short enough to turn in the tunnel

  I dont know who built them- possibly Chris Barney or Baliol Fowden.  For some time Frog was on the bank between Willoughby and the motorway crossing at Barby.

 

  There were six riveted Harris pleasure boats, built in 1960 and 1961. I have seen four: Primus, Secundus, Victoria and Kalamaki.  All are recognisable by the bow, the flat rectangular bar used for rubbing strips and the curved transom stern.

 

N

Edited by BEngo
Add last location of Frog
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7 minutes ago, BEngo said:

Rather than the Blisworth re-line (which was done with the tunnel dried out and road vehicle access from the Blisworth end)  Mouse and Frog were built for the major repairs to  Braunston tunnel, a bit earlier.   UCC had the contract for moving the brick and mortar boats in the tunnel, so had Mouse and Frog built short enough to turn in the tunnel

  I dont know who built them- possibly Chris Barney or Baliol Fowden.  For some time Frog was on the bank between Willoughby and the motorway crossing at Barby.

 

N

Any guess as to a date? CRT defines 'historic' as 50 years old I believe - not sure whether Mouse is quite that but definitely historically interesting. It was Stroudwater1's pictures which set me thinking about the need for a push tug for Vanadium. It would be particularly good if Vanadium is short enough that it will fit within a 70' lock with its push tug (and Mouse is about as short as it gets). All purely hypothetical of course, but sometimes serendipity works out...


Alec

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