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Historic value of early pleasure boats


harrybsmith

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Hi all, 

 

Not sure if this has come up before, (I can't find anything glaringly obvious on it) but do you think early leisure/hire boats will ever be appreciated in the same way as ex-carrying boats? Will Ellesmere Port be half full of wooden Dawncrafts and Harborough Marines with big banana shaped cabin guard irons in a few years? 

 

Wishful thinking? Possibly, especially as I've just bought one...

 

Edited by harrybsmith
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50 minutes ago, harrybsmith said:

Hi all, 

 

Not sure if this has come up before, (I can't find anything glaringly obvious on it) but do you think early leisure/hire boats will ever be appreciated in the same way as ex-carrying boats? Will Ellesmere Port be half full of wooden Dawncrafts and Harborough Marines with big banana shaped cabin guard irons in a few years? 

 

Wishful thinking? Possibly, especially as I've just bought one...

 

Could end up looking like this: 😃

Braunston Marina (2).jpg

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1 hour ago, harrybsmith said:

Hi all, 

 

Not sure if this has come up before, (I can't find anything glaringly obvious on it) but do you think early leisure/hire boats will ever be appreciated in the same way as ex-carrying boats? Will Ellesmere Port be half full of wooden Dawncrafts and Harborough Marines with big banana shaped cabin guard irons in a few years? 

 

Wishful thinking? Possibly, especially as I've just bought one...

 

I seem to recall that one of the exhibits at Ellesmere Port is an early wooden hire boat

 

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5 minutes ago, BWM said:

I'm definitely of the opinion that good, near original examples should attract the 'historic' discount and be more regarded generally.

 

Do they not already then? 

 

What are the criteria for the 10% off? Do old boats have to have a history of being 'working' boats to get it currently?

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When I had Lutine my aspiration was to return her to something resembling her 1972 hire condition. The scale of the task defeated me! I had neither the time nor the money. I think the evolution of pleasure boats on the canals is fascinating, but the boats that illustrate it are money pits. 

 

That said, Juno is an example of the kind of boat common on the canals in the 70s, and is much easier to maintain, partly because she's short, and partly because she's fibreglass 

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49 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

Do they not already then? 

 

What are the criteria for the 10% off? Do old boats have to have a history of being 'working' boats to get it currently?

CaRT sets out the criteria for the discount here: https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/media/original/732-application-form-historic-boat-discount.pdf

In the old days, it was simply up to the discretion of the local waterways manager.  It's become a lot more bureaucratic these days.

Edited by koukouvagia
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1 minute ago, David Mack said:

Since former carrying boats with full length leisure cabins are not eligible for the discount, then why should purpose-built leisure boats with full length cabins be?

 

Because they would likely be unconverted from the original design.  

 

A 1930s boat that was originally built with a full length cabin (if such a thing exists!) would be eligible, an open hold boat that has had a full cabin added probably won't.

  • Greenie 1
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3 hours ago, Ray T said:

This one?

 

amaryllis.jpg

 

I remember going on holiday with my grandparents in the early 60's in something like that.

 

They hired Iolanthe from Bantams in Cambridge and we went to Ely and back on the Rivers Cam and Great Ouse.

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On 19/04/2022 at 08:31, magpie patrick said:

When I had Lutine my aspiration was to return her to something resembling her 1972 hire condition. The scale of the task defeated me! I had neither the time nor the money. I think the evolution of pleasure boats on the canals is fascinating, but the boats that illustrate it are money pits. 

 

That said, Juno is an example of the kind of boat common on the canals in the 70s, and is much easier to maintain, partly because she's short, and partly because she's fibreglass 

Yes, good examples of boats that were the bread and butter of the canals in the 70s are great to see, be those the early steel hire boats or GRPs like Freeman, Fairline 19, Norman, Dawncraft etc. not to mention the beauty of the older wooden boats like Amaryllis. Wouldn't argue that they should all be eligible for any historic discount but they have a build quality and aesthetic that can be appreciated in the same way as a modern classic car. Of course, the steel and wooden boats will be maintenance demanding money pits but the GRP ones are much more budget friendly and many are now near 50 years old.

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Pretty sure mine is an early hire boat, must be over fifty years old now. Sadly, I think the only original features left are the rather odd rudder, the light fitting in the toilet and the headlight.  The horn was original until last year. I don't think I'll bother applying for a discount.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Evenin' all

 

I heartily agree with the comments about the preservation of early pleasure boats - wooden boats can be a nightmare, but it is worth encouragement.

 

I wrote a history of Amaryllis (formerly Teal) for the Waterways Journal. This was never a hire boat, but had four owners before the last one sold it to the Museum. One of the Taylor boats (the first of its kind I think), most of which are still extant.

 

Joseph

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I would like to own one of the Willow Wren woodentops preferably one of the Middlwich based ones and restore to original condition complete with bull bars. So far none has come up for sale. I'm also dubious about  what condition the steel of the hull will be in. Larch, Pine or Ash would be my ideal boat.

Early hire boats are a neglected type andsoon will only exist in photos.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for the replies all, I agree too with all of the above.  Yet another one of the "Rare but 'nobody'* cares" things. 

 

I think i'm going to be quite sympathetic to original hire boats in my restoration/rebuild as a result, keeping things like the bash bars, cabin end shapes etc 

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On 05/05/2022 at 14:20, Richard T said:

I would like to own one of the Willow Wren woodentops preferably one of the Middlwich based ones and restore to original condition complete with bull bars. So far none has come up for sale. I'm also dubious about  what condition the steel of the hull will be in. Larch, Pine or Ash would be my ideal boat.

Early hire boats are a neglected type andsoon will only exist in photos.

 

 

Totally agree. Those window-smasher bows and slatted glass windows are very rare now and they are actually very elegantly-shaped boats.

 

Aren't they called "bridge bars" rather than "bull bars" though?

 

\

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41 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

 

 

 

Aren't they called "bridge bars" rather than "bull bars" though?

 

\

Yes: a bull bar, or in Australian English "roo bar", is a robust bumper fitted to a wheeled vehicle.

I do like Harry's descriptive term "bash bar" though.

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11 minutes ago, Athy said:

Yes: a bull bar, or in Australian English "roo bar", is a robust bumper fitted to a wheeled vehicle.

I do like Harry's descriptive term "bash bar" though.

 

Having seen the number of bridges with chunks taken out of them at cabin corner height -- and the number of new "big cabin" boats with little or no tumblehome or pulling in of the (often bashed) cabin front corners-- maybe reintroducing them on some boats (like training wheels on a toddler's bike) would be a good idea?

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