Orchard Marina & Boatbuilders Ltd

[Up-Side-Down]

Can anyone throw any light on the above business? Google is not showing a website or telephone number.

[ditchcrawler]

Just now, Up-Side-Down said:

Can anyone throw any light on the above business? Google is not showing a website or telephone number.

Their marina was a dry hole last time I passed, the buildings all gone and boats moved to Park Farm marina just down the cut

[stablemabel]

Still the same

[haggis]

22 minutes ago, stablemabel said:

Still the same

That's not so good . When we went past in July the pontoons were in and they  had started putting water and power to them .  I would have expected boats to be back in there by now. 

[Stroudwater1]

Yes the pontoons looked pretty new plus a block of some sort being constructed in early July 

 

[stablemabel]

Still the same

[Up-Side-Down]

Thanks everyone for this information. The implication seems to be that there were boats there but that they have moved away and some infrastructure is now being built. So was the empty basin area with the new pontoons once flooded and containing boats or have I misunderstood?

 

It was purporting to be a fully operational marina four or five years ago.

[Tracy D'arth]

AFAIK it has not yet been filled. It took an inordinate amount of time to dig it out with one digger and only one small dumper holding the job up.

The boats are still in Park Farm Marina, some have left to go elsewhere unsurprisingly.

[ditchcrawler]

31 minutes ago, Up-Side-Down said:

Thanks everyone for this information. The implication seems to be that there were boats there but that they have moved away and some infrastructure is now being built. So was the empty basin area with the new pontoons once flooded and containing boats or have I misunderstood?

 

It was purporting to be a fully operational marina four or five years ago.

The work probably started about 3 years ago, maybe 4

[haggis]

35 minutes ago, Up-Side-Down said:

Thanks everyone for this information. The implication seems to be that there were boats there but that they have moved away and some infrastructure is now being built. So was the empty basin area with the new pontoons once flooded and containing boats or have I misunderstood?

 

It was purporting to be a fully operational marina four or five years ago.

It used to be a marina full off boats but it apparently became very silted up and had to be dredged. The boats had to leave and as others have said, many moved across the cut to Park Farm Marina (owned by the same organisation). The marina was drained and dredging started and stopped several times and there have been long periods with no activity . When the pontoons started going in it looked like things were moving to a conclusion but apparently they have stopped again. I think the intention is to have it as a marina again but who knows how long that will take. 

 

haggis

[Up-Side-Down]

1 minute ago, haggis said:

It used to be a marina full off boats but it apparently became very silted up and had to be dredged. The boats had to leave and as others have said, many moved across the cut to Park Farm Marina (owned by the same organisation). The marina was drained and dredging started and stopped several times and there have been long periods with no activity . When the pontoons started going in it looked like things were moving to a conclusion but apparently they have stopped again. I think the intention is to have it as a marina again but who knows how long that will take. 

 

haggis

Thanks Ann.

[IanD]

On 25/08/2022 at 10:15, haggis said:

It used to be a marina full off boats but it apparently became very silted up and had to be dredged. The boats had to leave and as others have said, many moved across the cut to Park Farm Marina (owned by the same organisation). The marina was drained and dredging started and stopped several times and there have been long periods with no activity . When the pontoons started going in it looked like things were moving to a conclusion but apparently they have stopped again. I think the intention is to have it as a marina again but who knows how long that will take. 

 

haggis

 

Any news, or still the same?

[PCSB]

48 minutes ago, IanD said:

 

Any news, or still the same?

Went past it a couple of weeks or so ago, still the same sadly. 

[IanD]

2 minutes ago, PCSB said:

Went past it a couple of weeks or so ago, still the same sadly. 

So I guess Park Farm is still rammed with all the ex-Orchard boats then?

[PCSB]

Just now, IanD said:

So I guess Park Farm is still rammed with all the ex-Orchard boats then?

It looked quite full when we went past, we don't moor there so can't be precise, sorry.

[Iain_S]

6 hours ago, IanD said:

So I guess Park Farm is still rammed with all the ex-Orchard boats then?

Yes. 😉

[pearley]

The sailaway next to us that came from Collingwood is actually named on the builders plate as Orchard Marine. 

 

No relation?

[Tracy D'arth]

3 hours ago, pearley said:

The sailaway next to us that came from Collingwood is actually named on the builders plate as Orchard Marine. 

 

No relation?

Orchard  did fit out boats before they closed the marina.  Went to look at a boat there once. They were so bad mannered that I will never deal with them.

[MtB]

3 hours ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Orchard  did fit out boats before they closed the marina.  Went to look at a boat there once. They were so bad mannered that I will never deal with them.

 

 

This suggests staff angry and pished off with their employer. Be rude to the customers and drive them away, to get back at the boss for the poor way he/she treats them. 

 

Very transparent once you spot it happening. 

 

 

 

 

 

[PD1964]

7 hours ago, pearley said:

The sailaway next to us that came from Collingwood is actually named on the builders plate as Orchard Marine. 

 

No relation?

I’m sure when Liverpool boats changed over to Collingwood, Orchard Marine was created a short while later and was also owned by Collingwood and ran by a member of the same family. Son ran Collingwood, Dad ran Orchard Marine, or something like that.

Edited November 2, 2022 by PD1964

[Cheshire cat]

48 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

 

This suggests staff angry and pished off with their employer. Be rude to the customers and drive them away, to get back at the boss for the poor way he/she treats them. 

 

Very transparent once you spot it happening. 

 

48 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

That was my experience at Mercia Midland Chandlers recently

 

 

 

 

[haggis]

I don't know who owns Orchard marina now, although I heard it is the same people who own Park Farm Marina, but there seems to have been a lot of instances of work stopping and staff walking out since they drained it several years ago. After long periods of nothing happening, works starts but it is never long till it stops again. 

There was a rumour at one point that Park Farm would be extended and upgraded with a slipway,  cafe etc  but if Orchard is anything to go by, it may never happen. Good news for us as we don't need a marina with "frills". 

 

Haggis

[pearley]

11 hours ago, PD1964 said:

I’m sure when Liverpool boats changed over to Collingwood, Orchard Marine was created a short while later and was also owned by Collingwood and ran by a member of the same family. Son ran Collingwood, Dad ran Orchard Marine, or something like that.

Google states Orchard Marine & Boatbuilders as having registered office in Liverpool which would fit. Of course the Northwich one is Orchard Marina.

[ditchcrawler]

1 hour ago, haggis said:

I don't know who owns Orchard marina now, although I heard it is the same people who own Park Farm Marina, but there seems to have been a lot of instances of work stopping and staff walking out since they drained it several years ago. After long periods of nothing happening, works starts but it is never long till it stops again. 

There was a rumour at one point that Park Farm would be extended and upgraded with a slipway,  cafe etc  but if Orchard is anything to go by, it may never happen. Good news for us as we don't need a marina with "frills". 

 

Haggis

Just look how long Park Farm has taken to where it is now. It was definitely work in progress all the time we were there

[haggis]

7 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Just look how long Park Farm has taken to where it is now. It was definitely work in progress all the time we were there

That's a point and I don't think it has changed much since we went there. When we arrived all the pontoons were in and the power and water was in place. The elsan is, I believe, a tank on a boat and I think that is the only facility. My memory might be playing tricks but I think all the pontoons were in as we were offered a mooring on the long pontoons ( where you were ) or the short ones ( where we are ). Noah, the previous owner always seemed to be beavering away but I think that was more about the surroundings rather than the water space. Orchard on the other hand just seems to get stuck with months of absolutely no activity. I get the impression that not many of the evacuees want to go back there if it is ever finished.