Ward's boat up for sale on CBS site

[MtB]

George Ward's rather nice Bantock for sale on CBS site.

 

March Hare:

https://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/boat/1976-narrowboat-bantock-9110961/

 

Also this which I think is his (was) other boat "The Celtic", but I'm not 100% sure:

https://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/boat/1981-narrowboat-trditional-stern-wooden-narrowboat-9165288/

 

[Alan de Enfield]

3 minutes ago, MtB said:

George Ward's rather nice Bantock for sale on CBS site.

 

March Hare:

https://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/boat/1976-narrowboat-bantock-9110961/

 

Also this which I think is his (was) other boat "The Celtic", but I'm not 100% sure:

https://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/boat/1981-narrowboat-trditional-stern-wooden-narrowboat-9165288/

 

 

 

C&RT are not going to recoup much towards their costs on those two !

[ditchcrawler]

This was on Facebook earlier Boat removed by Canal and River Trust put up for sale | Swindon Advertiser

[magnetman]

The Bantock is an interesting Boat. 

 

 

cabin looks a bit rubbish 

 

 

 

 

Interesting to know what engine and what that odd capped pipe is all about. 

[Annie cariad]

Saga goes on no doubt money will flood in for him to buy these back and start over .... 

[magnetman]

Seems like it was maybe a maintenance Boat with a little cabin then someone added a new bit but didn't follow the lines of the old cabin. 

 

Strange.

[MtB]

2 minutes ago, Annie cariad said:

Saga goes on no doubt money will flood in for him to buy these back and start over .... 

 

Yes and mainly from NBTA types who think by getting him back on the water, they are sticking one on the evil CRT maffia.

 

 

[David Mack]

5 hours ago, MtB said:

George Ward's rather nice Bantock for sale on CBS site.

 

March Hare:

https://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/boat/1976-narrowboat-bantock-9110961/

Think that's been posted before.

But £11.5k for a historic hull shortened/motorised nearly 50 years ago, with a ropey cabin and non running engine sounds a bit steep!

5 hours ago, MtB said:

Also this which I think is his (was) other boat "The Celtic", but I'm not 100% sure:

https://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/boat/1981-narrowboat-trditional-stern-wooden-narrowboat-9165288/

£2.5k for a wooden josher? Worth it for the RN only if the boat could have an unfortunate accident!

[MtB]

3 minutes ago, David Mack said:

Think that's been posted before.

But £11.5k for a historic hull shortened/motorised nearly 50 years ago, with a ropey cabin and non running engine sounds a bit steep!

£2.5k for a wooden josher? Worth it for the RN only if the boat could have an unfortunate accident!

 

Shortened by Harris Bros of Bumblehole by the looks of it, which in itself is a historic mod! 

 

And yes I thought that about the wooden sinker. But given the RN (has been submerged and I can't imagine that nice Mr Ward changing the oil, fuel and filters within a few hours of the raising and then running it heat it up and chase out the gremlins, its probably only good as a mud anchor by now. I'd have thought it was probably a National though. 

 

 

[nealeST]

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/boat-removed-canal-river-trust-043700522.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=ma

 

 

Boat removed by Canal and River Trust put up for sale

John Baker

Tue, 2 January 2024 at 4:37 am GMT·2-min read

 

Geroge Ward in front of the March Hare, which was removed by the Canal and River Trust (Image: Trevor Porter 69371-1)

One of the narrowboats removed from disabled Kennet & Avon Canal boater George Ward is being offered for sale.

The March Hare – made by Thomas Bantock & Co in the 1880s – was owned by Mr Ward until its removal from the Kennet & Avon Canal on May 11.

ADVERTISEMENT

The 50-foot narrowboat was removed just under a month after the Canal & River Trust removed his 70-ft narrowboat The Celtic on April 19.

Both boats are now languishing in a Commercial Boat Services Ltd storage yard near Chester.

The Trust has since demanded Mr Ward pay fees totalling £48,000 for their removal and the delivery charge for the return of his personal possessions.

The March Hare is now being offered for sale by Commercial Boat Services and is described as a 15-metre narrowboat with a diesel engine with a value of  £11,500.

 

The CBS advertisement says: “Here we have a Bantock narrow-boat with a historic riveted iron hull with steel superstructure, it has an engine but this doesn't look serviceable.

“The condition of the hull looks reasonable but I would describe this boat as a project requiring remedial work to the hull cabin and machinery.

“Anybody interested would be advised to come and have a look, it is available to view at our Chester yard where it is ashore.”

Mr Ward, 63, said: “The Canal & River Trust Ltd is responsible for demanding the prohibitive sum of £48,000 to effectively prevent my recovery of the goods.

“Furthermore, the boat appears now to be the property of CBS Ltd. It is an absolute injustice.

“I can scrape together enough savings to pay £11,500 for The Celtic but then I am stuck with the dilemma of not having enough to take it anywhere.”

Mr Ward was evicted from the canal towpath near Bradford on Avon in August after a three-year battle with the Trust.

The Trust claimed he had no licences for the two boats, which Mr Ward denies, saying the Trust would not allow him to relicense them.

The 70-foot-long The Celtic was refloated after being swamped and sunk by the wash from a stag party hire boat in September 2018.

Supporters later rallied around and raised more than £8,000 from a crowdfunding appeal to enable him to repair the boat.

The Celtic was removed from the canal in April.

He lived in a gazebo tent for around two months after the March Hare was removed before finally being evicted from the towpath for trespass.

[Alan de Enfield]

Maybe this should be merged with the other thread on the same subject :

 

 

 

[nealeST]

Missed that…how does one merge?

[Alan de Enfield]

7 minutes ago, nealeST said:

Missed that…how does one merge?

 

Mods will do it.

[magpie patrick]

22 minutes ago, nealeST said:

Missed that…how does one merge?

 Done - needs a mod to do that

[stagedamager]

the Josher is the "Aster" i believe, stored at Bradley workshops. currently sunk but the hull didn't look too bad in the photo's i've seen.

[Ewan123]

17 hours ago, MtB said:

George Ward's rather nice Bantock for sale on CBS site.

 

March Hare:

https://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/boat/1976-narrowboat-bantock-9110961/

 

Also this which I think is his (was) other boat "The Celtic", but I'm not 100% sure:

https://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/boat/1981-narrowboat-trditional-stern-wooden-narrowboat-9165288/

 

Regarding the second - this is probably my ignorance, but is a boat built in 1981 really "historic" with significant "heritage value"?

[Mike Todd]

17 hours ago, MtB said:

 

Yes and mainly from NBTA types who think by getting him back on the water, they are sticking one on the evil CRT maffia.

 

 

I would not expect it to be able to get a BSSC or insurance any time soon, so don't fret!

[Hudds Lad]

I'm sure CRT will be interested to know the lad can scrape together £11.5k to buy his boat back, as he owes them getting on for £50k 😬

[magnetman]

14 minutes ago, Ewan123 said:

Regarding the second - this is probably my ignorance, but is a boat built in 1981 really "historic" with significant "heritage value"?

 

It won't be 1981. 

 

The bulk of the craft is from 188x as it is an early Bantock. I had one of these and Pete Harrison (the god of canal Boat archives) had established it was from 1884. 

 

The back end on this one is more recent. I think older than '81 due to the riveting but apparently Harris of Bumblehole were riveting when everyone else was welding. 

 

Interesting Boat and i think the historic does apply. 

Edited January 3 by magnetman

[Ewan123]

13 minutes ago, magnetman said:

 

It won't be 1981. 

 

The bulk of the craft is from 188x as it is an early Bantock. I had one of these and Pete Harrison (the god of canal Boat archives) had established it was from 1884. 

 

The back end on this one is more recent. I think older than '81 due to the riveting but apparently Harris of Bumblehole were riveting when everyone else was welding. 

 

Interesting Boat and i think the historic does apply. 

Thanks

[magnetman]

Ignoring all the terrible shite it is possible to note that there is in fact an incredibly beautiful narrow Boat bow section. These wonderful Boats had hand forged bow plates and 3 inch wide forged D strakes. 

 

Its the real deal. Obviously butchered over time but the front of these is incredible. 

 

I can just imagine the blacksmith hammering it all out. It must have gone in a great big fire or something. 

 

 

Also it is probably scrap. 

[MtB]

6 minutes ago, magnetman said:

Also it is probably scrap. 

 

Judging by that gaping hole just above the waterline, I suspect it didn't get its bi-annual docking and blacking last year.

 

 

[magnetman]

Maybe the value is in the engine and they are deliberately not mentioning that it has a single cylinder Gleniffer in it. In working order. 

 

They only made one of these...

[MtB]

4 minutes ago, magnetman said:

Maybe the value is in the engine and they are deliberately not mentioning that it has a single cylinder Gleniffer in it. In working order. 

 

They only made one of these...

 

I very much doubt they made any, actually!

 

Anyone buying this boat is gonna get "Hey, isn't that George Ward's old boat? What are you doing with it?" for the next decade or so....

 

 

 

 

[magnetman]

The best option is to cut it and use the bow section. Not sure if anyone does this these days but it seems to be the best solution. 

 

As for the Gleniffer I guess one would need to know the company directors to understand what they had done.