Blue bowed motor

[davidwheeler]

This is October 1969. During two weeks on the Staffs & Worcs, the S.U. and the Trent & Mersey, this is the only boat we saw carrying anything. It seemed to be steel carried as a deckload - had the boat had a deck - supported on beams themselves supported by baulks of timber resting on the hull floor. Two men on the stern, one wearing a donkey-jacket. I assume they were BW men on a BW boat. Does anyone  by any chance recognise the boat, or its builder? I know that we were disappointed by the lack of working boats. Fifteen years before there were quite a lot. I made a list of them.

[matty40s]

Looks a bit like Bletchley.

[IanM]

Could be any one of a number of GU boats.  The picture is too small to see any detail.

 

I've tried zooming in and I reckon it's one of the Yarwoods ones.

Edited January 19 by IanM

[spud]

deleted

Edited January 19 by spud

[archie57]

Probably the Scorpio, Sagitta or Sculptor!

[magnetman]

 

5 hours ago, IanM said:

Could be any one of a number of GU boats.  The picture is too small to see any detail.

 

I've tried zooming in and I reckon it's one of the Yarwoods ones.

 

It does look like a Northwhich not a Woolwich Boat. 

 

[alan_fincher]

1 hour ago, magnetman said:

It does look like a Northwhich not a Woolwich Boat. 

 

To me the image is so low resolution that I wouldn't care to say with any certainty whether it is Northwich or Woolwich.

 

 

1 hour ago, archie57 said:

Probably the Scorpio, Sagitta or Sculptor!

 

I'd be more prepared to say it is a "Small" boat though, though even that I'm not certain of.

Edited January 19 by alan_fincher

[David Mack]

1 hour ago, alan_fincher said:

To me the image is so low resolution that I wouldn't care to say with any certainty whether it is Northwich or Woolwich.

Top bend isn't the right shape for a large or small Woolwich. So I'd go for a small or large Northwich.

[magnetman]

I'm sure it is a Yarwoods stem. 

 

 

 

 

H&W : 

 

 

 

 

The top bit sticks up a lot more on the Yarwoods Boats. 

 

I think @archie57 got it. 

[davidwheeler]

I know it is a poor photo. It was taken with a Brownie Box camera. Still, I appreciate all the comments.

[alan_fincher]

1 hour ago, David Mack said:

Top bend isn't the right shape for a large or small Woolwich. So I'd go for a small or large Northwich.

 

Or middle Northwich ??? 😁

[IanM]

2 hours ago, David Mack said:

Top bend isn't the right shape for a large or small Woolwich. So I'd go for a small or large Northwich.

That’s the only detail I could pick out which made me think the same. 
 

@alan_fincher It was a picture that I took of Sickle which made me think Northwich so it may be one of the middle ones? Which obviously narrows it down a lot but unless the image size can be improved only the likes of Pete Harrison et al will be able to identify it with any certainty. 

[magnetman]

5 minutes ago, IanM said:

 Pete Harrison 

 

What happened to him? Did he shuffle orf and not tell anyone ? 

6 minutes ago, IanM said:

 Pete Harrison 

 

Maybe he died. 

[David Mack]

Pete is still about. Just choosing not to post here.

[roland elsdon]

Too busy working on his boat!

[Stroudwater1]

Nice picture. Is it a very small cabin, or the perspective. It looks like a large opening at the front of a cabin with someone standing there but that’s probably my imagination ?
 

Would it be helpful knowing where it was taken, thus which boat was more likely working where? 
 

it looks like possibly piling in the boat, would that make it any more likely to be one of the three canals? 
 

It looks like it’s a  Canal Pleasurecraft hire hired which iis moored up, as it’s passing on the wrong side? Which boat did you hire? 

[Derek R.]

Northwich, any size:

 

Woolwich

 

[Ogwr]

Given the location my guess would be John Jinks on Severn Dolphin?

[davidwheeler]

I cannot remember where I took the photo. I never made a note. You are right - we were on Canal Pleasurecraft's Water Rat. From Stourport we went up the Staffs & Worcs, up the Shropshire Union, up the Welsh Cut as far as Trevor and down again, across the Middlewich branch, Up the Trent and Mersey, through the tunnel and down the other side, back along the Staffs & Worcs to Stourport. So, anywhere along that route. Quite an adventure, it was. None too warm either. Not many mod-cons in those happy days.

[alan_fincher]

3 hours ago, Stroudwater1 said:

Would it be helpful knowing where it was taken, thus which boat was more likely working where? 

 

That, I suspect, may well be what was driving "archie57's" answer.

 

Those who have shown an interest in such things over many years often have a near encyclopedic knowledge of what boats were where and when, particularly if they were on the BW maintenance fleet, as such boats were often confined to a fairly small area of operation.