Whatever happened to Grace?

[davidwheeler]

This is a photo I took I think in the mid 1970s in or close to Coventry Basin. I took it because of the signwriting. I know from Alan Faulkner's book that Barlows were long gone by then. So what had happened to Grace since the business closed and what has happened to her since the photo was taken? Does anyone know? She looks distinctly hogged, something I remember also. 

[IanM]

This website http://www.spurstow.com/rogerfuller/historic/barlow.htm suggests it was broken up at Gayton in 1982.

[John Brightley]

When your photo was taken, Grace was owned by Tony Miles who worked with the Coventry Waterways Project based at Canal House (the building in the background of the photo). I don't know when Tony acquired her but it was probably about 1970, and she was moored at Gas St Basin in Birmingham for a time until Tony got the job at Coventry. Grace was moored in the position she's shown in the photo when the Coventry Canal breached just north of the basin in December 1978, and stayed there in a dry canal bed until the canal was refilled about 9-10 months later. In that time she deteriorated significantly and I believe Tony eventually gave her away for free. By then he was preoccupied restoring one of the cottages by the middle lock at Hillmorton.

Edit:

Dave Moore recalled in this post: 

that Sam & Vi Minton lived on Grace in the 1960's at Gas St.

Edited February 7 by John Brightley

[archie57]

Sam and Vi Minton lived on the "Edna Grace" before their move onto a Simolda boat "Mavis"

[Chris M Jones]

I remember seeing GRACE lying on the dry bed of Coventry Basin after the 1978 breach. I went in the cabin but it had been largely stripped-out. 

 

There was a news item reported in Waterways World Magazine December 1982 with a photo of GRACE being craned out at Gayton. She broke up during the lift apparently and was left in pieces on the bank.

 

I think GRACE had appeared in a children’s TV series called Rob Rat based on a Victorian book of the same name. Never saw it myself.

[archie57]

As a result of this breach the Coventry council boats were left on the bottom in the basin. As there were trip bookings to fulfil they were craned out and taken to Sutton Stop which became our base for a while . As we had the crane already in the basin we attempted to lift out the "Grace" but with the slings then available, together with a lack of a spreader bar this was a non-starter so there it stayed. We did recover no end of coal from the canal bed however!