Willow Wren

[AMModels]

I am attempting to put together a page on the above company and would appreciate any information/history anyone can help with. Both the carrying side and the early hire boats are of interest.

[carlt]

I am attempting to put together a page on the above company and would appreciate any information/history anyone can help with. Both the carrying side and the early hire boats are of interest.

Pm me your address, Andy, and I'll send you the booklet, published by Waterways World, in the 80s, about the carrying company.

 

It is pretty comprehensive, listing the boats and crews and a good history.

Edited April 12, 2008 by carlt

[Hairy-Neil]

I can add very little to that. A superb history by Alan Faulkner. Some excellent photos too.

[Richard T]

If you go to my gallery (sorry don't know how to add a link) you will find photos of wooden top hire boats that Willow Wren Kearns operated from Middlewich. I'm not able to give a full list but they were all trees. Oak, Beech, Sycamore - 70ft. Pine, Ash, Larch 50ft. They were based on hulls built by Hancock and Lane or John Pinder. Rowan was a 60ft camper - don't know its origin.

[Phil Speight]

I am attempting to put together a page on the above company and would appreciate any information/history anyone can help with. Both the carrying side and the early hire boats are of interest.

I know very little about Willow Wren - but I can tell you that the green element of the colour scheme was , believe it or not, Dulux Buckingham Green !

Cheers

Phil

[Jim]

If you go to my gallery (sorry don't know how to add a link) you will find photos of wooden top hire boats that Willow Wren Kearns operated from Middlewich. I'm not able to give a full list but they were all trees. Oak, Beech, Sycamore - 70ft. Pine, Ash, Larch 50ft. They were based on hulls built by Hancock and Lane or John Pinder. Rowan was a 60ft camper - don't know its origin.

 

 

I must have hired most of these in my time.... At least two are still around now in private hands. "Oak" is usually moored at Henhull on the Shroppie and I've seen Sycamore a few times around Birmingham and the south midlands. There's also an ex- Willow Wren 70fter usually at Audlem, but no name visible.

Anybody know of any more?

 

Edited for typo.

Edited April 17, 2008 by Jim

[AMModels]

I know very little about Willow Wren - but I can tell you that the green element of the colour scheme was , believe it or not, Dulux Buckingham Green !

Cheers

Phil

I actually have a can of that somewhere.....not sure if it will still take a brush tho lol.

[dave moore]

Hi Andy

The Alan Faulkner booklet is comprehensive and well researched, as you would expect regarding WWren. I've a copy somewhere in the archive!

Other WW colours were County Cream (another Dulux) and Post Office Red (I think) ...again, another Dulux standard.

Jjinjad is blacked and awaiting a return to the water. I saw her today when I popped in to Norton Canes.

Cheers

Dave Moore

[AMModels]

Thanks for that Dave, interesting they used Dulux colours, I always presumed it would be some special exterior paint rather than everyday gloss paint. Makes me feel better about the paint I used to use on our families boats.

 

[Postcode]

Baldock may know a bit!

[AMModels]

Yup Ive spoken to Mr Baldock......chocolate fireguard springs to mind.

 

[Liam]

About as much use as... ?? Just cos he's owned the co. for a year or whatever it doesn't mean he knows all the details from years ago.

 

I'm wondering if anybody has a list of boat's names which worked for Willow Wren and what years? Would be interesting to do some looking up..

Edited April 17, 2008 by Liam

[alan_fincher]

Liam,

 

Don't forget that many of the GUCCCo boats that were operated by Willow Wren got renamed - another complication.

 

As to the livery being standard Dulux colours, don't forget that a lot of the boats leased by Willow Wren towards the end never even got repainted out of British Waterways blue and yellow colours.

 

From memory perhaps half of the boats dumped by British Waterways at the end of the Wendover Arm at the time Willow Wren ceased trading were in BW colours. I don't know if all had been leased to Willow Wren, but I think they probably had.

 

Boats I saw dumped at Tringford at the (then) end of the Wendover Arm in the early 1970s included...

 

Motors

 

Alton

Belfast

Buxton

Coleshill

Halsall

Nuneaton

Sudbury (Later cut down by BW to make a 45 foot (?) tug).

Tarporley

 

Butties

 

Alperton

Aboyne

Banbury

Satellite

(I'm sure there were about 6, but can't remember the other two-ish).

 

I couldn't tell you what colours they were in, though - foolishly I never took a camera.

 

Also I have been told, but don't actually recall seeing.

 

Motor

 

Badsey

 

Butty

 

Baildon

 

Curiously they occasionally came and went - strange as none were operable, and the arm was 1.5 miles with no winding point.

 

Needless to say, at that remote location, each boat was stripped of anything that could easily be carried off. The motors at least all had their Petter PD2s in, but stripped of everything but the base engine and gearbox, (Parsons).

 

It was a weird place.

 

I believe all that were sold by tender went for not much more than £1K. In general, private buyers lost out, as on the whole preference was given to carrying companies (e.g. Three Fellows Carrying, Foxton Boat Services), charities or councils (e.g. Dacorum Narrow Boat Project, London Borough of Hillingdon), or trusts (the Narrow Boat Trust).

 

It would be interesting to know where they all are now.....

 

Alan

 

Afterthought:

 

I've just noticed I can only think of one Star class boat amongst those dumped - all the rest were Towns, it seems.

[AMModels]

About as much use as... ?? Just cos he's owned the co. for a year or whatever it doesn't mean he knows all the details from years ago.

 

I'm wondering if anybody has a list of boat's names which worked for Willow Wren and what years? Would be interesting to do some looking up..

 

Sorry Liam, the winky face was a clue to my seriousness. Chris said he hasnt really had chance to look up the company yet and my plan is to turn over whatever I find to him to help him when he does start to do some research. I in no way meant it seriously apologies to anyone who thought I did.

 

Alan thanks for that list it gives me another aspect to add to the page.

[Liam]

No, sorry, I didn't mean to come across in the way that I did

[Phil Speight]

Thanks for that Dave, interesting they used Dulux colours, I always presumed it would be some special exterior paint rather than everyday gloss paint. Makes me feel better about the paint I used to use on our families boats.

 

The nearest cheap paint supplier to the Braunston yard happened to sell Dulux. The choice was entirely led by the need for economy. This is as explained to me by Uncle Ron Hough ( no he isn`t really ) who painted the boats with Dennis Clarke.

Cheers

Phil

[carlt]

I'm putting the faulkner book in the post today so Andy can do the typing, when he gets it.

 

There is a list of the fleet in the '54 - '63 incarnation and the list of boats hired from BW '63 - '70.

[Phil Speight]

Liam,

 

Don't forget that many of the GUCCCo boats that were operated by Willow Wren got renamed - another complication.

 

As to the livery being standard Dulux colours, don't forget that a lot of the boats leased by Willow Wren towards the end never even got repainted out of British Waterways blue and yellow colours.

 

From memory perhaps half of the boats dumped by British Waterways at the end of the Wendover Arm at the time Willow Wren ceased trading were in BW colours. I don't know if all had been leased to Willow Wren, but I think they probably had.

 

Boats I saw dumped at Tringford at the (then) end of the Wendover Arm in the early 1970s included...

 

Motors

 

Alton

Belfast

Buxton

Coleshill

Halsall

Nuneaton

Sudbury (Later cut down by BW to make a 45 foot (?) tug).

Tarporley

 

Butties

 

Alperton

Aboyne

Banbury

Satellite

(I'm sure there were about 6, but can't remember the other two-ish).

 

I couldn't tell you what colours they were in, though - foolishly I never took a camera.

 

Also I have been told, but don't actually recall seeing.

 

Motor

 

Badsey

 

Butty

 

Baildon

 

Curiously they occasionally came and went - strange as none were operable, and the arm was 1.5 miles with no winding point.

 

Needless to say, at that remote location, each boat was stripped of anything that could easily be carried off. The motors at least all had their Petter PD2s in, but stripped of everything but the base engine and gearbox, (Parsons).

 

It was a weird place.

 

I believe all that were sold by tender went for not much more than £1K. In general, private buyers lost out, as on the whole preference was given to carrying companies (e.g. Three Fellows Carrying, Foxton Boat Services), charities or councils (e.g. Dacorum Narrow Boat Project, London Borough of Hillingdon), or trusts (the Narrow Boat Trust).

 

It would be interesting to know where they all are now.....

 

Alan

 

Afterthought:

 

I've just noticed I can only think of one Star class boat amongst those dumped - all the rest were Towns, it seems.

Yes - they did have Badsey but she was never painted in their livery.

Phil

[Liam]

Town Class Baildon is owned by the same bloke who owns Pavo. Pavo has been converted to a motor but I think this was done years ago.

 

Edited to add - Pavo is now based on the T&M at Anderton for the past couple of years, after moving over off the Macc.

Edited April 18, 2008 by Liam

[moggyjo]

Jack and Rose Skinners boats Redshank and Greenshank in 1956. I have the magazine article that came with this picture and others that Rose asked me to print for her recently. Quite interesting.

[Liam]

I thought it would of been Alec and Lil's in 1956.. I'm reading "Tiller in my belt" at the moment and the author spends the summer on the boats..

[alan_fincher]

Taken from "The Canals Book" - 1974 Edition

 

[Chris-B]

Yup Ive spoken to Mr Baldock......chocolate fireguard springs to mind.

 

 

Spherical Orbs Sir

 

Edited cos I then read further down the page

 

 

To put the matter straight, we brought the company last year to save it getting lost and or taken by somebody else

 

When baldock is a bit "further" on we would like to get involved with the research side of not only her history BUT also WW-CTS ltd, but at the present the boat takes priority

Chris

Edited April 18, 2008 by Baldock

[alan_fincher]

Just found a couple of images of the boats dumped down the Wendover Arm. The article dates the photos as July 12th 1970.

 

 

 

I forgot what the water looked like down there then!

Edited April 18, 2008 by alan_fincher

[Chris-B]

Alan

 

In the second picture is the "motor" on the left hand side "Aldgate" ?

 

Chris