BERRY SPRINGERS

[Athy]

Three weeks ago I went down to the Canal de Berry and had a ride on one of their Springer hire boats, of which there are four. When I asked how these English boats had ended up in central France, no one seemed to know - not even the officials of the canal restoration society. I guess that possibly they were taken over there by one of the early UK-owned hire firms such as Blue Line, but I can find no reference to Blue Line operating anything but cruisers.

I did gather that, although the boats were sold into their present ownership in 2005, they had been in the area for much longer. Can anyone cast any light on their provenance?

[bargemast]

Three weeks ago I went down to the Canal de Berry and had a ride on one of their Springer hire boats, of which there are four. When I asked how these English boats had ended up in central France, no one seemed to know - not even the officials of the canal restoration society. I guess that possibly they were taken over there by one of the early UK-owned hire firms such as Blue Line, but I can find no reference to Blue Line operating anything but cruisers.

I did gather that, although the boats were sold into their present ownership in 2005, they had been in the area for much longer. Can anyone cast any light on their provenance?

 

 

Maybe if you could post a picture.

 

Peter.

[Athy]

Maybe if you could post a picture.

 

Peter.

No, I couldn't. Not clever enough. But if you look at the ARECABE web site you'll see them.

[Ray T]

Link:

 

http://www.arecabe.org/Ressources/album-ph...lles-%20(5).jpg

[WotEver]

Picture:

 

Tony

[Athy]

Thanks Mr. Wot! Now, has anyone the faintest idea how these Market Harborough-built boats migrated to France?

[Nightwatch]

Made all the difference to 'see' a couple of springers in a piccy.

 

Still don't know the answer.

 

 

Martyn

[Morat]

The Canal du berry is a fascinating thing.... well it is to me since my parents retired to a tiny village (la queugne)in France which has part of the Montlucon arm running through it. Sadly it is dry but the locks look to be in very good nick. The major problem to getting it re-opened (apart from the French reluctance to do anything that isn't fully controlled and funded by central government) is the set of tennis courts that have been built on it in Vallon en Sully.

There are large stretches which are still in water and seem to be used simply for growing catfish.

 

oh, and here's a link

Link

[Josher]

... and another Link.

[Athy]

Surprisingly long stretches of the Berry are still in water and look ready to go apart from the lack of lock gates. But there seems little point in officially reopening a couple of miles of canal which go from nowhere to nowhere, like a stretch west of Vierzon along which I walked during my visit. Despite the tennis courts, part of the canal at Vallon is in use: you can hire small electric boats by the hour there.

Morat, it's fascinating to learn that you have a direct connection with the area and with the canal. I can certainly understand why people would choose to go and live in such an attractive area.

Edited July 2, 2010 by Athy

[magnetman]

Are they definitely UK built Springers? Its just that the design is quite a simple one and anyone with the right equipment could build one given the plans and a knowledge of steel boatbuilding.

[Athy]

I went on two of them and I'd say yes, definitely - though the port holes on the rear one in the picture were not standard Springer fittings, so it may originally have been wooden-topped as some Springers were and had a new steel top added later. Apart from anything else, why would anyone in France bother replicating Springers when there are plenty of French boats which would fit the 9-foot-wide locks?

[magnetman]

Apart from anything else, why would anyone in France bother replicating Springers when there are plenty of French boats which would fit the 9-foot-wide locks?

 

 

why would someone bother transporting boats from the UK, for the same reasons

 

the wood top possibility is a good one as springers were available for very low prices in hull-only configuration but I still think building a from a kit/plans would be a more sensible option than importing.

[Morat]

Surprisingly long stretches of the Berry are still in water and look ready to go apart from the lack of lock gates. But there seems little point in officially reopening a couple of miles of canal which go from nowhere to nowhere, like a stretch west of Vierzon along which I walked during my visit. Despite the tennis courts, part of the canal at Vallon is in use: you can hire small electric boats by the hour there.

Morat, it's fascinating to learn that you have a direct connection with the area and with the canal. I can certainly understand why people would choose to go and live in such an attractive area.

 

For my part I'm amazed to be in contact with anyone who has visited Vallon! For people who haven't been (99.95% of the world population, I'd imagine) we're talking about deepest rural France which has not been "discovered" and popularised in the way of Provence or other areas.

 

As for the canal, yes it makes very little sense to restore it unless you do the whole lot - which I can't imagine would be cheap. On the other hand, it could be a real tourism winner for very poor area.

[Paul H]

Minervois Cruisers on the Canal du Midi operated narrow boats including Springers for many years - the idea being to attract British canal enthusiasts with familiar boats. They still operate NB-style boats but these appear to be about 9ft wide allowiing king size beds (if only Brindley had given us another 2ft!)

 

Minervois

 

Paul H

[Athy]

Paul, you could have found the answer! Minervois (part of Napton Narrowboats) do still operate proper British narrowboats as well as their widebeams. We hired one for a week a couple of years ago. I'll get on to Napton and see if anyone knows if they used to have Springers, and if so if they know what became of them. Thanks.

Magnetman, this was often done: the first hire boats on the Nivernais, owned by Blue Line I think, were exported from England, as were the Minervoiss boats which Paul mentions.

Morat, it makes sense to restore extra lengths of connected canel, or isolated stretches if they pass through some sort of habitation (like the stretch of the Canal de Berry which runs East from the sizeable town of Vierzon, where trip boats operate and are well patronised.) But the section around Veves lock, which I walked, has virtually no habitation, no wharfs, cafes, shops etc - it's just a length of canal.

Edited July 2, 2010 by Athy

[Hairy-Neil]

why would someone bother transporting boats from the UK, for the same reasons

 

Why would anyone bother transporting boats here from Poland and China when we have plenty of capable boatbuilders.....

[Mick_B]

Conversation with Dr. Bradly @ Calf Heath..

 

Colin; What sort of boat do you live on?

 

Me; A narrowboat.

 

Colin with a look of suprise; Why?

 

Me with confused look; Huh?

 

Colin; You don't have narrow canals.

 

Me; They're a lot cheaper than wide beams I guess. And plentyful.

[bargemast]

Paul, you could have found the answer! Minervois (part of Napton Narrowboats) do still operate proper British narrowboats as well as their widebeams. We hired one for a week a couple of years ago. I'll get on to Napton and see if anyone knows if they used to have Springers, and if so if they know what became of them. Thanks.

Magnetman, this was often done: the first hire boats on the Nivernais, owned by Blue Line I think, were exported from England, as were the Minervoiss boats which Paul mentions.

Morat, it makes sense to restore extra lengths of connected canel, or isolated stretches if they pass through some sort of habitation (like the stretch of the Canal de Berry which runs East from the sizeable town of Vierzon, where trip boats operate and are well patronised.) But the section around Veves lock, which I walked, has virtually no habitation, no wharfs, cafes, shops etc - it's just a length of canal.

 

 

As far as I know, the first hireboats on the Nivernais were Saint-Line boat owned by the man that we should all be grateful for, as only because of him the Canal du Nivernais is still open. His name was Peter Zivy, helped by Ted Johnson who took over later.

 

The wide-beam Minervois boats were built at M.C.C. (Stenton boat builders).

 

Peter.

[Athy]

I know of M. Zivy who I gather was Anglo-French. He lived in retirement in the Brighton area. I thought he was involved with Blue Line but perhaps that was a Mr. Streat?

No answer from Napton n/boats yet so the mystery is still unsolved.

[carlt]

I know of M. Zivy who I gather was Anglo-French. He lived in retirement in the Brighton area. I thought he was involved with Blue Line but perhaps that was a Mr. Streat?

No answer from Napton n/boats yet so the mystery is still unsolved.

Michael Streat owned Blue Line

[bargemast]

Michael Streat owned Blue Line

 

 

Michael Streat did a lot for the hire-boats in France with the opening of the Blue Line bases sponsored in the beginning by Guinness, he later became fleet commodore of an American hotel barge company, with barges in England, the Netherlands and France.

 

Peter.

[magnetman]

Why would anyone bother transporting boats here from Poland and China when we have plenty of capable boatbuilders.....