Who be these people?

[Chris Pink]

These images, one certainly and the other two almost certainly taken by Jim Paylor in the early 1960's show Willow Wren butty Kestrel with motor Mallard.

 

Does anyone know who the family pictured are? I am guessing that the child pictured would be around 50 by now.

[wrigglefingers]

These images, one certainly and the other two almost certainly taken by Jim Paylor in the early 1960's show Willow Wren butty Kestrel with motor Mallard.

 

Does anyone know who the family pictured are? I am guessing that the child pictured would be around 50 by now.

 

Mallard is moored behind me at the mo' - shall I ask if anyone knows?

[David Schweizer]

It could be Violet Boswell but I remember her as being just a bit slimmer. I see John, her eldest son every year at the Braunston Show, I will try and remember to ask him next year, alternatively I guess that Laura Carter, David Blagrove, or Ron Hough will know, I will try to ask them when I next see any of them.

Edited October 12, 2010 by David Schweizer

[NB Alnwick]

I can't help with the identity but the pictures are excellent - do you know when, where and by whom they were taken?

[alan_fincher]

do you know when, where and by whom they were taken?

 

These images, one certainly and the other two almost certainly taken by Jim Paylor in the early 1960's

 

Surely the middle one is Stoke Bruerne top lock ?

 

The first one with the distinctive house chimneys is in the pound below that, and the third one would appear to have been taken at the same time.

 

EDITED TO ADD MORE RECENT PICTURE OF LOCATION:

 

Edited October 12, 2010 by alan_fincher

[Guest]

and again (as I've said before) great evocative names for boats...

[alan_fincher]

A further image....

 

 

as well as the middle one you showed appear on this web-site.

 

Blisworth.org Site Link

 

Further Mallard (GUCCCo "Elm") and Kestrel (GUCCCo "Triagulum") appear in a photo at Marsworth on Matt Parrott's excellent working boats site. It may well be the same family ?

 

Link to "Elm" page on Working Boats

Edited October 12, 2010 by alan_fincher

[Chris Pink]

 

Further Mallard (GUCCCo "Elm") and Kestrel (GUCCCo "Triagulum") appear in a photo at Marsworth on Matt Parrott's excellent working boats site. It may well be the same family ?

 

 

Looks like it, it's certainly around the same time judging by the marks on the motor's counter.

 

There's another picture around that I have lost, to my shame, that appeared in a Waterways World way back when of the butty making a sharp turn. There looks to be a nice bit of painting on Kestrel's cabin doors and sides. The roses on the hull look well done as well.

[David Schweizer]

The people in the picture of Elm (Mallard) on the site linked by Alan's post, are definitely not the Boswells, so if they are the same couple as those in the OP, I do not recognise them.

 

One of the problems with identifying some of the Willow Wren crews is that they regularly changed boats. The Boswells worked at least three different pairs during the seven year period that I knew them.

[Chris Pink]

There is mention in the book 'Adelina' of being towed by Mallard and Kestrel down the Grand Union. The pair was said to be crewed by Mr and Mrs Smith who had a daughter who helped out be crewing on Adelina.

 

From the description of the child, if this is the same family then the Adelina voyage was a few years after these pictures.

 

The people in the picture of Elm (Mallard) on the site linked by Alan's post, are definitely not the Boswells, so if they are the same couple as those in the OP, I do not recognise them.

 

One of the problems with identifying some of the Willow Wren crews is that they regularly changed boats. The Boswells worked at least three different pairs during the seven year period that I knew them.

 

It's very difficult to tell whether they're the same couple in both pictures as they all have backs to the camera. My feeling is that the colour picture on the Elm pages shows the boats at about the same time and the hairstyle of the man is similar in both.