Kyrle Willans and boats Sentinel and Fear Not from 1920s

[Joseph]

Good morning everyone

 

Earlier this week I was shown a letter in the Boat Museum archives from the late Bill Willans, cousin of Tom Rolt and son of Kyrle Willans. In this he mentions that his first pleasure boat trip was on the steam-powered Sentinel, from Chester to Ellesmere Port, and then in 1925 he went on a trip from Chester to Nuneaton in Sentinel and its butty Ever Watchful. It seems an obvious surmise that these boats belonged to his father Kyrle, who would later acquire and convert Cressy, although whereabouts it ould be moored in Chester (Taylors, perhaps) is unclear. Bill Willans was slightly younger than Tom (who was born in 1910) and so would have been in early teenage years at the time.

 

I am aware that by 1930 Kyrle Willans owned three narrow boats, which he proposed to convert and let for hire, although this proved abortive. Sentinel looks like his naming, as he had worked for Sentinel; Ever Watchful also sounds like his naming.

 

Just wondering if anyone has heard of these boats and what might have happened to them? I recall people being extraordinarily helpful over the question of early conversions (could one of these two been the "third boat"??), and I would be grateful for any information that might add to the fragments of history about early pleasure boats.

 

Hope it rings some bells with someone somewhere!

 

Joseph

Edited July 3, 2011 by Joseph

[Derek R.]

No bells rung here, though if you have not done so already, a look, and contact with Richard Thomas may supply something.

There is a SENTINEL steamer registered at Chester in 1927, and stated as having a Sentinel steam engine - that being SENTINEL (1) in the listings HERE.

Main page of Richard Thomas's site HERE.

[Joseph]

Derek, many thanks

 

I have found Sentinel in Mr Thomas' records - it seems to have been working in 1928, so perhaps Mr Willans accompanied a working trip rather than used the boat for pleasure. As 1927 seems to have been the date when Sentinel was completed, maybe the recollected date of 1925 and earlier is wrong. This is surprising, because you can often date something from childhood by reference to the age you were, whereas later in life it is hard to be so specific.

 

I can only cite haste as an excuse for getting Ever Watchful's name wrong (where did Fear Not come from?). This appears in Mr Thomas' records too - as a butty to Sentinel that was newly built by Taylors. I have amended my first posting but could not find out how to alter the title.

 

This clears up part of the mystery. Does anyone know what happened to these two boats, whose owner was given in 1927 as G Payne Crofts of Northampton? Could they be the two that Kyrle Willans proposed to convert in 1930, or am I over-speculating?

 

Any further comments would be very welcome.

 

Joseph

[hecla777]

Joseph

 

Between about 1925 and 1928 Sentinel operated a subsidiary 'Sentinel Industrial locomotives Ltd' based in Chester. One of the things they carried out was the rebuilding of old locos with Sentinel boilers and engines.

 

There is a list of drawings on the web relating to this work at :-

 

http://www.sentinelwaggons.co.uk/2.Home_Club/dave/Chester%20Drawing%20List.pdf

 

Looking through these there is at least one marine job, work on a steam dredger SD Maggie Darling although drawing no.2 'Barge with Sentinel Engine' looks interesting? I have not looked through the website to see if these drawings are still available but they may be?

 

I think there may be a reference in one of Rolt's books to Kyrle Willans being involved with a loco conversion so perhaps he was employed at Chester rather than Shrewsbury?

 

ATB

 

 

Martin O'Keeffe

[pete harrison]

 

There is a list of drawings on the web relating to this work at :-

 

http://www.sentinelwaggons.co.uk/2.Home_Club/dave/Chester%20Drawing%20List.pdf

 

Martin O'Keeffe

 

Well that makes a lot of sense ! Now I can see where the name of SENTINEL's butty came from - EVER WATCHFUL.