A possibly daft historical question

[RLWP]

Led Zeppelin?

 

Richard

[Keeping Up]

I dont think they were made with concrete.

 

Concoform Marine's original hirefleet included a concrete boat (actually ferro-cement) hence the name of the company although to me it sounds more like a contraceptive for sailors.

 

More details and a photo here

[Derek R.]

Hmmmm, concrete boats and planes.

 

They say success can be evaluated by how much an idea is copied.

 

. . and contraceptives for Seamen. Beware the Golden Rivet. (Did I spell that correctly?)

Edited September 26, 2011 by Derek R.

[RLWP]

Hmmmm, concrete boats and planes.

 

They say success can be evaluated by how much an idea is copied.

 

. . and contraceptives for Seamen. Beware the Golden Rivet. (Did I spell that correctly?)

 

I'm reminded of a joke about camels

 

Richard

[carlt]

Concrete may seem an unusual material from which to make boat hulls due to it's density and weight

 

Not like that lighter than air material steel, eh?

[Derek R.]

I'm reminded of a joke about camels

 

Richard

 

Just so long as you don't share it, that's fine.

 

Flying concrete, (or Mexicans waving) but sorry - no wings.

 

Think I'll stick to wood. (Just call me Mr. Underhill . . .)

[carlt]

 

Think I'll stick to wood. (Just call me Mr. Underhill . . .)

Who inspired who?

[Derek R.]

Who inspired who?

 

 

Tellytubbies. (they were here before us, just came back for the kiddies).

[The Bagdad Boatman (waits)]

Just reading about the K&A at Avoncliff in the 19century when the railway took over the canal they discouraged leisure boats. Book on the boat so cannot give more accurate info.

[alan_fincher]

In Sam Springer's obituary in Waterways World (0ct 84) it states he built his first steel narrow boat in 1963. I read somehere else that Faulkners of Cosgrove set up to build wooden cabins on them for those that didnt do DIY - in the early days they certainly were hull only.

Paul

On the other hand......

 

Springer adverts started to appear in Waterways World from around February 1973.

 

These say "Continued success..... Nearly 300 craft sold in 4 years".

 

Whilst that doesn't actually prove they had only been selling them 4 years, (they may have been doing lower volumes before then), it seems to concur with a start year of 1969 that several believe to be the case.

 

That still sounds about right to me - 1965 just sounds too early, but I could be wrong.

 

Interestingly those 1973 adverts are with either the option of just a hull, or a complete shell.....

 

Samson Steel Cruiser 36'

 

Hull only £533

Hull and Superstructure £776

 

Samson Steel Cruiser 26'

 

Hull only £305

Hull and Superstructure £489

 

 

The advert says the 26' Samson was only available in that length, but that the longer boats were available between 36 and 70 feet.

 

Given that inflation calculators seem to imply that prices have only risen about 10-fold since 1973, if you added a nought to any of those figures, they would still seem remarkably good value today!

[Timleech]

On the other hand......

 

Springer adverts started to appear in Waterways World from around February 1973.

 

These say "Continued success..... Nearly 300 craft sold in 4 years".

 

Whilst that doesn't actually prove they had only been selling them 4 years, (they may have been doing lower volumes before then), it seems to concur with a start year of 1969 that several believe to be the case.

 

That still sounds about right to me - 1965 just sounds too early, but I could be wrong.

 

Interestingly those 1973 adverts are with either the option of just a hull, or a complete shell.....

 

 

 

 

The advert says the 26' Samson was only available in that length, but that the longer boats were available between 36 and 70 feet.

Given that inflation calculators seem to imply that prices have only risen about 10-fold since 1973, if you added a nought to any of those figures, they would still seem remarkably good value today!

 

The smaller ones were generally built of 1/8" plate, certainly in the early days. I doubt that anyone trying to sell a new narrowboat with a 3mm hull would get many takers these days

 

Tim

[magpie patrick]

The smaller ones were generally built of 1/8" plate, certainly in the early days. I doubt that anyone trying to sell a new narrowboat with a 3mm hull would get many takers these days

 

Tim

 

 

I dunno, at around £4,000 you'd get some I bet!

 

We've all been off topic, re-reading the sub heading we should have been talking about narrow bats, I don't know whether that's cricket bats or slim pipistrelle ones

[Athy]

The book 'Boatbuilders Of Market Harborough', published by the local historical society, gives 1969 as the start date, but Sam had been supplying some steel parts to another builder (Harborough Marine I think) previous to that. Previously he had built other metal objects such as water tanks - he used to joke that building a boat was the same principle as a water tank but in reverse, whch may explain the shape of his earliest craft!

[Paul H]

On the other hand......

 

Springer adverts started to appear in Waterways World from around February 1973.

 

These say "Continued success..... Nearly 300 craft sold in 4 years".

 

Whilst that doesn't actually prove they had only been selling them 4 years, (they may have been doing lower volumes before then), it seems to concur with a start year of 1969 that several believe to be the case.

 

That still sounds about right to me - 1965 just sounds too early, but I could be wrong.

 

.

Sam Springer ran a general engineering business specialising in tanks and later went into boats - he used to joke that they were essentially the same but built to keep the water out rather than in. It seems unlikely that he went from nothing to building an average of 70 a years so it is reasonable to suggest that he built them in small numbers between 1965 and 1969.

 

I have a Canals Book of 1969 - no adverts from Springer but steel boats were being advertised by Braunston Boats, Harborough Marine, Willow Wren, Hopwood (John Pinder), Shropshire Union Cruises, Holidays Afloat, Langbourne Engineering and Stone Boatbuilding - more than I would have thought.

 

Paul

[dave moore]

Hi again all

 

Not the earliest, I'm sure, but I spoke to Denis Cooper at Canal Transport Services, Norton Canes today. He thinks that they swapped from wooden cabins to steel in the late 70s, tho' with wooden handrails and slide runners etc. Full steel detailing followed later. He's loath to dig into the archive to ascertain exactly when this happened.....typical Denis!

 

Many years ago I was asked to write a CTS boat. In the bottom of the engine room panel I painted " No 274 ". The owner had asked Denis for a build number, but all he'd say was that it was somewhere between 250 and 300. The customer liked the look of the digits 7 and 4, so 274 it became! I expect to encounter some enthusiast in my dotage (not far off!) who'll tell me that this boat was the 274th built by CTS... they're in for a shock!

 

Cheers

Dave

[alan_fincher]

I have a Canals Book of 1969 - no adverts from Springer but steel boats were being advertised by Braunston Boats, Harborough Marine, Willow Wren, Hopwood (John Pinder), Shropshire Union Cruises, Holidays Afloat, Langbourne Engineering and Stone Boatbuilding - more than I would have thought.

It is fair to say none of those would have had steel tops, though, isn't it ?

 

With hindsight Yarwoods were pretty advanced in the 1930s, weren't they!......

[Derek R.]

Plenty of ship builders building all steel ships prior to the 1930's, and of course Yarwood's amongst them. So turning out an all steel cabin might well have come as second nature.

[Québec]

I dunno, at around £4,000 you'd get some I bet!

 

We've all been off topic, re-reading the sub heading we should have been talking about narrow bats, I don't know whether that's cricket bats or slim pipistrelle ones

my typink has bin detriotating off latte.

[Max Sinclair]

Les, Bob and John Allen were building all steel narrowboats in 1962 at Oldbury.

[Ray T]

I've been reading about and looking at images of life on the canals 1940s-1960s. In all the photos, and for obvious reasons, they are all carrying boats. So my question is: When did the first 'domestic' or leisure narrowboats first appear?

 

 

A 1914 contender:

 

 

 

From The Waterways of Britain, a social panorama by D.D. Gladwin

Edited July 16, 2016 by Ray T

[furnessvale]

Purpose built or conversions of redundant commercial narrow boats ?

As you are well aware, but for the information of others, Jim MacDonald's Elizabeth was converted into a pleasure boat in 1936.

 

George ex nb Alton retired

[Derek R.]

If we stray from the narrow boat as built for cruising, then the cabin'd punt of C. J. Aubertin might be included in one of the first 'narrow' craft that cruised for pleasure. Aubertin's book 'A Caravan Afloat' was published in 1916, and showed the canals as they were prior to WWI.

A review: http://captainahabswaterytales.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/a-caravan-afloat-book-review.html

There's one on Oxfam: http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/books/sports-hobbies-games/a-caravan-afloat-hd_100449187