RLWP Posted November 15, 2012 Report Share Posted November 15, 2012 This is so exciting. I suppose I should ask the question. Do they build good boats? Bit late to ask now we have brought her :-) The Waterways Guide with writing on http://www.flickr.com/photos/76958719@N04/8188665064/in/photostream Do you think they keep history of their boat? Is it worth asking them? It can't hurt to ask Welcome to the ex-hire boat owners club. Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 15, 2012 Report Share Posted November 15, 2012 This is so exciting. I suppose I should ask the question. Do they build good boats? Bit late to ask now we have brought her :-) The Waterways Guide with writing on http://www.flickr.com/photos/76958719@N04/8188665064/in/photostream Do you think they keep history of their boat? Is it worth asking them? If you mean Shire Cruisers - it could be worth contacting them to see if they have any history knowledge of the boat - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoopyLou Posted November 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2012 Is the boat builder register with british waterways (the trust) from new? What engine do you think it originally had? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athy Posted November 15, 2012 Report Share Posted November 15, 2012 . The Manuel for the Lister LPW(s)3 which has been run under water and now terminally ill. If anyone knows where I can get one for her would love to hear from you. The other is a West Yorkshire Waterways Guide with "Shire Cruisers Please Leave" written on the front Forum member Chris-B is a professional Lister specialist and may be able to help you. (Other Lister specialists may be available but he's the one I know). I have never heard of a Lister being "terminally" ill. Did you say that it had been run under water? That says a lot about the durability of old Listers! The "Shire Cruisers Please Leave" was stuck on the boat by a waterside dweller who did not like hire boats mooring outside his house. Perhaps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proper Job Posted November 15, 2012 Report Share Posted November 15, 2012 (edited) the link I put in post 22 took you to shire cruisers web site. There's every possibility that they may know the boat and it's history edit: Postal address: Shire Cruisers, The Wharf, Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire HX6 2AG, England Telephone: 01422 832712 Overseas tel: + 44 1422 832712 fax: 01422 839565 Email: info@shirecruisers.co.uk Directors: Nigel Stevens MBA, Susan Stevens BA ARCO Edited November 15, 2012 by Proper Job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 15, 2012 Report Share Posted November 15, 2012 Is the boat builder register with british waterways (the trust) from new? What engine do you think it originally had? Boat builders don't register with the Trust but the boats they build are when they first get registered/licensed. The engine question is out my sphere of knowledge but there will be folk on here who will know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan_fincher Posted November 15, 2012 Report Share Posted November 15, 2012 What engine do you think it originally had? The almost universal engine of choice in hire boats in the 1970s was an air cooled Lister. The SR series (SR2 2-cylinder, or SR3 3-cylinder) was still in production when tour boat was built, but by then so were the more powerful ST series (ST2 or ST3). Any of those is possible, (I'd say 2-cylinder more likely than 3-cylinder in a boat that long), but if it once had an air cooled engine you might expect to either have holes in the upper hull sides where the air ducting went, or to have welded-up evidence of the same, if a water cooled engine was fitted as a replacement. Of course a boat originally with an air-cooled engine would not have had a skin tank for a water cooled engine, so, (assuming yours is not raw water cooled), that would have had to be a hull modification. Another possibility is that it was always water cooled, as the BMC 1500 engines were also widely used, (I think the BMC 1800 wasn't yet in use in 1975, but may be wrong). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athy Posted November 15, 2012 Report Share Posted November 15, 2012 1975? I guess an earler Lister would be a strong possibility, perhaps an SR2 which was commonly fitted in hire boats of that era. If you are lucky, Loopy, someone at Shire Cruisers will remember her - it depends if the company is still in the same family as it was back then. As Proper Job suggests, it's worth trying them. In an ideal world they'll have a file copy of a '70s brochure with a photo of the boat in her original condition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
journeyperson Posted November 15, 2012 Report Share Posted November 15, 2012 Is the boat builder register with british waterways (the trust) from new? The other day buried under alot of rubbish we found a few books. The Manuel for the Lister LPW(s)3 which has been run under water and now terminally ill. If anyone knows where I can get one for her would love to hear from you. The other is a West Yorkshire Waterways Guide with "Shire Cruisers Please Leave" written on the front I can email you a parts manual and an operators manual in pdf format for the LPWS3 if you like and want to pm me with your email. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete harrison Posted November 15, 2012 Report Share Posted November 15, 2012 (edited) Her name is MEMETTE which we dont know where it originated and registration number 076364 British Waterways Board first issued index numbers in 1980 with index 76364 being issued in 1982, and at that time it was a standard pleasure boat licence rather than a hire a reward licence. Interestingly by 1985 it was licenced as a hire and reward. Oh yes, back then it was named TYKE. From Jim Shead's site... MEMETTE Built by SOWERBY - Length 13.72 metres (45 feet ) - Beam 2.07 metres (6 feet 9 inches ) - Draft 0.01 metres ( ) Metal hull, power of 29 BHP. Registered with British Waterways number 76364 as a Powered. Last registration recorded on 20-Apr-2012. Jim Shead's website publishes information obtained directly from British Waterways Board under the Freedom of Information Act, and in future will presumably come from Canal and River Trust. This information is only what is supplied to British Waterways Boat by boat owners via their licence application, so is often incorrect and should be at least treated with suspicion with these older boats. Edited November 15, 2012 by pete harrison Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoopyLou Posted November 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 I emailed Shire Cruisers and he came back saying the guide has my wife’s handwriting on it and he will see if he can trace the number and more information on the boat today :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proper Job Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 I emailed Shire Cruisers and he came back saying the guide has my wife’s handwriting on it and he will see if he can trace the number and more information on the boat today :-) The provenance of the guide was good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athy Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 I emailed Shire Cruisers and he came back saying the guide has my wife’s handwriting on it and he will see if he can trace the number and more information on the boat today :-) Excellent progress! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoopyLou Posted November 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 Decided to look at the guide book there is an advert for Sowerby Marine in it! http://www.flickr.com/photos/76958719@N04/8189608511/in/photostream Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athy Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 (edited) Good stuff. It looks as if it had been taken over since they built your boat, hence the (1986) part of its name. It also suggests that Memette/ Tyke had a long career as a hire boat. Edited November 16, 2012 by Athy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoopyLou Posted November 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 More News..... History is coming together and thought I would share with all of you after all your help Built - Canal & River Craft Ltd Email Information from Shire Cruisers "It was intended to go as a sponsored boat to Adventure Cruisers at Catforth on the Lancaster Canal. I have no record of its intended name. It was largely finished apart from having no engine when Canal & River Craft failed in 1982. It was then bought at auction by another company which was on this site at the time. They sold it to the then landlord of a local pub, who called it Tyke after one of his brews, or the other way round. He fitted a secondhand BMC 1.5 engine, and lived on it for a bit, using plastic beer pipe for his gas system…. We then bought it from him in about 1983, finished it off and ran it in our fleet as Rutland. We changed the engine (new Lister LPWS3) in 1989. We sold it in February 1992." Neil is an amazing man to still have records. He is going to try and find me some photos :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athy Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 So your 1975 boat is in fact a 1982 boat, which can't be bad. What's more, it was built by a completely different company from the one you thought it was! Ain't history wonderful? Full marks to the hire fleet operator for supplying the information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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