Jump to content

Historic Boats for sale online


alan_fincher

Featured Posts

On 03/10/2022 at 15:00, zenataomm said:

In 1968 you could buy a pint of beer for half a crown or two large wrapped, sliced loaves!

 

Rip off, I paid 1/11d for my first pint in 1970 and that was in leafy Surrey which is not known for its cheap ale.

Edited by cuthound
Clarification
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1964 - one gallon of Super Cleveland Discol with 'Alcohol' - 4s/11d. Less than 25p a gallon (4.546 litres for those inclined that way).

But on £9 a week pay, and £2. 10s to Mum for keep. Good job I didn't drink or smoke, most of my money went in the bikes tank.

 

In 1980, married second wife, lived on a big Dutchman, paid £30 a month mooring fees and had £9.00 in the bank with 50p jammed in a moneybox. (We got it out in the end, and bought a Swiss roll to celebrate.)

Edited by Derek R.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here is an eBay ad for a 1850 ice breaker built in Banbury.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265879132374?hash=item3de7a198d6:g:jssAAOSwoNRjHK4C&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAoH41MRqIkTMu54Yt3Z5Sb6mrriL4S09pgfw1nCcRqBHHhW4o3SiRAGMej3aNn1Ss8OPWoA1qxUoZCyQojED386SGlO6gsDkThyKIFboqqSSyMNDn6qGOFFtLtnNlsCkXKLWoLXdoJnD29%2BAXeRFzR6OL%2BEbe3J6fN5rTBZ3VYWCJhenTna%2Bc2K8zcYNNSS4x4N1Mw87Ytm4z4%2FISWXvXBiU%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR-b0h_b0YA

 

The Oxford Canal Company did have a horse drawn ice breaker with the name Oxford 1 which was replaced presumably in the 19-teens with a motor one, also confusingly called Oxford 1.    This one for sale would be the conversion of the horse drawn Oxford 1.  

 

What I am interested in is the built in Banbury part.    Was this the Banbury Boatyard (now called Tooley's), owned at the time by Benjamin Roberts, or was there another boat building yard in the town?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, Derek R. said:

1964 - one gallon of Super Cleveland Discol with 'Alcohol' - 4s/11d. Less than 25p a gallon (4.546 litres for those inclined that way).

But on £9 a week pay, and £2. 10s to Mum for keep. Good job I didn't drink or smoke, most of my money went in the bikes tank.

 

Same year I was riding a 16H Norton.  Low compression ratio meant I was able to water the petrol down with cheaper paraffin.  A teaspoon of Castrol R in the tank masked the smell from any "interested" parties!

  • Greenie 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Greenpen said:

Here is an eBay ad for a 1850 ice breaker built in Banbury.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265879132374?hash=item3de7a198d6:g:jssAAOSwoNRjHK4C&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAoH41MRqIkTMu54Yt3Z5Sb6mrriL4S09pgfw1nCcRqBHHhW4o3SiRAGMej3aNn1Ss8OPWoA1qxUoZCyQojED386SGlO6gsDkThyKIFboqqSSyMNDn6qGOFFtLtnNlsCkXKLWoLXdoJnD29%2BAXeRFzR6OL%2BEbe3J6fN5rTBZ3VYWCJhenTna%2Bc2K8zcYNNSS4x4N1Mw87Ytm4z4%2FISWXvXBiU%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR-b0h_b0YA

 

The Oxford Canal Company did have a horse drawn ice breaker with the name Oxford 1 which was replaced presumably in the 19-teens with a motor one, also confusingly called Oxford 1.    This one for sale would be the conversion of the horse drawn Oxford 1.  

 

What I am interested in is the built in Banbury part.    Was this the Banbury Boatyard (now called Tooley's), owned at the time by Benjamin Roberts, or was there another boat building yard in the town?

 

I thought "Tooley's" yard was leased from the OCC rather than owned by the operator. But anyway, wouldn't the skills there have been those of wooden boat building and this claims to be a steel hull. That raised my eyebrows for a boat built in 1850. Nonetheless I'm sure they can tell metal from wood.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1/2 inch thick plating is an interesting claim.

 

Also a Lister Pettifer. I imagine this is a diminutive version of a Lister Petter.

 

Quite a lot of detail about the boat here. The hull does seem to be rather a handsome piece of metalwork.

 

Edited by magnetman
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes Captain, I think you are right about OCC owning the boatyard and various people leasing it from them.    I am not sure but I guess the current Tooley's Boatyard is now leased from Cherwell District Council rather than the CRT who otherwise would have been the modern day inheritors of OCC after nationalisation.    There is a modern shopping centre somewhat over-shadowing the Tooley yard today.

 

The Tooley's built wooden boats at their yard and launched them sideways into the canal, there is a fine photograph of NB Savannah being launched in 1913 in the small museum there.    Benjamin Roberts may have had an experimental streak as he built Fire Fly, a 24' x 4' 9" steam launch in 1841.   This had a steam engine driving a screw and the engine itself is in the Science Museum in London, so presumably is considered important albeit not currently on display.    The engine itself was built by a Henry Warriner who went onto work with railway and marine steam engines.

 

I am wondering if Benjamin might have been a iron boat builder too, or whether there was another boat building yard in Banbury?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It would interesting to know where the information was sourced showing the boat to be built in 1850 and at Banbury. 
 
Banbury Dock was the only yard in Banbury and it's unlikely Benjamin Roberts would have built the ice breaker as iron boat building requires specialist skills, especially if it has a half inch think hull. Also I’m not aware of any boiler makers working in the town in 1850 either.
 
The Oxford Canal Company owned a number of iron boats including carrying boats with living cabins. They were built by Joshua and William Horton of Smethwick in the 1860’s. They would be the most likely candidates for building that ice boat I think.  

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Speculating: As riveting only requires a forge and a selection of hammers, ità is possible that a boat builder elsewhere formed the plates and did the drilling, assembling the boat with bolts before sending it as a CKD kit to Banbury for final assembly.  The forge  at Banbury dock would be a good place to heat the rivets and the smith will have had the skill to set them. The dock and surrounds would be well suited to the assembling.  None of the plates look too large to be manhandled.

 

Evidence needed.

 

N

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, BEngo said:

Speculating: As riveting only requires a forge and a selection of hammers, ità is possible that a boat builder elsewhere formed the plates and did the drilling, assembling the boat with bolts before sending it as a CKD kit to Banbury for final assembly.  The forge  at Banbury dock would be a good place to heat the rivets and the smith will have had the skill to set them. The dock and surrounds would be well suited to the assembling.  None of the plates look too large to be manhandled.

 

Evidence needed.

 

N

 

 

It's how the Yavari was transported from the Thames Iron Works on Bow Creek to Lake Titicaca in Peru. Yavari and sister ship Yapura were transported as 2766 individual pieces, none heavier than 3.5 cwt, as that was the maximum weight a Peruvian mule could carry up to the lake's 3812 m elevation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As Sara's former owner I can confirm that there is some confusion in the advert. Sara is believed to have been based out of Banbury but probably built elsewhere, she also has Harts Hill Iron Co. rolled into her knees. The best guess for her construction date was based on stylistic grounds and comparison with other vessels, the consensus appeared to be C. 1855-1865.

 

Regards,

 

Robert

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, sparrowcycles said:

Who would ever have imagined such lusciousness could be found near Sodding Chipbury?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to comment
Share on other sites

32 minutes ago, Dav and Pen said:

The advert says built by Yarwoods. Wonder why they had a V bottom.

Having steered TYCHO with a V botton (a very shallow one) and a 45' Springer with a similar V botton, they do stay on line quite well. More so the Springer in fact.

That would be quite an unusual boat. Not many left I shouldn't think, very distinctive.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, merline said:

From memory it used to live below Cowley Lock or was that one of the other BW "Waterway" hire boats.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Paul H said:

I believe 6 of these boats were supplied to BW in the early 70s by Isaac Pimblott of Northwich.

 

Paul

33F93EFD-FF7F-453C-86CD-5B4BAF446C7F.jpeg

For the record this photo is one of Laurence Hogg's from his post here: https://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?/topic/93953-first-ever-steel-narrow-boat-hulls-manufactured-for-leisue-boat-use/page/4/#comment-2066523 and I'm pretty sure that he was correct in saying the build was by Pimblotts c1970.

 

Edit: I've found another thread about them here: Sea barge... - General Boating - Canal World

where Pete Harrison identified them on a Pimblotts build list

"If this is one of the six 'Pimblott' built pleasure boats it will date from 1968/9 (and I think the photograph is one of these six boats). These boats were built under the 'Pimblott' yard numbers 821, 822, 823, 824, 829 and 831 - with all except 829 being described as a "canal Cruiser" (829 has no description). 821 has no owner listed. 823, 824, 829 and 831 were built for Davison Brothers, whilst 822 was for Wyvern Shipping Company. 

This tends to suggest that the hulls of the BW boats were built by Pimblotts, but they then went to Davison Brothers for fitting out before being delivered to the BW Hillmorton yard as shown on the photo.

 

 

Edited by John Brightley
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.