Would "Listed Status" Work For Boats?

[Speedwheel]

 

That looks like a completely modern back end that has in itself no greater significance than it has been attached to something older, (possibly a former joey)?

 

All that has been sacrificed there of any historical significance is less than the back foot or so of whatever it was attached to.

 

I don't know what boat it is, but perhaps someone is having a go at doing it better, and actually making some attempt at a working boat swim, rather than something belonging to a "Clonecraft"?

 

I know exactly which boat is is Alan.... you do too!

[alan_fincher]

 

I know exactly which boat is is Alan.... you do too!

 

Do I? I'm not aware I do!

 

Is it one that can often be found moored in my home town?

[Speedwheel]

 

Is it one that can often be found moored in my home town?

 

It is.

[alan_fincher]

 

It is.

 

So did it just have a poor earlier attempt replaced by something better? Out of curiosity, how long has that feature been at Braunston, then?

[Speedwheel]

 

So did it just have a poor earlier attempt replaced by something better? Out of curiosity, how long has that feature been at Braunston, then?

 

I guess the picture was taken in 2005. It had been converted previously. It was purchased for peanuts but ended up needing new bottom, footings, cabin, engine, counter and swim - a new boat would have been cheaper.

 

ETA rivets welding up, plating behind knees, some knees refitting, plating on the bow, pulling the whole boat in - a new boat would have been much cheaper!

Edited November 8, 2014 by Speedwheel

[TimYoung]

Back to Pods.

 

Keith Ball at Sretton on the SUC has made several with great success.

 

Tim

[alan_fincher]

Back to Pods.

 

Keith Ball at Sretton on the SUC has made several with great success.

 

Tim

 

 

Although last time I saw the one from Hampstead, he had for some reason cut in in half, and it was gutted internally.

 

To me the problems with pods are.....

 

1) Because they have to crane in and fit between the gunwales, they inevitably give a much narrower internal space than if you do a straight conversion.

2) They are really only useful to someone like Keith who has both a large crane, and a boatyard with enough space to store a pod when not in use.

 

If you are not in a position to ever easily remove it, and on occasions present a boat as "unconverted", then they seem to me to offer no advantage over a full cabin conversion, but to present an awful lot of drawbacks.

[Pluto]

We have used them on Kennet, so that access for repair would be easy to any part of the hold. This is the toilet/wash room, and there is a similar 'pod' for storage on the other side.

[alan_fincher]

We have used them on Kennet, so that access for repair would be easy to any part of the hold. This is the toilet/wash room, and there is a similar 'pod' for storage on the other side.

Yes,

 

Not a bad idea in that case, I agree.

 

However the "reduced width" bit is, I suggest, far less of an issue in a wider boat. It seems to me that a pod that has to fit between conventional gunwales on (say) a Josher or an ex GUCCCo narrow boat can't measure much over 6 feet externally, and hence by the time you have added insulation and lining to make it a true living space, internally I'm guessing you would be lucky to see more than (say) 5' 6".

 

That seems quite a major restriction to me in something so already "tube-like".

[Speedwheel]

 

 

Although last time I saw the one from Hampstead, he had for some reason cut in in half, and it was gutted internally.

 

One half was refitted and put into another boat (very nice it was too). I think the other half is awaiting an owner.

Edited November 9, 2014 by Speedwheel

[Machpoint005]

I was listening to Radio 4 recently and there was debate amongst various people including English Heritage about Newcastle Railway station and a potential refurb of this historic building to make it useful today. It was pointed out that the station is on the site of the castle that gives Newcastle it's name and if English Heritage was around in the 19th century the station wouldn't have been built in the first place.

 

History is important but it has little if anything to do with buildings or boats or cars. Cutting up these boats is taking something neglected and unwanted and turning them into something useful and wanted. To my mind it doesn't make any sense to do anything else with them.

 

Well put! Have a greenie.

[madcat]

Sometimes it feels like the boat owns you .

[cheshire~rose]

Sometimes it feels like the boat owns you .

 

I certainly think the boat "owning you" is very close to the mark. None of us really "own" a historic boat. We are just custodians. The best we can hope for is that future custodians will look upon our treatment of the vessel as having been sympathetic

[twbm]

It's not unheard of for listed buildings that fall into disuse to gently disintegrate as the restrictions on what can be done to them make it impractical or too expensive to convert them to other uses .... and they don't rust. There's a finite number of people who enjoy cruising in what might be described as unnecessarily long two berth cruisers with bohemian facilities, so I think on balance I'd rather see them converted and occasionally mangled as an alternative to not being used and eventually turning to dust.

[Bee]

Berrichons, I've seen Blue Berry but I seem to remember seeing another last year, houseboat, could have been near Brussels, I really should keep notes of these things.

[MtB]

Sometimes it feels like the boat owns you .

 

 

Well the saying that "you never own a wooden boat, it owns you" is old as the hills but I agree, seems to extend to steel narrowboats too.

 

MtB

[bargemast]

Berrichons, I've seen Blue Berry but I seem to remember seeing another last year, houseboat, could have been near Brussels, I really should keep notes of these things.

Hello Richard, I don't know if the boat you saw near Brussels was a Berrichon, there are still a few boats left of a type they built un Belgium named "Baquets" they worked mainly near Charleroi. They had the same beam as a Berrichon, but were about 6 mètres shorter, so 4 of these boats would fit together in a Freycinet size lock. There are only a few of these boats leftover, like the Berrichons.

 

Peter.

 

edited because of some words deformed by my

french phone.

Edited November 10, 2014 by bargemast

[Athy]

I just found baquets on the internet. There's at least one example, Les Deux Soeurs, preserved, and she does indeed resemble a berrichon. The name means "tub" - hardly a flattering description!

Edited November 10, 2014 by Athy

[Pluto]

I have a copy of a circa 20 year old television programme about these boats, unfortunately in Dutch. They interviewed an old couple who had worked, and still lived, on one of them. When asked how they moved about, the old woman got out her towing gear and proceeded to bow-haul the boat while her husband steered.

 

Returning to Britain, unlike many other European countries, it is impossible to 'list' moving objects. Tony Conder, in 2002 when he was curator at Gloucester and helped by a number of knowledgable people, did produce a list of the most important, from a historical perspective, inland waterway craft. I still have a digital copy of the report which looks at what craft are most representative of our inland waterways, and how they can be preserved. I think the idea was resurrected a year or so ago, but lack of funding is the major drawback. However, it is helping in trying to attract Lottery funding for boats like Mossdale and George at Ellesmere Port. It is wooden wide boats such as these that are most at risk. Owners of other historic boats should be encouraged to keep records of what alterations and restoration is done to them, not just for 'museum' purposes, but because people are interested. Just look at how Pete Harrison's records are much appreciated by people here.

[Laurence Hogg]

CRT should be following this example, if you haven't been there don't miss the chance: http://www.maritiemmuseum.nl/en

[Derek R.]

I bet 'Sex and the Sea' gets the most clicks . . .