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Hallmark 70ft is a maybe

70liveaboard

By 70liveaboard
in General Boating

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Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, mrsmelly said:

No ?  Twas because the front pointy bit was very long  and looked pretty...

 

Pretty? If Steve could make a pretty bow, I’m surprised He didn’t do more of them, instead of the monstrosity bow he normally favoured... 

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mrsmelly Veteran II

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Posted
Posted
Just now, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Pretty? If Steve could make a pretty bow, I’m surprised He didn’t do more of them, instead of the monstrosity bow he normally favoured... 

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder innitt ?

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andyberg Collaborator

andyberg

Posted
Posted (edited)

I went to the Hallmark disposal  auctions when they went bust at thier workshops in Deeside about 15 years ago....

it was reminiscent of a 'MFI reject / returns' warehouse, they barely gave the stuff away and rightly so, they were sh**e with a capital S!

Edited by andyberg
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70liveaboard Collaborator

70liveaboard

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Posted
5 hours ago, andyberg said:

I went to the Hallmark disposal  auctions when they went bust at thier workshops in Deeside about 15 years ago....

it was reminiscent of a 'MFI reject / returns' warehouse, they barely gave the stuff away and rightly so, they were sh**e with a capital S!

A fabricator friend of ours went too (not boat builder). I think he would have a different memory of it though, from what we remember him saying to us was there. He went for steel and sheet materials.

What do you remember seeing ? How many shells do you remember being there, did you go to the other site too (fabrication workshop) ?

Or did you go to the leftovers sale ?

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pig Community Regular

pig

Posted
Posted

I have owned a Hallmark boat from new in 1998; a 45' cruiser stern. I was lucky to get the boat as they went bust soon after.

It has served me well for 20 years. I had it surveyed in 2014 and the sides and baseplate are wearing well, with minimal pitting/corrosion. The shell was made by a Peterborough fabricator (cant remember the name).

The fitout was cheap and cheerful, and over the years we've altered and improved a lot of things. The engine is reliable (Sole/Mitsubishi 3 cyl).

It has been probably the best thing I've ever bought, and would sell now for more than I paid. There's a lot of snobbery about these boats but they introduced lots of people like me to the canals. I've never felt the need to buy a bigger or better boat.

Having said that the price of the OP's boat is a joke!

 

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Matt&Jo Proficient

Matt&Jo

Posted
Posted (edited)

Unfortunatly its a total sellers market currently....markets set the price simple supply and demand......if you offer these low prices you just dont get the boat.....4-5 k off max seems to be our experience....

As some of you guys know we are looking....stilllllllll ? the nice 1ns sell fast and always mid week when we are working....case and point yesterday with an abnb vessel cullen.....missed out again.

Edited by Matt&Jo
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Parahandy Proficient

Parahandy

Posted
Posted

Fascinating to read the opinions on these Hallmark Boats , I have absolutely no experience of them as regards owning one though my friend Frank lives aboard an extremely tidy one and as far as I know has had no issues . I did at one time own a Liverpool Boat ( 1989 ) and I remember the scepticism that entailed from Fellow Owners , again I had absolutely no issues , I bought it as a repossession from Barclays Marine Finance ( £18000 65ft ) and sold it some years later for £25000 . There is a little bit of the Towpath Telegraph about these so called Budget Brands in my opinion , do your homework because bargains are still out there .

 

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70liveaboard Collaborator

70liveaboard

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Posted (edited)

Not Pat Buckle, no.

We think they used two, PKB in Peterborough, they were boatbuilders, PKB ceased trading mid 90's and were later linked to 'Floating Homes' IIRC. Plus they also used a large engineering business down that way, who were not boat builders, but they did 'copy' & produce a few for them, again if IIRC. Can't recall the name.

They were using PKB for the cheaper priced boats, when we bought our first semi, they seemed like good enough shells. Our boat shell came from another fabricator based in Wales, called Dolphin Fabrications. Dolphin went out of business and that is where Hallmark picked up many of their early fabricator/welder staff from (for the Welsh Workshop). Dolphin had major contracts with a German based company (not doing boats), can't remember what it was they did. Skilled staff though.

Regards this boat I mentioned in the thread title. The reason I didn't put its price in the post was for the exact reason of, for us anyway, no one pays the price advertised for such large boats, they are always overpriced usually (this one is very overpriced). As we said further down, we expect it to maybe raise 45-48k depends on steel spec. Around that figure we expect anyway. It may get much higher if a South East buyer with a mooring down there gets involved.

We have a mooring for that size already.

It certainly isn't a Trabant either, but if it is to some people, then that is fine.

My guess and it is only based on the pictures, is its an R&R shell. They built for Branson Boats, well, out of their workshop, that was Peterborough way too, so it may be three they used down there.

Edited by 70liveaboard
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Athy Veteran II

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Posted
Posted

PKB was, from memory, Peter and Kevin Bellaire (father and son?). Another shellbuilder in the area was the well thought of Keith Wood, who retired a few years ago - his last boat is moored in the next village to ours.

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70liveaboard Collaborator

70liveaboard

Posted
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Posted (edited)
6 minutes ago, Athy said:

PKB was, from memory, Peter and Kevin Bellaire (father and son?). Another shellbuilder in the area was the well thought of Keith Wood, who retired a few years ago - his last boat is moored in the next village to ours.

That's right.

If Nene engineering was aimed at me, no, doesn't sound familiar, but what did they fabricate ? that might jog the old memory.

Edited by 70liveaboard
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