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March of the Widebeams


cuthound

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Just now, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Except to look at. 

 

Just my opinion but they are fugly things I would be embarrassed to be seen steering, most of them. As Frangar says, once you have the width to make a boat-shaped boat, why not make one instead of copying the shape of a narrow boat, which itself has all the grace and pleasing lines of a skip? 

Oi!! I didn’t say they are nicer in every way!! That’s slander!!  ?

 

Sort your quotes out....I have a widebeam hating reputation to consider.....

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5 minutes ago, frangar said:

Sort your quotes out....I have a widebeam hating reputation to consider.....

 

Oh soddin' 'ell, I fell into the 'quoting from a quote' trap/software bug. 

 

My apologies I'll go back and hack it about until my quote is correctly attributed to the relevant poster with no taste in boats!

 

 

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27 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

mrsmelly said:

Widebeams are immeasureably nicer in every way

 

Except to look at. 

 

Just my opinion but they are fugly things I would be embarrassed to be seen steering, most of them. As Frangar says, once you have the width to make a boat-shaped boat, why not make one instead of copying the shape of a narrow boat, which itself has all the grace and pleasing lines of a skip? 

Who was the fabricator that decided it was a good idea to double the width of a narrowboat in the first place? Can anyone remember?  Liverpool boats maybe.. 

Imagine if you’re that person and still around, you’d stand back proudly and think “Look what I’ve done!”  

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23 minutes ago, noddyboater said:

Who was the fabricator that decided it was a good idea to double the width of a narrowboat in the first place? Can anyone remember?  Liverpool boats maybe.. 

 

Long before that I think - it was probably first done for trip boats. Springer made a few. In the late '70s there was a trip boat company operating from Camden Town which had two boats, one of which was a widebeam and was known to the staff as "Fatty". It may have been the 'Jenny Wren', unless that was their narrowboat.

   I've remembered: Fatty was actually called 'Fair Lady'.

Edited by Athy
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55 minutes ago, noddyboater said:

Who was the fabricator that decided it was a good idea to double the width of a narrowboat in the first place? Can anyone remember?  Liverpool boats maybe.. 

Imagine if you’re that person and still around, you’d stand back proudly and think “Look what I’ve done!”  

They have been around for some time:

Little Lever.jpeg

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The fount of all knowledge, Wiki, tells us that Nob End used to be a waste tip in Victorian times but is now a site of special scientific interest.

 

I guess that would be the Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal.

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3 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

mrsmelly said:

Widebeams are immeasureably nicer in every way

 

Except to look at. 

 

Just my opinion but they are fugly things I would be embarrassed to be seen steering, most of them. As Frangar says, once you have the width to make a boat-shaped boat, why not make one instead of copying the shape of a narrow boat, which itself has all the grace and pleasing lines of a skip? 

As a 'widebeam boat' is simply one that it over 7 foot (ish) beam it is surely not true to say "widebeams are fugly', (similar to saying I've seen a black car, so all cars are black), however saying something like 'widebeam narrowboats are fugly' would be correct.

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4 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

mrsmelly said:

Widebeams are immeasureably nicer in every way

 

Except to look at. 

 

Just my opinion but they are fugly things I would be embarrassed to be seen steering, most of them. As Frangar says, once you have the width to make a boat-shaped boat, why not make one instead of copying the shape of a narrow boat, which itself has all the grace and pleasing lines of a skip? 

I found one website for people who love skips:  https://loveskiphire.co.uk/

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It seems the tribalism continues!  I've decided that after all, when my boat (a rather fine-looking wide-beam river launch with a steeply raked seaworthy bow and a counter stern) is ready to go onto navigable waters, I'll take her to Reading, and go downstream to the Thames and to France. I've joined the DBA Barge Association and I look forward to navigating the wide horizons of Europe. I'll leave cruising the K&A until I return to narrowboating in my dotage, perhaps less than a decade away ...

 

 

309569844_barge3wp.jpg.4937af5f2a1adadf804fe728d6550512.jpg

Edited by Trevor Lyons
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4 hours ago, noddyboater said:

Who was the fabricator that decided it was a good idea to double the width of a narrowboat in the first place? Can anyone remember?  Liverpool boats maybe.. 

Imagine if you’re that person and still around, you’d stand back proudly and think “Look what I’ve done!”  

 

The oldest purpose built modern "widebeam narrowboat" that I have ever seen was an early 80's build by R&D Fabrications, which a mate lived on in South Dock.

Edited by cuthound
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Just been doing a bit of research on the "WB Progress" and found the following on the website "tring History" which might go to give a definative answere on the matter......  https://tringhistory.tringlocalhistorymuseum.org.uk/Canal/c_chapter_14.htm

 

“The Grand Union Canal throughout its length presents special features . . . . As far as the length from Uxbridge to Birmingham is concerned, the question has often been debated whether it is or is not a ‘narrow’ canal.  The facts are these.  The canal was constructed for use by wide boats as far as BraunstonA substantial scheme on converting the waterways as a whole into a wide canal was put in hand by the former owners between the wars and all the locks can accommodate craft 14ft x 70ft.But the scheme was never completed and substantial amounts of ancillary supporting work (estimated several years ago to cost several million pounds) would be necessary to enable wide craft to use the waterway in a fully effective way (to pass each other practically wherever they happened to meet, for instance).  From the point of view of commercial carrying, therefore, the Grand Union system must be treated as within the group of narrow canals . . . .”

The Facts About the Waterways, British Waterways Board, London, 1965

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, cuthound said:

 

The oldest purpose built modern "widebeam narrowboat" that I have ever seen was an early 80's build by R&D Fabrications, which a mate lived on in South Dock.

Oldest widebeam narrowboat that was not built to carrry cargo is probably Tranquil Rose.

http://www.tranquilrose.co.uk/our-boat.php

Built in 1973 it does however have some shape, unlike the fugly  modern skips.

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6 minutes ago, Loddon said:

Oldest widebeam narrowboat that was not built to carrry cargo is probably Tranquil Rose.

seen her on a few occasions around the system and even helped work her through the lock at Woolhampton.  She IS a nice looking WB boat...

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20 minutes ago, Loddon said:

Oldest widebeam narrowboat that was not built to carrry cargo is probably Tranquil Rose.

http://www.tranquilrose.co.uk/our-boat.php

Built in 1973 it does however have some shape, unlike the fugly  modern skips.

 

Yes it is amazing how some tumblehome and a long curvy bow improves the look compared to many modern widebeam narrowboats.

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5 hours ago, Trevor Lyons said:

It seems the tribalism continues!  I've decided that after all, when my boat (a rather fine-looking wide-beam river launch with a steeply raked seaworthy bow and a counter stern) is ready to go onto navigable waters, I'll take her to Reading, and go downstream to the Thames and to France. I've joined the DBA Barge Association and I look forward to navigating the wide horizons of Europe. I'll leave cruising the K&A until I return to narrowboating in my dotage, perhaps less than a decade away ...

 

 

309569844_barge3wp.jpg.4937af5f2a1adadf804fe728d6550512.jpg

It could be tooooooo narrow even for a narrowboat by then, if my trip down the K&A at the moment is anything to go by.

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