Northwich style boats
Mike George
to pictures and/or descriptions?
--
Mike George
http://www.nbmajortom.com
Andrew McDowall
http://www.fuller28.freeserve.co.uk/indexheritage.htm
For details of Northwich and other GUCCC boats, follow the link to
http://www.fuller28.freeserve.co.uk/gucc.htm
Andy
Martin Brooks
Regards,
Martin
Mike George
<m.br...@deathtoallspammers.epixtech.co.uk> wrote:
> RW Davies of Saul, Gloucs build replicas of these,
That's why I'm asking about them. I'm looking for somebody to build a
new boat and they were one of the builders I rang yesterday. I didn't
realise they only built replica Northwich boats and I don't think it's
the kind of thing we'll want to live on (oh no - not another floating
cottage?) but the man I spoke to sounded so nice I wanted to find out
more about them.
Mike George
<m.br...@deathtoallspammers.epixtech.co.uk> wrote:
> RW Davies of Saul, Gloucs build replicas of these,
>
And I've just found that RW Davies have their own site
(http://www.narrowboats-by-rwdavis.co.uk/index.html) too.
Jezza
posted this:
>:I'd like to know what one of these is - can anybody give me any URLs
>:to pictures and/or descriptions?
Redshank was built by Yarwoods at Northwich in 1936
<URL: http://www.hotwells.freeserve.co.uk/redshank.html>
--
Jezza, Hotwells, Bristol
If you want to know how the uk.* usenet hierarchy is
managed check out news:uk.net.news.announce or
visit <http://www.usenet.org.uk/>
Peter Neville
----------
In article <3a0198fc...@news.clara.net>, mi...@nbmajortom.com (Mike
George) wrote:
You cannot by any stretch of one's imagination call Davies's replica
Northwich Traders, floating cottages. The only time you can do that is when
the owner turns them into one.
IMHO these narrowboats are the finest craft built on the system, with the
possible exception of a few of Roger Fuller's boats and some of Tim's at
WFB. But in the last two names mentioned there is a price to pay but then
again that's nearly always the case.
In the production market RW Davies and Steve Hudson must be the most
prolific producers of stylish narrowboats. My preference being for the
Davies shell rather than the Hudson shell. There are many other good
producers but the vast majority of them make variations of a bog standard
narrowboat, trad, semi-trad, cruiser etc.
Having looked at your site you don't appear to be looking for anything out
of the ordinary as far as steel work is concerned. It looks like a
semi-trad?
And why restrict yourself to builders in a certain area? You might find you
will get some better deals 'up north'.
Finally the man you spoke to at Davies' was most probably Phil Trotter, no
relation to Del Boy, and is perhaps one of the most respected of the
original Piper School of narrowboat builders. From this school came Mike
Heywood and from there Jonathan Wilson, Tim Tyler et al. While working with
Mike Heywood a few years ago, I once asked him who he thought was the 'best
on the cut', without hesitation he said Phil.
Cheers, Pete.
Steve King
wrote:
>> > I'd like to know what one of these is - can anybody give me any URLs
>> > to pictures and/or descriptions?
>
>I've always been slightly mystified by the idea of "Northwich-style". I
>assume it probably *does* refer to the GUCCC Northwich boats, but Yarwoods
>also built for FMC. Were these latter boats in the same style as the GUCCC
>ones, or in the usual Josher style? I assume not the former, as I think the
>Northwich Joshers may have been older than the GUCCC fleet.
I believe 'Northwich style' would normally refer to GUCCCo replicas.
FMC.
WJ Yarwood & Sons Ltd of Northwich built their first motor boat for
FMC in 1923, the 'Adder'. FMC had many earlier boats than this of
course, these having been built at their own works at Saltley (iron-
composite steamers, motors and butties) and at Uxbridge (wooden
boats). The Yarwood boats had a very similar shape to the FMC-built
examples, characterised by a rather shapely bow with ample guards and
a rather 'apple cheeked' appearance. The stempost has a pronounced
rake and the bow plating is sharply curved to lie either side of the
stem and is rivetted thereto, such that the towpath viewer sees a line
of rivets up the stembar. The stempost does not project above the
level of the deck cants on the foredeck. At the other end of the boat
the engine room and cabin were always wooden, and 'boxy' with little
upsweep. Whereas the steamers had upswept counters to accomodate a
large slow-revolving propellor (and a draft of about 3' 6") this was
gradually reduced with the advent of the faster Bolinder (smaller
propellor) and increasingly so for the later boats. The last motors
constructed by Yarwoods for FMC in the late 40s (eg 'Gardenia') had a
deeper ('thicker'?) counter (by now rather flat underneath, but with a
rise at deck level to the stern) although seen from above it was still
half a circle. Draft had been reduced to about 2' 10". Later motor
boats were constructed at Yarwoods, but fitted out by FMC at Saltley.
GUCCCo.
Yarwoods built several different types of motor and butty for the
GUCCCo, all in the 1930s. The first were the enormous Royalty boats,
longer than the FMC boats (71' 6" instead of 70') and with fuller
lines and deeper sides to carry more cargo. These had a steel engine
room, but a wooden cabin. The stempost was more vertical, but the line
of rivets was still present. Also, the stem carried over in a loop
onto the foredeck before the T-stud. This is one way to tell a
Northwich (Yarwoods) boat from a Woolwich (Harland & Wolff) example,
for both companies built Star class (Small Northwich, Small Woolwich)
boats. The stem on a Woolwich is largely hidden away in the fore-end,
and must take the form of a Y in cross-section as the fore-end plating
is rivetted onto the 'wings' of the Y, with just the (short) stem of
the Y projecting forwards. So the rivets appear to be on the fore-end
plating, not on the stem bar. On a Woolwich the stem does not rise
above the cants. The purist will know that the top strake (where the
name is) tapers to the stem on a Northwich, but is parallel on a
Woolwich.
At the stern the Northwich Star and Town boats had steel engine rooms
and cabins. Many have since had the latter removed as they suffered
from condensation. The counters are easy to tell apart. A Northwich
has the lower band of the counter roll divided by a another guard,
such that these counters are often painted in three colours.
The Woolwich has just the two bands and will be painted in only two
colours. Woolwich boats had steel engine rooms with wooden cabins.
The Star class boats (from both companies) had a pleasingly upswept
counter, which is elliptical from above. The Town class counters are
flat on top, with a slight rise under, and a boxy ellipse from above.
The main reason to refer to a 'Northwich' boat is to identify a Grand
Union boat built by Yarwoods, rather than one built by H&W.
>And, of
>course, Yarwoods weren't the only builder in Northwich. Wasn't Isaac
>Pimblott (Sp?) there as well?
Yes, they built some of the Admiral class for BWB in the late 1950s.
And Yarwoods also built for tanker boats for Cowburn & Copar.
Did anyone find this useful??
Next week, how to tell an iron Small Woolwich (24 pairs by H&W in
1935, eg 'Perseus') from a steel one (18 pairs by H&W in 1935, eg
'Denebola') ...
(London examples quoted for Mike's benefit).
Steve
Mike Stevens
news:3A01810F...@ncl.ac.uk...
> You could try visiting the Historic boats site at:
> http://www.fuller28.freeserve.co.uk/indexheritage.htm
> For details of Northwich and other GUCCC boats, follow the link to
> http://www.fuller28.freeserve.co.uk/gucc.htm
> Andy
>
> Mike George wrote:
> > I'd like to know what one of these is - can anybody give me any URLs
> > to pictures and/or descriptions?
I've always been slightly mystified by the idea of "Northwich-style". I
assume it probably *does* refer to the GUCCC Northwich boats, but Yarwoods
also built for FMC. Were these latter boats in the same style as the GUCCC
ones, or in the usual Josher style? I assume not the former, as I think the
Northwich Joshers may have been older than the GUCCC fleet. And, of
course, Yarwoods weren't the only builder in Northwich. Wasn't Isaac
Pimblott (Sp?) there as well?
--
Mike Stevens, nb Felis Catus II
No man is an island. So is Man.
Off-list replies, please, to michael...@which.net
Web site http://homepages.which.net/~michael.stevens
Mike Stevens
news:3a0326cf...@news.easynet.co.uk...
> Did anyone find this useful??
Yes. Thank you.
> Next week, how to tell an iron Small Woolwich (24 pairs by H&W in
> 1935, eg 'Perseus') from a steel one (18 pairs by H&W in 1935, eg
> 'Denebola') ...
> (London examples quoted for Mike's benefit).
I look forward to that.
Roger Murray
Steve King wrote:
>
> On Fri, 3 Nov 2000 08:43:42 -0000, "Mike Stevens" <mike...@which.net>
> wrote:
>
> >> > I'd like to know what one of these is - can anybody give me any URLs
> >> > to pictures and/or descriptions?
> >
> >I've always been slightly mystified by the idea of "Northwich-style". I
> >assume it probably *does* refer to the GUCCC Northwich boats, but Yarwoods
> >also built for FMC. Were these latter boats in the same style as the GUCCC
> >ones, or in the usual Josher style? I assume not the former, as I think the
> >Northwich Joshers may have been older than the GUCCC fleet.
> >And, of
> >course, Yarwoods weren't the only builder in Northwich. Wasn't Isaac
> >Pimblott (Sp?) there as well?
> Yes, they built some of the Admiral class for BWB in the late 1950s.
> And Yarwoods also built for tanker boats for Cowburn & Copar.
>
> Did anyone find this useful??
>
> Next week, how to tell an iron Small Woolwich (24 pairs by H&W in
> 1935, eg 'Perseus') from a steel one (18 pairs by H&W in 1935, eg
> 'Denebola') ...
> (London examples quoted for Mike's benefit).
>
> Steve
Thanks Steve. It really is a worthwhile bit of info and has cleared a
couple of hitherto vague points up for me.
Roger Murray steamer 'Monarch.'
Mike George
<pe...@toadstone.com> wrote:
>In article <3a0198fc...@news.clara.net>, mi...@nbmajortom.com (Mike
>George) wrote:
<snip>
>> That's why I'm asking about them. I'm looking for somebody to build a
>> new boat and they were one of the builders I rang yesterday. I didn't
>> realise they only built replica Northwich boats and I don't think it's
>> the kind of thing we'll want to live on (oh no - not another floating
>> cottage?) but the man I spoke to sounded so nice I wanted to find out
>> more about them.
>>
>You cannot by any stretch of one's imagination call Davies's replica
>Northwich Traders, floating cottages. The only time you can do that is when
>the owner turns them into one.
Sorry, I didn't mean that - I meant that what we want to live on might
be considered to be a floating cottage. Although we want something
that is simple and practical, we also want some of the trappings of
modern technology, such as a quiet engine banished to under the aft
deck, automatic central heating, etc.
<snip snip>
--
Mike George in Bristol, UK
http://www.nbmajortom.com
Paul E. Bennett
mi...@nbmajortom.com "Mike George" writes:
> Sorry, I didn't mean that - I meant that what we want to live on might
> be considered to be a floating cottage. Although we want something
> that is simple and practical, we also want some of the trappings of
> modern technology, such as a quiet engine banished to under the aft
> deck, automatic central heating, etc.
The quietest diesel generator charging large battery bank and utilising
an electric motor for propulsion would probably suit quite well. The
generator could be banished anywhere on the boat (wherever it was most
convenient) and a direct electric drive does not take very much room.
You can enjoy very quiet cruising at very little extra capital cost
but lower operating costs.
--
********************************************************************
Paul E. Bennett ....................<email://p...@amleth.demon.co.uk>
Forth based HIDECS Consultancy .....<http://www.amleth.demon.co.uk/>
Mob: +44 (0)7811-639972 .........NOW AVAILABLE:- HIDECS COURSE......
Tel: +44 (0)1235-814586 .... see http://www.feabhas.com for details.
Going Forth Safely ..... EBA. www.electric-boat-association.org.uk..
********************************************************************
Kkroeker
had a rearward sloping stem post and a very curved (S?) Bow swim. Is
this the Northwich style or something else entirely?
Steve King
wrote:
>I saw a boat in Shardlow, named Pilot, marked for the G.J.C.C. Co. It
>had a rearward sloping stem post and a very curved (S?) Bow swim. Is
>this the Northwich style or something else entirely?
I don't know the boat you refer to, but it sounds like a Grand
Junction Canal Company (predecessors of the Grand Union Canal Company)
tug - or more probably a replica. A perhaps similar boat the 'Spider'
I saw on the K&A about 5/6 years ago at the Dundas aqueduct and I
believe that was a replica of the Blisworth tunnel tug. It had the
rearward-sloping stem and was quite fine at the bow. A tug-style
foredeck preceded quite a long cabin. The rams head I think was a 'C'
shape perhaps with a hinged tiller, rather than the more familiar 'Z'
shape with removable tiller. There is a photograph of the original
Spider in a book or an old Waterwyas World, but I've not been able to
locate it I'm afraid.
It's not, however, a Northwich or Northwich replica because the boats
referred to in this way were carrying craft not tugs, and were not
built until the mid-1930s, whereas the GJCCo became the GUCCo in 1929.
Steve
Andrew McDowall
fixed in position permantly and made of solid bar. (My dad built the boat
on the river Soar and launched it in August 1982). It is now down on the
Trent, I think somewhere around Beeston. Photos are in old waterways
world, probably sometime around August 1984, as the boat was used at the
reopening of the Blisworth tunnel. I can find the book with the original
photo in and let you know what it is if you are interested, but I can't
remember what it is off hand. There is only the one photo of Spider (as
far as we could find), at one end of the tunnel, and it is this picture
that the replica was built from.
Pilot was built a some years later by another builder, and is also a
replica Blisworth tunnel tug.
Andy
Mike Stevens
> On Kkroeker <kkro...@skyweb.ca> wrote:
>
> >I saw a boat in Shardlow, named Pilot, marked for the G.J.C.C. Co.
<snip the descriptiopn>
> I don't know the boat you refer to, but it sounds like a Grand
> Junction Canal Company (predecessors of the Grand Union Canal Company)
> tug - or more probably a replica
<snip>
> It's not, however, a Northwich or Northwich replica because the boats
> referred to in this way were carrying craft not tugs, and were not
> built until the mid-1930s, whereas the GJCCo became the GUCCo in 1929.
Yes, but the initials quoted "G.J.C.C.Co." aren't quite right. The Grand
Junction was the "Grand Junction Canal Company" - "GJCC" or GJC Co".
GJCCCo would seem to imply a Grand Junction Canal Carrying Company which,
AFIK, never existed. By guess is that it's a replica and either ther
person's got their history slightly wrong or they've invented a new name for
themselves (and why not).
When we have our boat re-painted in the Spring I shall be very tempted to
label her as belonging to the (non-existent) Croydon Canal Carrying Company.
sean neill
Sean
Andrew McDowall <A.r.j.m...@ncl.ac.uk> wrote in message
news:3A06756F...@ncl.ac.uk...
> As said, Spider is a replica of a Blisworth tunnel tug. The rams head is
> reopening of the Blisworth tunnel. I can find the book with the original