Narrow Boats

Ownership, Care and Maintenance

Michael Stimpson

• Publisher: Crowood
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781785005527
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Marine Transportation
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Narrow Boats: Ownership, Care and Maintenance is a practical manual for readers who are new to boating or wanting to buy a narrow boat. It provides a comprehensive guide to all aspects of owning a narrow boat and will enable readers to get the most out of their own narrow boat, whether used for occasional weekends only, or lived on all year round. This book includes a brief history of narrow boating, including types of boats and their purpose; what to look for when buying a boat; ongoing maintenance required, painting, electrics, plumbing and engines; how to be a responsible boater and finally, a useful glossary is included of boating and canal-related terms. Michael A Stimpson has been involved with waterways for over 40 years and has been S Eastern Regional Secretary for the IWA for 14 years. It is fully illustrated with 185 colour photographs.

CHAPTER 1

NARROW BOAT HISTORY

First of all, is it a narrow boat or a narrowboat? While many believe one word is acceptable, the majority view is that the correct way to describe a boat that is narrow is two words. Another interesting idea is that a narrow boat was built prior to 1950 and was used to carry goods, while a narrowboat is a modern craft also known as a steel canal cruiser. I will not enter this debate but in this book I will stick to narrow boat.

Traditionally a narrow boat was about 71ft 6in long by 7ft beam (21.8m by 2.1m) and was designed to fit into the locks of the Midland canal system, which developed as part of the early Industrial Revolution. They were designed for the carriage of cargo and could take up to 30 tons of goods drawn along by either one horse or two donkeys or mules. While the hull was mostly designed to carry cargo, there were a number of long-distance craft that had a cabin for the crew at the stern.

In the early days, the main motive power on the canal system was horses, and thus the system is covered with buildings that started life as stables, like this one on the Shropshire Union Canal.

To cater for the horses and donkeys, there were a number of stables along the system, which have now either disappeared or been converted into other uses.

A pair of GU boats in GUCC livery breasted up showing the mop sticks (mops) resting on the Buckby cans (water containers) on the roof of the back cabin. Note the three brass rings and the horse brasses on the chimneys. The butty boat has the back doors traditionally painted but the motor boat doors are plain. The photo also shows the fenders, which are positioned to prevent the rudder being caught in the mitre of the lock gates. The butty tiller has been removed to allow easy access to the back cabin. It was normal to turn the tiller round to have it pointing upwards.

A pair of FMC (Fellows, Morton and Clayton) boats attending the Rickmansworth Waterways Festival. The top planks are down rather than running along the top of the masts, which could then act as a support. Note the forward cabin on the butty.

In the days of horse boats, the cabin was situated at the stern of the boat just forward of the steering position. When engines started being installed, the engine room was fitted forward of the back cabin. This resulted in a very long propeller (or prop) shaft but allowed the steerer access to the cramped living cabin at the back of the boat. As many horse boats were converted to motor boats, it was easier to instal the engine in the cargo hold forward of the back cabin, and this tradition was carried forward to new builds (boats built as motor narrow boats rather than being converted), so, despite the inconvenience of a long prop shaft running under the living area, the layout was not altered until modern leisure craft were introduced. The rear profile of the boat needed to be altered for water to flow through the propeller. The cruiser stern allowed the engine to be installed under the back decks, which enabled the rest of the hull to be used for accommodation.

The first self-propelled craft were fitted with steam engines, but the loss of cargo space to the engine itself, the boiler and the stock of coal resulted in a continued hunt for some method of propulsion which took up less space. A Swedish firm (Bolinder) produced a single-cylinder ‘heavy oil’ engine that met the requirement and a number of 9hp and 13hp units were fitted to craft, resulting in the motor boat of today. Other companies also built single-cylinder heavy oil engines. Later, 18hp engines were used and then twin-cylinder units were introduced.

At first, narrow boats were owned or operated by the ‘No 1s’ – these boats were single craft and operated by the owner (or lessor), in later years often with the help of his family, who lived in the back cabins of the motor and butty boats. Later, the boats were owned by major canal carrying companies such as the Grand Union Canal Carrying Company (who owned 340 boats), the Shropshire Union R & C Co. and Fellows, Morton and Clayton. There were also numerous small fleets, such as Cadbury and Ovaltine, and at least two railway companies (London Midland and Scottish and Great Western) owned a number of craft.

The canal companies would charge tolls on craft that used their waterways and this was achieved by ‘gauging’ the boat, usually in a lock. A register was kept of boats with records of the gauging depth of the craft – that is, how deep in the water the craft would be for each ton of cargo.

A motor boat had enough power to tow another fully loaded boat so horse boats were paired up with motor boats to provide a total carrying capacity of 55 tons – 25 on the motor and 30 on the horse boat. Later specific ‘butty’ (friend or mate) boats were constructed to work in tandem with the motor boats.

While a number of ex-working boats were built earlier and some later, the bulk of the traditional craft now on the canal system were built in the 1930s for FMC (Fellows, Morton and Clayton) and the GUCCC (Grand Union Canal Carrying Company) to supplement the earlier craft owned and operating in both fleets. Many are still in working condition and some are still in commercial carrying use. Others have been converted by adding a superstructure and are used for both private pleasure and residential use. Having said that, there are still a good number of boats on the system today built in the 1800s.

The cratch board or deck board of a narrow boat is shaped to follow the contour of the side cloths (tarpaulins). It helped to prevent water from entering the hold when working up a lock, and also provided a useful support for the tunnel lamp, although this was often set on a separate stand in front of the cratch board.

In the 1960s, the traffic on our canal network was declining and large numbers of the working boat fleet were laid up out of use, although the last series of boats, the Admiral class, were built for the British Waterways Board in the 60s. Many were sunk, having had engines removed, in basins or ‘flashes’ to extend their life in case they were required again. A few enthusiasts tried to continue carrying, and one or two traffic runs, such as the lime juice from Brentford to Boxmoor (Willow Wren and Three Fellows Carrying and later T & D Murrell), did manage to carry on but, in the main, companies who had used the canals for the conveyance of goods turned to road vehicles instead. Our railway system suffered the same fate, as loading a lorry to take goods from door to door seemed at the time to be much more efficient, and in some ways it was.

Many believe that it was the railways that caused the death of canal-borne transport and, indeed, an effect was felt, but what the railways really did was change the way the canals were used. As an example, in Birmingham the short-haul traffic from the rail/canal interchange to the factories on the canal network in and around Birmingham increased. It was long-haul traffic that suffered.

It is true that some waterways did suffer from competition from the railways but others benefitted, such as in the Birmingham area, although even here some routes were lost.

A large number of ex-working boats have been cut down from 71ft 6in (21.8m), many to 60ft (18.3m) or 57ft 6in (17.5m) to enable them to navigate the northern canals (see below). Many were cut down and turned into tugs or ice breakers. There are even examples of craft having been shortened and then lengthened again!

A number of craft were cut in half, with a new bow being fitted to the stern half and a new counter being added to the bow, producing two 40–45ft (12.2–13.7m) boats. In some cases both halves claimed to be the original boat!

Early boats were built of wood – normally with oak sides and elm bottoms. Iron sides with elm bottoms and iron hulls were tried but steel hulls became the norm from the 1930s onwards, although some builders still constructed narrow boats from wood – Walker Brothers of Rickmansworth, for example, built both motor and butty boats for a number of companies, including the Grand Union Canal Carrying Company.

The design of the boats changed little, with the small living cabin at the stern then forward of the engine room on motor boats, which required a very long prop shaft running under the back cabin. The rest of the boat was given over to cargo. There were two stands and a mast in the hold to support the top plank, which ran from a block on the cabin roof at the back to the cratch board at the bow. The cratch (or deck) board was a triangular board at the bow that served to support the top plank and to prevent water entering the hold in such situations as a lock overflowing onto the bow.

Boat decoration will be dealt with in Chapter 7. Suffice to say here, the traditional style of narrow boat decoration still lives on today, with a high percentage of craft adhering to it.

While there are still many narrow boats constructed in the 1800s on the system today, the bulk of ex- working boats were built in the early 1900s, when canal carrying companies both replaced older craft and expanded the fleets of boats they owned. The best example is the Grand Union Canal Carrying Company, who in the early 1930s had three boatyards build the Star class and then the larger Town class fleets to augment the existing Royalty class, which came from Associated Canal Carriers when the GUCCC was formed.

CHAPTER 2

TYPES OF CRAFT

NARROW BOAT OWNERSHIP

Owning a narrow boat is a commitment, as it needs constant maintenance and care. Given this, it will live forever (there are still craft on the water today, in good condition, built in the early 1800s) and should retain its value. If the maintenance schedule is not carried out then the craft will deteriorate, lose value and could, in the worst-case scenario, sink.

It is essential to keep up regular maintenance, as will be discussed later.

SIMILAR CRAFT

The inland waterways are, of course, home to other types of craft than narrow boats. The rivers have all sorts of craft on them, some sea-going and some designed specifically for use on inland waters. The canals have a more restricted list of craft types although the odd unusual vessel can still be found.

Cruisers

Cruisers appeared on the canals as trading craft became less common, either rotting away or becoming the home of the crew who used to work them. They were used by those wishing to take short trips along what was left (at the time) of our canal system.

There are many different types of GRP (glas...