Restored wooden narrowboat launch

The last restored wooden narrowboat built by Ian Riley at the Boat and Butty yard on the Bridgewater Canal at Runcorn was launched on the 8th of July 2001. Ian has restored wooden boats at the yard since the early eighties, but his lease has now come to an end. He was given permission to finish restoring a 72 foot 'knobstick' motor boat. As the boat was being launched the last remains of Ian's workshops were being demolished in the background. We've a Windows Media clip of the launch you can view. It's about 250k. Click to download.

The boat, like the others he has restored, were pulled twenty years ago from beneath the flashes (canalside pools caused by settlement from underground brine pumping) at Whatcroft on the Trent and Mersey where they were sunk at the end of carrying in the 1950's. This boat may be the 'Spain', she is distinctive in that she was obviously originally built as a horseboat and was converted to a motor boat early in her career. She has very fine lines and has a typical horseboat curved lower planks beneath the added counter, as can be seen in the photo below right.

The boat has had all the timbers replaced, but the iron knees of the original, and carefully recreated wooden frames, ensure that the fine lines of the original craft are carefully recreated. The photo right clearly shows the 'barrelled' bottom planks.

The boat was launched into the canal sideways. The long wooden beams in the image above were jacked up until she was lifted off the stands on which she had been restored.

Chocks were knocked out and she slipped, with a little persuasion, sideways down the greased beams into the canal to cheers from the onlookers. Click to download video clip.

Ian intends to fit out the boat in full traditional working trim, including boatman's cabin & engine room with a vintage Lister JP3.

He is not sure what happens then, he may be looking for a buyer, he certainly is looking for a location to continue his work from. He can be contacted through Canal Junction.

Paul Higson, July 2001