Photo

Photo

11655

towed in 1942-1943 by MONARCH. Sold to Gordon Waddington pre 1954. Possibly owned by COWBURN and COWPER as MINNIE. Registered at Coventry No 550. 

In 1955, she was sold to Willow Wren and her name changed to TEAL. She was then paired with QUAIL in May 1956 and carried coal from Cannock Colliery to Nestles Chocolate factory at Hayes, Middlesex.

She was used by the Australian Government Canned Fruit Board in 1960 and, as a publicity exercise, took a consignment of canned fruit from Paddington to Castlefields Wharf, stopping off at various points en route to deliver the cargo.

Ansells Brewery of Birmingham owned her from 1964 until 1983. They re-named her SQUIRREL and set her up as a floating pub. She was then bought by Chiltern Chuggers and her name reverted to the original GRIMSBY. Her current owner acquired her in 2004 and she was paired with JUBILEE.

  Sold to the Longboat Pub at Cambrian View B'ham (there in 1988). Recently known as SQUIRREL and at Marsworth.

Northwich was registered at Birmingham (no. 1021, on 24 February 1899) as having 2 cabins that could accommodate 4 people. According to the registration this could accommodate: In the after cabin (8 ft 7 ins x 6 ft 2 ins height only 5 ft 2 ins): 3 men or three women or a man and his wife and two children, the children if male to be under fourteen and if female under 12 years of age; and In the fore cabin (4 ft 6 ins x 5 ft 11 ins height even less at 4 ft 4 ins) One man or One woman or Two children, the children if male to be under fourteen and if female under twelve years of age. After more than 50 years of service with Fellows, Morton and Clayton, Northwich was sold to the newly formed British Transport Commission in 1949 (Docks and Inland Waterways Executive), which later became the British Waterways Board, and was again registered at Birmingham but this time with only one cabin for 4 persons the fore cabin had been removed and the back cabin enlarged to 6 ft x 10 ft. Northwich worked from Preston Brook on the Trent and Mersey Canal, often carrying aluminium for Rover cars at Wolverhampton or chocolate crumb to and from Cadburys factory at Bourneville. Sometimes the sacks of crumb would split and so it was possible for the boatman in his family to have a bit of a chocolate treat! Withdrawn from service in 1963 as one of the oldest vessels afloat on Britains canal system and the most historic example of her type, Northwich was selected for preservation and display at Stoke Bruerne. The original restoration was carried out by British Waterways themselves and consisted of rebottoming with elm boards, construction of two cabin shells (to provide a visually correct appearance) and replacement of gunwales and cloths to suit. In this first restoration, authenticity took second place to economy. When the Museum opened in 1963 Northwich was displayed afloat, restored to her original Fellows Morton and Clayton colour scheme (before the change to red, green and yellow, which occurred in the 1920s). Shortly afterwards, she was floated into the resited boat weighing machine at Stoke Bruerne to demonstrate a vessel being weighed in the drained lock. In 1973 she had a refit which included completely replacing her bottom, again with elm board. In 1980 she was restored to a floating exhibit at Stoke Bruerne with a traditional boatmans cabin fully fitted out and a more unusual fore cabin also on view. This time she was rebottomed with steel plate with the object of reducing maintenance. Thereafter she toured the canal system as a roving exhibit, spending time on loan to the Boat Museum, Ellesmere Port, and the Black Country Museum. During early and mid 1980s, she was often paired with the restored steam narrow boat President (built 1909). In 1988 she became a permanent floating exhibit at Gloucester in time for the opening of the Museum. In 1989 the bottle stove was replaced with a newly cast copy from specially commissioned pattern allowing the stove to be used and replaced as required. In 1994 the National Waterways Museum took the opportunity of a major docking to improve the historic correctness of Northwich. This time the restoration included a highly authentic main cabin interior based on sound knowledge of the correct construction materials, techniques and fittings of the 1920s. The top cloth tarpaulins were replaced with cloths in a natural fibre as they would have been originally. BCN registered '00.  Northwich FMC photos

GRANGE

 KINGSBURY