The story of the Wooden Canal Boat Society (W.C.B.S.) really started in Chester in 1974. A student at Chester College was living on a pair of floating chicken hutches on the canal to save the cost of renting a flat. An itinerant secondhand boat dealer offered him a full length wooden narrow boat at a bargain price of one hundred pounds. The student declared that he would do it up and set to work during the college holidays .Chris Leah describes buying Lilith
The boat was a Birmingham "joey" boat from Coombeswood tube works near Halesowen. It was No 9 in Stewarts and Lloyds fleet and appears to have been originally built in 1901. It took the name "Lilith" and was soon having its rotten old planks removed and new ones fitted. With guidance and practical help from Arthur Howard and David Jones of the nearby Taylors boatyard the student learned how to cut new planks accurately and steam them to shape. Soon, interest in becoming a teacher waned and, with the opening of Ellesmere Port Boat Museum in 1976, "Lilith", chicken hutches and ex student moved in to act as volunteer caretaker/ security guard.
One phenomenon of wooden boat ownership is that once you have one, people start offering more. The second boat came from David Jones in 1977. He had recovered it from the Macclesfield Canal because he wanted the engine but had no use for the hull. Then known as "Sarah", research showed the boat to have originally been called "Forget me Not". She had been built as a horse drawn boat for Number One ( owner boatman) Henry Grantham in 1927. She was used to deliver coal from Coventry to industrial premises on the Grand Union Canal. Later motorised , she changed her name in 1941 and had a further career as a houseboat and pleasure boat from 1959 onwards.
Over the next few years work continued on "Lilith" as part of a project to set up a canal carrying co-operative based in Runcorn. The time was not propitious for developing narrow boat carrying but a barge operation on the Mersey, Weaver and Ship Canal was developed. "Lilith" was launched, having had all but one of her planks replaced, in 1983. By this time "Sarah" was stored underwater because of her reluctance to stay afloat.
By 1985 it was clear that something had to be done with the wooden boats. The barge operation had gone its own way and the boatyard owner was becoming intolerant of sunken craft. "Sarah" was hauled out on to the bank to be patched up so that she would float reliably. "Lilith" was given a set of cloths ( tarpaulin covers for the hold ) so that she could be used to store materials .
In 1986 "Sarah" was towed to Ashton Canal Carriers in Audenshaw. In May 1987 the Wooden Canal Craft Trust (W.C.C.T.) was formed. Initially this was a small group of friends who wanted to build a future for "Lilith" and "Sarah". They used a constitution designed by a friendly solicitor, which later turned out to be flawed.
The first task was to find something for "Lilith" to do rather than just costing mooring charges. She was put to work as a busking boat on behalf of the charity Green Deserts. Anyone prepared to do something entertaining on the towpath was welcome to go along and travel on the boat, any money raised going to their work, planting trees to hold back the African deserts.
On December 16th 1987 "Sarah" was hauled on to the bank for her restoration to begin. It was decided that she should revert to her original name of "Forget me Not". Using skills learned from the boatbuilders of Chester, the long, painstaking job began of carefully dismantling the boat, taking patterns from the rotten old wood, then cutting and steaming new timber and re-assembling the boat .
Inevitably, more boats started to be offered to the new organisation. The first was "Hazel" in 1988. Her owners, Claire and Pete Stone, had lived aboard in London for 10 years but moved on to the bank because of a growing family. They could have sold the boat for quite a lot of money but preferred to give her to the Trust to ensure her future.
"Hazel" turned out to be a very important boat being the last surviving full length example of a Runcorn Wooden Header. These deep 6 plank narrow boats were built by Simpson Davies of Runcorn to trade on the Bridgewater Canal and connecting waterways. "Hazel" was originally called "Mull" and was built in 1914 for Salt Union, taking her present name when purchased by Number One Agnes Beech in 1929. Motorised and fitted with a full length conversion in 1951 she had served a series of owners as a comfortable floating home. After some wandering around the canals a mooring was found for her at the Boat & Butty boatyard in Runcorn.
A crisis hit the Trust towards the end of 1989 with the publication of the British Waterways Bill. This Private Bill threatened to introduce new regulations that would make the work of the Wooden Canal Craft Trust virtually impossible and force most owners of historic wooden craft to destroy them. The Wooden Canal Craft Trust petitioned against it. The Trust's case against the Bill was put at the Lords Committee stage and several witnesses called. This, and negotiations over the next two years, resulted in substantial changes in the legislation together with the beginnings of a recognition of the importance of the floating heritage by British Waterways. It is a good thing in a sense that flaws in the constitution had prevented the Trust from registering as a charity as charitable restrictions on political activity may have limited the effectiveness of the Trust's opposition to the B.W. Bill.
Work on "Forget me Not" was delayed by all this campaigning. However, having been forced to drop it's previous low profile, interest in the Trust's work began to grow. It was handicapped by its constitution which made accepting new members very difficult. New volunteers had to become "friends" with no formal status and no voting rights. It was clear that a major change was necessary, but no volunteer would come forward to take charge of organising it.
The next boat acquisition came in 1992. "Southam" is one of 62 wooden
butties (unpowered narrow boats normally towed behind a motor boat) built for
the Grand Union Canal Carrying Company in the late 1930s by Walker bros of Rickmansworth.
This one was launched in 1936 and, after finishing carrying work in 1962, she
was motorised and fitted with a full length cabin.
Southam and Elton
British Waterways had confiscated "Southam" after she had been left sunk and abandoned near Rugby. She was for sale by tender. The Trust was eager to aquire an extra boat at the time as two new volunteers in Runcorn, Dawn Goodfellow and Mike Bazley, were eager to have their own project to work on. The tender was accepted and the boat raised from the bottom of the Oxford Canal and cleaned out before an epic Autumn trip to Runcorn to Join "Hazel" . Dawn, Mike and friends then carried out extensive work to rehabilitate "Southam"s hull and cabin. Southam's rescue
"Lilith" was still doing her busking boat project. The W.C.C.T. had lost confidence in Green Deserts and moved it's support to Plant A Tree In Africa, a small charity with more precise objectives which were self evident in the name. During 1992 and 1993 the boat aimed to raise funds for the Trust's own work. The project had never really worked as intended however and from the Autumn of 1993 it was discontinued, "Lilith" joining the other boats at Runcorn.
"Lilith"s appearance at the 1992 Braunston Boat Show prompted a request that the W.C.C.T. should adopt "Raymond", the last wooden working narrow boat to be constructed, built in 1958. The Trustees were reluctant to accept this craft because it was in extremely poor condition and would need work beyond the available resources of the group in the next few years. On the other hand it seemed unlikely that anyone else would save her. A verbal promise to raise the necessary money by a prominent canal businesman persuaded the W.C.C.T. to take the boat on and she was towed to Runcorn in June 1993.
Unfortunately only a tiny fraction of the promised money ever materialised and a difficult period ensued as people began to wonder why she was not being restored. The volunteers struggling to keep her afloat and complete were the victims of some rather unfair treatment from the towpath rumour factory.
A new organisation, Friends of “Raymond” was set up to take charge of this boat and, after some difficult negotiations, agreement was reached to hand over “Raymond”. At the time (1996) the social problems of the surrounding area were impinging on the Runcorn boatyard and the W.C.C.T. had decided to start moving boats away. Preparations were made to tow “Raymond” to Braunston with “Forget me Not but she suddenly and rather mysteriously sank whilst unattended at night. Friends of Raymond collected the boat several months later and towed her to the Black Country Museum where she was broken up. A new “Raymond” was then built at Tardebigge.
The Wooden canal boat society. wishes this project well.
In 1994 the collection grew some more with the rescue of "Queen".
Built in 1917 this is now the oldest surviving wooden motor narrow boat. Sunk
and abandoned in deep water in Buckinghamshire she was in danger of being destroyed
as a hazard to navigation. British Waterways were enlightened enough to offer
the W.C.C.T. the chance to rescue her however. A major operation in re-floating
the boat was followed by a 200 mile hitch hike to Runcorn.
"Queen" the oldest surviving wooden motor
narrow boat.
July 1994 saw the launch of "Forget me Not" at long last. Arrangements were then made for her to be moored at Portland Basin Museum , which is housed in the former main canal warehouse for the town. Because of the problems of vandalism in the area a boatsitting scheme was set up whereby volunteers would stay on board the boat each night to keep it, and the surrounding area, safe.
"Elton", a sister to "Southam", was rescued from Southall
in 1995. Again, this boat was donated by British Waterways as an alternative
to destruction. Originally it was intended that she should be sold on, but no
suitable buyer was found.
Slipping Elton
By the Spring of 1995 "Forget me Not" had an engine fitted thanks to the efforts of Nigel Fox and Dave Quirk who were at the time both working near Brighton. She was able to visit the Braunston Boat Show in May and tow "Elton" to Runcorn. "Elton" had been handed over by the motor boat "Ben" after a trip up the Grand Union.
The Wooden Canal Craft Trust now owned six boats but had no home of its own. An approach to Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council (T.M.B.C.) had been responded to very positively however and it became clear that the organisation's best hope for the future would be to look for a base within Tameside. "Lilith" was moved to Portland Basin in 1995 and in August 1996 "Forget me Not" and "Lilith" started a recycling project. This involves taking the pair for a trip to Fairfield Junction every month, normally on the first Sunday. Volunteers then make a collection of re-usable and recyclable materials from nearby houses. These materials are then sold on a market stall or to recycling plants as appropriate. Since 1996 the area of collection and the range of materials collected have been gradually expanding.
Gill Wright began work on developing a new constitution at this time. As a result the Wooden Canal Boat Society Ltd was registered as a non profit making Co-operative Company limited by Guarantee on December 23rd 1996. The Wooden Canal Craft Trust was wound up as from March 31st 1997 and it's assets handed over to the Wooden Canal Boat Society. Unfortunately, as a result of bad advice from a professional once again, it took until May 1998 to achieve charitable registration.
With the policy of concentrating on developing the project in Tameside "Elton" was towed to Portland Basin in October 1996 shortly after the museum had closed for re-construction. Negotiations with the builders resulted in the boats being able to stay on site for the duration of the work and a small yard area being made available for maintenance work. The builders, Roland Bardsley, benefitted from the extra security of our boat sitting arrangements, which continue to the present day.
What had started as a vague idea that a home was needed for the boats had grown into a project to set up a Heritage Boatyard. This is intended to have something of the atmosphere of a small boatyard from the first half of the 20th Century but with facilities for the public to view work in progress and to learn something of the craft of wooden boatbuilding as practised on the narrow canals. The hunt for a suitable site was hampered by a chronic shortage of capital, but helped enormously by the support of T.M.B.C. Economic Development Unit.
The W.C.B.S. occupied the Heritage boatyard site provided by Tameside Council in 1999. This is a former railway viaduct at Knowl St in Stalybridge and needs considerable work before it can be put to use. A Greening Greater Manchester Landfill Tax grant of £29,400 has been used to construct a high quality boundary wall and retaining wall. More funding now has to be found to excavate the site to canal level so that boats may be side slipped in the traditional way.
When the boatyard is ready, work will start on the next boat restoration project. This will be the re-construction of "Hazel". Her full length conversion will be retained but the boat will be returned to her unpowered state so that her original back cabin can be re-fitted. Disabled access will be arranged to the main cabin so that no-one need be excluded and the boat will be used to establish a project to provide canal holidays for people recovering from depression and other stress related illness. A sponsorship scheme, aimed at attracting support mainly from individuals, small businesses and organisations, has been established to fund this project and the long term maintenance of "Hazel".
In 2001, her centenary year, “Lilith” carried the first load for 80 years, horse drawn, over the summit of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal.
In 2002 “Forget me Not” made a trip all the way to Huddersfield carrying
scrap iron Eastbound and returning with beer from Marsden. Forget
me Not's beer trip
Also in 2002 considerable conservation work was carried out on “Queen”
with the help of a grant from The Waterways Trust.
A programme of docking each craft in turn for maintenance work is carried out so that the process of deterioration is being gradually reversed. With the Heritage Boatyard still under construction the slipway of the Ashton Packet Boat Company at Guide Bridge is usually used. During 2004 “Lilith” had 4 new oak planks fitted, replacing 5 pine ones dating from 1975.
The craft are currently kept at the newly revamped Portland Basin Museum in Ashton under Lyne ( run by T.M.B.C.). The craft can be viewed by the public on 6 days a week ( closed Mondays). The W.C.B.S. has been steadily been building up it's volunteer force and its skill base. Along with its predecessor, the W.C.C.T., the Society has survived difficult times and has rescued 6 important historic craft. It is now poised to move forward to a new phase of work to educate the public about these boats and use them on projects to benefit the community. Why not get involved ?