25th November

You may remember our Gathering of Historic Boats in Retford held in September. Click here for a reminder. This week we received an official report from the Chair of the Historic Narrow Boat Owners' Club.

Trip to the Chesterfield
Sue Cawson

At the invitation of the Chesterfield Canal Trust, a small group of Narrow Boats from the Historic Narrow Boat Owners Club journeyed down the Trent and onto the Chesterfield Canal. For most of the boats this is quite a long journey and one that had to be planned around the Trent tides so that we could all be in Retford for the 10-11th September for the Chesterfield Canal Trust gathering. All the boats that travelled to Retford and the Chesterfield Canal are boats that travel extensively around the whole canal system and all with experienced boatmen.

One of the main reasons for the HNBOC being invited to the Chesterfield Canal was to see which boats could navigate the canal beyond Worksop. The Historic Boats involved were quite varied, Grand Union Canal Carrying Company (GUCCC) large, middle and small, Fellows, Morton & Clayton (FMC) and an FMC dayboat, some of the boats had cabins, some were unconverted. We are all aware that during working days these types of narrow boats didn’t generally work the Chesterfield Canal, but as the Chesterfield Canal was linked to the rest of the main system it wasn’t impossible. Although the ‘Cuckoo’ boats that worked the Chesterfield Canal didn’t look like narrow boats from the rest of the system, the dimensions were very similar - 70’ long and marginally under 7’ wide. Locks on narrow canals were generally built 4”-12” wider than the dimension of the craft using the canal, e.g. the plans for the Llangollen Canal locks were 7’4”, the Shropshire Union Canal 8’. This was necessary to ensure that a loaded boat could enter the locks with ease while displacing some of the water from the lock. The Chesterfield Canal was built to the midlands standard for narrow canals and was clearly used by craft of 7’ beam.

With this in mind, it is disappointing that the first few locks out of Worksop were restored so that they will only just accept a craft of 6’10”, especially as the locks above Shireoaks appear to be wider. It has been suggested that as a consequence the dimensions of this canal be reclassified as having a width of 6’ 10”. This would make them the narrowest canal locks on the whole of the navigable system! It also doesn’t take into account the fact that over time locks continue to come in, as they wear and deteriorate and water gets behind the walls. It will not be long before some of these locks will need to be reclassified to 6’ 9”, which would make them impassable to nearly all craft. We believe that reclassifying locks only hides the problem and delays a proper solution, and in the meantime deters many boaters from attempting this beautiful and underused canal.

To explore the extent of this problem, several HNBOC members decided to test the locks at Worksop. The Historic Boats that travelled to Retford were Victoria, Elizabeth, Thea, Chertsey, Aquarius, Bath, Cassiopeia, Petrel and Marquis. Of these boats all except Victoria travelled to Worksop. The results of this are outlined below.

ELIZABETH
(from Jim Macdonald)

I've owned Elizabeth since 1966. (45 years) and I first took her up to Worksop in about 1972 in company with Bill Young with the tug Helen. We got stuck in the bridgehole below the first lock below the town. Since then the bridgehole was rebuilt  deeper and on subsequent visits I have got up to Morse Lock, sticking slightly in the town lock. I've been up to Worksop, with Elizabeth, about 4 times to date. I have never managed to get through Morse lock due to the reduced beam in the chamber but on this latest visit September 2011 I couldn't even get through the town lock! Without doubt the town lock is getting narrower particularly at the position of the lower gates which one can see are moving inwards. Elizabeth is built with an iron hull with 4 riveted steel bulkheads which could not possibly move. Any suggestion that she has "spread" is nonsense. I say this a fully qualified member of the Royal Institute of Naval Architects.

The interesting thing about my boat and the defective locks is that Elizabeth was converted in a shipyard in 1936 and then within 3 years, the second world war started and the then owner (Robert Teal) took her up the Chesterfield Canal and based her at Worksop for the war years. The implication is that he must have navigated the locks which have now been rebuilt to a narrower gauge. If one wants proof of the above then reference may be made to a short article by Mr Sissons a well known boating enthusiast and editor of the Worksop Guardian. This was published under the headline "The first Houseboat reaches Worksop". Incidentally, that same newspaper published another article around about sixty years later, telling the story about how I couldn't get Elizabeth through Morse lock. There is a rather nice photograph showing her stuck in the chamber.

I hope the above helps with the campaign to get these locks reinstated to accept vessels with standard seven foot nominal beam.

MARQUIS
This is an ex-FMC steamer that has been extensively restored and shortened to 54’. It is in excellent condition and the present owner has cruised extensively around the system. Marquis managed to get through Worksop, but failed to navigate Morse Lock.

CHERTSEY
Chertsey is a ‘town class’ Grand Union motor boat (of which there are many on the system). It has recently had an extensive restoration to its original specification.
Interestingly, another ‘town class’ boat Bath is able to navigate beyond Shireoaks suggesting that the extent of the width problem is quite small (but critical!).

PETREL
Petrel is a FMC motor boat built in 1914.  The current owners bought it as a camping narrow boat 30 years ago, restored it to original condition and have boated extensively since. Petrel, along with Bath, went beyond Shireoaks as she has done many times in the past. Nevertheless, these boats did not find progress along the canal easy. In the words of the owner: “as regular users of the Chesterfield Canal we found the general condition of the waterway has not really improved over 30 years. There are still many lengths that were desperate for dredging then and even more so now! Weed encroachment into the waterway is now quite prevalent and there are many more dangerous overhanging trees.  It is also disappointing that the restored section, perhaps the most attractive part of the canal, which is generally in better condition is not accessible to a large percentage of boaters.”

AQUARIUS
Aquarius is a ‘star class’ Grand Union motor boat (also known as a ‘small Woolwich’).
The owner is an ex-BW employee and has owned the boat for over 40 years.  He is an extremely experienced boater.
Aquarius went through Morse lock but got stuck partway into Stret lock. On returning to Morse lock on the way down they stuck fast and had to be Tirfored out.

BATH
Bath is another ‘town class’ Grand Union motor boat.  It has been maintained in excellent condition for more than 20 years and has navigated most of the waterways system.

Bath got stuck in Stret lock, but when the level was raised it was able to enter the lock and then continued up beyond Shireoaks. Bath has navigated the Chesterfield Canal many times in the past and this is the first time that they have had a problem.

Bath also comments on the Shireoaks locks: “On this occasion I also had difficulty getting into Shireoaks middle lock on the way up, whereas on previous occasions I have only had difficulties on the way down”. This, together with other comments here, suggest that there is a gradual deterioration of the locks in this stretch.

Bath also shares the concerns about dredging, weed and vegetation described by Petrel.

CASSIOPEIA
Cassiopeia is a ‘star class’ Grand Union motor boat ( ‘small Woolwich’).  It was extensively restored to original condition about 15 years ago and the present owner has maintained this standard.

Cassiopeia got stuck in Morse lock.  The chains across the hold were wound in by over an inch to bring the top of the hold sides in to less than 6’11”.  It was possible to see daylight all around the boat at water level, which suggests that the boat was stuck below the water line.

THEA
Thea is a Grand Union built ‘middle Northwich’ converted from a butty.  The present owner had a major rebuild undertaken in 1993 and has cruised extensively since.  It still retains the distinctive rounded chines of a middle Northwich which means that the base plate is particularly narrow.

Thea only got about half way into Stret Lock and stuck on her front guard. Interestingly, Thea is able to go through the bottom lock at Hurleston on the Llangollen Canal (another notoriously narrow lock).