On the Grand Union last March we went past former British Transport Waterways butty Dee, tied up between Nether Heyford and Blisworth. According to the A.M.Models site Dee was built of steel in 1957 at the Thames Launch Works Ltd. in Teddington.
Despite the aged condition of the paintwork the Samuel Barlow signwriting is presumably not original: was this boat ever in Samuel Barlow's fleet?
Something which does look original is visible at the bow: a piece of the original fibreglass cover. There would have been several of these over the hold, slideable over each other for loading and unloading. The boats became known as "blue-tops" from their colour.
I was looking back through the blog to see if I could find a photo of another "river class" blue-top boat, Kew, which I have had the privilege of steering a few times. Then I realised that the picture I was looking for, from when I accompanied Kew from Wellingborough to Gayton Junction, was before I started this blogging lark. So here's the (very) blue top of David and Mary Litchfield's boat Kew at the IWA Festival at St. Ives in 2007.
1 comment:
It's a totally different shape from the normal NB isn't it? Much more barge like!
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