Thursday 11 February 2010

Unusual boat and Rolt centenary


Seen on the Trent and Mersey near Great Haywood last April. Beeston seems to have a steering position amidships as well as at the stern. The covered central position doesn't appear to be collapsible. I wonder if it has difficulty with low bridges, or are looks deceptive? Is it really not as high as it looks?


plaque on tail of one of the Frankton Locks on the Montgomery Canal (more info and photos here)

I wonder if L.T.C. Rolt, the centenary of whose birth we celebrate today, had any inkling that boats like this might have resulted from his book Narrow Boat. Tom Rolt was a founder member of the Inland Waterways Association and wrote books informed by his engineering background. I'm currently reading two of them!

2 comments:

Andy Tidy said...

Halfie
Re Beeston:
36' David Harris Ice Breaker fitted out in english oak with a Thorneycroft RJD2 and a Crowther prop.
Impressed by my knowledge? It could be yours for £35,000.
For sale from the Warwickshire Fly Boat Co in the Feb edition of WW.

Halfie said...

Thanks Captain. I had a look at the ad. It doesn't say when this replica - if that's what it is - was built. From the photos it doesn't look very practical: no bed, bathroom or cooker! And when steering with the tiller it seema as though you have to peer round the wheelhouse.