I've just printed another little batch of Chertsey information sheets. These started out as my A3 display 'boards' but I thought it would be nice to have something people could take away. It's also useful for quickly giving people information or contact details - or when asking for photos. And as it's been a while since I've posted any information about Chertsey and her history, I thought it wouldn't go amiss. The original has a photo, but you can just substitute the one from the blog masthead.
CHERTSEY
(GUCCCo.
130)
HISTORY
Chertsey was built for the Grand Union Canal
Carrying Company (GUCCCo) by Harland and Wolff at their North Woolwich
shipyard, and delivered in January 1937 with the fleet number 130. This was
part of the last big expansion of the Grand Union fleet, eighty-six pairs of
boats, built between 1936-8, at Woolwich (motors and butties), Northwich
(motors) and Rickmansworth (butties), with a deeper (4'9”) hold than their
predecessors, and Chertsey is therefore a Large Woolwich motor boat. All
the large motor boats were built of riveted steel (although Woolwiches
originally had wooden cabins) and all 86 are still extant in some form. It is
likely that the names for these boats were more or less randomly selected from
a railway gazetteer, and they are sometimes referred to today as 'Town Class'
boats.
Chertsey would have carried a variety of loads
for GUCCCo, between London and Birmingham, the East Midlands, and also to
Northampton and beyond onto the River Nene. These would include coal from the Midlands to
London, and imported raw materials such as timber, metals and grain which could
be loaded directly from ships in the Regents Canal Dock (now Limehouse Basin). When
waterways transport was nationalised in 1948 Chertsey passed into the
British Waterways South Eastern Fleet, and continued carrying into the early
1960s.
Chertsey was sold into private ownership in
1962, and for a while was registered as a houseboat, although there is no
evidence that she was ever converted. During this period, she attended a number
of rallies, and apparently had an organ in the hold, which was played at
gatherings. We would particularly like to fill in details of what Chertsey was
doing 1962-69.
In 1969, Chertsey
was purchased by Richard Barnett, who owned the boat until his death in 2009.
Under his ownership, Chertsey undertook some short term carrying
contracts, including being one of the last boats to bring coal (from Gopsall on
the Ashby Canal) to John Dickinson's paper mill at Croxley on the Grand Union,
in August 1970. From the 1980s however, Chertsey was more or less
abandoned at Valencia Wharf, Oldbury, although Richard Barnett was never
willing to sell her.
Chertsey's engine is an air cooled Petter PD2 as
fitted by British Waterways in 1960 to replace the original raw water cooled
National DM2. One battery charged through a dynamo (rather than a modern
alternator) powers the electric start, and lighting in the back cabin. The
cabin was rebuilt in the late 1970s in solid oak (reclaimed library shelves) on
the original frames, and later skinned in steel by Les Allen. The engine room
is original as far as we know, and its roof shows the scars of previous
exhausts and the G.U. toilet vent.
CURRENT OWNERSHIP
Since purchasing Chertsey in 2009, the following works have been
undertaken to restore and improve the boat:
· Steelwork
repairs to the hull (particularly the knees, chine angle and counter) and
overplating to the back end/engine room baseplate by Keith Ball
· New
oak gunnels, front cants, handrails, other woodwork, top planks and cloths by
Pete Boyce.
·
Paintwork
by Martin O’Callaghan and signwriting by Dave Moore
Chertsey's unusual livery represents the brief
transitional period between British Waterways taking ownership of the Grand
Union fleet, and the development of their own distinctive yellow and blue
colour scheme a year or so later.
Chertsey
has now retired as a working boat,
and is used purely for pleasure. The hold is not converted with any permanent
structure, but camping arrangements under the cloths provide plenty of flexible
space for summer boating, which has evolved over time. Most recently we have
built a platform in the cratch to provide additional sleeping/storage space and
easy access to the fore end, and begun ballasting with concrete blocks rather
than coal.
PHOTOS
I have a number of photographs of Chertsey at various stages of her
history which can’t be publicly displayed for copyright or other reasons –
please ask if you would like to see the album. And if you have taken any nice
or interesting photos of Chertsey – either recently or in the past – it
would be greatly appreciated if you could share them by emailing to
[my email address]
– please also get in touch if you would like to know more about Chertsey
in particular or historic narrow boats more generally.
You can also follow my blog at www.chertsey130.blogspot.co.uk