It Will Be Quiet

for the next month.

After all the excitement of, seeing Derwent6 leaving the 'yard' and Oakfield arriving, last week.

My birthday yesterday, no I will not disclose which one but I can get a bus pass at the next.

Our next visit to Fernwood will be in the middle of January, they are having a break and boy do they need one.

So may we wish you all a merry Christmas and a happy, prosperous new year.

See you in the new year.

What a great day

It all started at 05:00 Hrs (yes the one in the morning).

We had been asked to get to Fernwood for 09:00 Hrs.

After much scraping of car windows we left the house at 06:00 Hrs for the 2½Hr journey that took nearly three. The first hour or so was OK but then the children and their cars needed to go to school and the workers were also on the move.

We arrived and the staff were already working, Del and Al of Derwent6 arrived just after us, followed by a large crane.

Lots of meeting and greeting ensued, we all retired to the office for coffee to await the arrival of the lorry to take Derwent6 to Debdale Wharf for its launch.

Our shell was on its way from Jonathan Wilson and Tim Tyler in Sheffield.

To get Derwent6 out another boat had to be moved, this was duly done, the skill of all those involved was marvellous to watch, the co-ordination of man, crane and lorry.

Derwent6 was on its lorry and ours entered the gates, Oakfield was removed from the lorry and placed into the space vacated by Derwent6 and the one moved to facilitate the departure of Derwent6 replaced in its original spot.

We had lost track of time but Derwent6 left with Del and Al close behind in their hired van with all their possessions aboard.

Julia and Ken (Fernwood) followed on to do the final checks and the hand over, we have since heard that it does float.

We returned to the workshop, where Stuart was already checking the hull for dimensions and all the holes were in the right place.

We now start the process of the fitting out, Oh the joys that will bring.

Derwent6 sees the cold light of day

Up and over

Can you see what I can

Oakfield has arrived

Nearly there

One last push

Safe and sound

We have lift off

Well when I say lift off, I mean boat lifting off lorry, just had a SMS from our builder, the shell arrives next Wednesday 3rd December.

Birthday present will arrive early. Hooray.

Oh! Well

You may remember that on the 24th October, I posted that the shell was to be delivered to our boat builder, the week commencing 10th November and that we were not holding our breath.

Just as well we did not, as we would be very short of breath by now.

You guessed it there is another delay and again it is not our builders fault, it is their suppliers. When items are ordered in good faith, with plenty of time for delivery, it must be very frustrating for them not to arrive.

Our builders now have a boat, finished except for the last few items but cannot hand it over to the new owners obviously.

That boat is now occupying the space that is for our boat, I have not verified this but suspect that our builder is now effectively losing money.

In this economic climate, we have recently seen a few builders fall by the wayside, we can begin to understand why now, if this is the way they are treated by their suppliers.

Am I glad not to be a boat builder, you bet I am.

Oh! Well we will just have to be patient.

"Josher and Birmingham Square"

An old school friend asked, so I thought I would post an answer, this is to the best of my knowledge correct but I am sure that those that know will post a comment

A 'Josher' is the style/shape of the bow, it was first designed and built by a Joshua Fellows.

He was part of the company, Fellows, Moreton and Clayton, one of the more well known companies trading on the canals.

A true 'Josher', which mine is not, has a subtle double curve, difficult to see in a photo.

'Birmingham square' is to do with the shape of the hull, the majority of narrowboats hulls slope inwards as they go down but a 'square' as the name implies, are more vertical, you gain a few inches in width.

Visit to shell builder.

We left home and set off to see, our shell in build, three hours later we arrived in Sheffield. No major problems with traffic on the M5, M42, A42 and the M1.

We arrived just before the team broke for lunch so we had the workshop to ourselves, lots of photo's taken.

The work is exemplary, the skills of these boat builders is amazing.

Borrowed this from their brochure:

"Turning 10 tonne of flat plate into a work of art takes, knowledge, experience, skill and sheer hard work."

Having seen them working, on a previous visit, the above is very true.

Should tell you who they are, Jonathan Wilson and Tim Tyler

They are two of the nicest people you could wish to meet.

This particular shell is based on a 'Josher' but the aficionado's will see the difference.

She is also 'Birmingham square'.

The next time we see her, will be when she arrives to be fitted out.

We would like to thank all those that have left a comment, they are appreciated.

We will be visiting the shell next week (Thursday) will post again, with perhaps a photo.

Another future date is the delivery to the 'fitters' planned for the week commencing 10th November.

Not holding our breath though.

First post

This may not be interesting to many but it has taken us three and a half years to get this far.

There are many reasons it has taken this long, no particular person is to blame, just circumstances.

This blogging lark is all new to us but we will endeavour to update and improve as time goes on.

All we can promise is that the updates will be regularly irregular.