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Canal Boats Vesta and Spitfire

Vesta and Spitfire refurbished

January 23rd, 2007

Stourport open Dry Dock in 1964.

Spitfire a BCN icebreaker/tug built in 1940 with Hurricane and

Gladiator.Vesta a long distance Grand Union Star Class narrow boat,

converted in 1948 into a BCN tug. Max

Vesta at Hardy and Padmores awaiting reconstruction.

1961 £200 for boat with two spare reconditioned engines which I sold for £60 each. £150 for timber , paint etc. Four years work. Max

1964 Vesta and Spitfire on Stourport Dry Dock. Restoration completed at a cost of £150. Max

Vesta and Spitfire at rest on Birmingham to Worcester Canal.

Vesta in Diglis dry dock, Worcester. 1960.

The first task in restoration was fitting new 3 inch thick by 2ft. wide elm planks to the bottom and painting the iron plates with bitumastic coating, then work could start on the cabins.
An interesting job was graining with scumble the inside of cabin to make it look like oak. Working boatmen advised us to look for ornate brass knobs in the countryside on old bedsteads put in the hedgerow by farmers to block up holes.Decorative lace plates could still be won at the fairs, throwing for coconuts.
The chain for the chimney was made from bent ex army buckles and highly polished.
Traditional castles and roses decorated the rear cabin doors and fitted furniture.
We had a stool and watercan painted by Ron Hough of Braunston to use as a pattern. Max

Vesta and Spitfire at Diglis.

Diglis Dry Dock. Vesta leaving the dock after restoration of the boatmans cabin. Max

Vestas Cabin.

The boaters family cabin on “Vesta”. Top left is the forward and reverse wheel, top right the throttle knob, the Hardy and Padmore “Guidwife” stove provided warmth and cooking. On the right is the table fall lowered for meals and food preparation and when lifted up the crumbs fell into the drawer below which could be taken out and emptied in the canal. Room for two adults and two children. Any more and they had to sleep in a small bow cabin.Brasswork off discarded bedsteads. Max

Vesta being launched sideways at Stewart and Lloyds during the war. Max

Posted in Canal Boats Vesta and Spitfire

Vesta and Spitfire on tour.

January 23rd, 2007

A boat travelling along a canal can push the water up a considerable distance ahead.
In 1962 we were moored on the ‘Shroppie’ on an absolutely flat calm night. At 4.00 am “Vesta” suddenly lifted and tugged at its moorings, waking us up. For a good ten minutes we lay listening to the strange thump of an approaching motor boat engine.
Eventually the headlamp of a heavily laden motor boat came swirling out of the fog carrying a full load of 3 ton aluminium ingots for Wolverhampton. Strapped to the stern was another laden motor boat acting as a push tug and towing on long lines two loaded butty boats.
This ghostly train, struggling on a criminally shallow canal, passed on its way trying to retain their business contract with the Star Aluminium Company.
We fell asleep grateful that we were only pleasure boaters, and now regretting we didn’t have a modern video camera to record the surreal scene. Max

Vesta at Stratford on Avon 1964.

1964 Celebrations for the opening of the Stratford Canal by volunteers. Max

August bank Holiday on the canal at Braunston 1964. The last large working boaters gathering before the canal trade died. We are passing through on ‘Vesta’. Max

Vesta pushes the Severn tide at Gloucester.

Ready for a bath.

In the 1960’s all the canals leading down from the

Birmingham summit level were heavily polluted with supposedly treated

sewage.Water released into a lock chamber would foam violently with the

washing detergents. While this could be spectacular blowing away across trhe

countryside it was highly dangerous. Any unattended child falling in would

be invisible and silent. Max

A happy memory on “Vesta”

Posted in Canal Boats Vesta and Spitfire

Vesta in dry dock.

November 17th, 2005

Vesta in Diglis dry dock, Worcester. 1960.

(more photo’s of “Vesta” in canals in worcestershire.)

The first task in restoration was fitting new 3 inch thick by 2ft. wide elm planks to the bottom and painting the iron plates with bitumastic coating, then work could start on the cabins.
An interesting job was graining with “scumble” the inside of cabin to make it look like oak. Working boatmen advised us to look for ornate brass knobs in the countryside on old bedsteads put in the hedgerow by farmers to block up holes.Decorative lace plates could still be won at the fairs, throwing for coconuts.
The chain for the chimney was made from bent ex army buckles and highly polished.
Traditional castles and roses decorated the rear cabin doors and fitted furniture.
We had a stool and watercan painted by Ron Hough of Braunston to use as a pattern. Max

Jocelyn and Max