A lesson in boat restoration
WHEN classics master Jim Hutchinson and his wife Sue – a primary school headteacher – decided on impulse to swap their modern narrowboat for a historic working boat which had seen better days, they didn’t realise just how much work they were taking on.
In OWL – The Story of a Josher, Jim describes in detail a restoration project which was to occupy the couple and their eldest son Tim – a children’s book illustrator – over nearly two decades.
A chance telephone call in September 1989 was to set the wheels in motion for what was to be a long and steep learning curve for the Hutchinsons as they embarked on the transformation of a boat built for canal carrying in 1928 but in later years being used by British Waterways for maintenance duties and then as a camping boat followed by a succession of private owners.
Jim is quick to point out that it was actually a rare Seffle marine engine, which he had spotted at the Sileby Mill Boatyard near Leicester earlier that summer, that had initially sparked his interest. But after agreeing to buy it he was told it came with the Josher – one of the working boats with an exclusive bow design built for the Fellows, Morton & Clayton fleet and named after Joshua Fellows.
The deal meant selling the Hutchinsons’ 38ft Springer Asphodel bought new only a couple of years before and becoming involved with at times a motley crew of characters at various locations as Jim and his family embarked on a major restoration project with very little practical expertise to draw on.
As well as all the trials and tribulations faced along the route, illustrated by drawings and photographs taken at every stage, there are also the results of painstaking research into Owl’s history including archive photographs and documents, making this a book for the transport or social historian as well as for anyone with an interest in boat restoration.
Hav ing successfully completed the boat rescue and enjoying many years of cruising and attending rallies and events – even appearing in TV series such as Call the Midwife and Britain Afloat – the Hutchinsons reluctantly decided that after nearly 30 years of ownership, it was time to part company with Owl.
One of the contributory factors was a decline in canal maintenance and lack of dredging leading to successive groundings, the final straw coming in 2016 when they were getting stuck every 100 yards along the North Stratford Canal, the water inlet continually clogging up and the engine overheating.
OWL – The story of a Josher by Jim Hutchinson was due to be launched at the Braunston Historic Boat Rally on June 25- 26. Published by CanalBookShop of Audlem Mill (paperback 168 pages, £19.95) it can be obtained from the website at www. canalbookshop.co.uk