If you’re on budget you may well be looking for a project boat for sale, however, some people deliberately choose to take on a boat or narrowboat that needs some care and attention, because of their enthusiasm for waterways history and heritage.

Bates Boatyard in Buckinghamshire offers an all-weather dry dock on the Grand Union Canal at Bulbourne. Jem Bates also has another site on the Aylesbury Arm and is able to offer historic wooden boat restoration and bespoke new wooden boats alongside the more usual steel boat services. The site at Bulbourne was featured in the 1964 film The Bargee.

I asked Jem, what first got him interested in boat restoration.

“My grandfather converted ships lifeboats to sail near Wendover and I used to enjoy going down to the River Thames with him and cursing at other motor boat users of the river. He always used to shout “Sail over power!” and grumble that they should be giving way to him. He did a lot of work on boats as a hobby but while I was doing a course I started working in the boatyard at Banbury which had been a catalyst for canal revival, through the writings of Tom Rolt and the adventures of his narrowboat Cressy.”

So you worked in Tooley’s Boatyard?

“Yes, for about three years and Herbert Tooley used to come to the gates and talk to me about how they did do the work in the boatyard when it was operational. I think he left in the fifties, he painted the roses and everything on Cressy so he knew how things were done, he was part of the family business. He was just an interesting person to be talking to - as well as my grandfather, I came to know them in a way that I probably wouldn’t have otherwise.

It was interesting the way they managed to sort anything out that came into the yard at Banbury. There were wooden moulds for pistons so that they would re-cast a whole piston if they’d got a problem with an engine and every corner of the yard was steeped in history. If you look at the paint shop door where they made up the paint there is a Jackson Pollock version of the colours of the cut.

There was a belt driven workshop with a big steam boiler in the corner that used to set a whole cacophony of machinery going with belts flapping around and the whole building would shake because it’s all made out of bits of old boats. It was just a remarkable place.”

Jem continues to keep traditional skills alive by training young people in restoration methods at his two boatyards, and by occasionally offering talks at venues such as waterways museums.

Jem Bate's yards and services as well as projects for sale can be found at
www.batesboatyard.co.uk

We have a historic narrowboat for sale listed at the moment and many more suitable for projects or refurbishment to your taste.

Peggy
www.narrowboatwife.com

You may also like:
Living on a Boat: The Boatshed Guide / Who Works on the Waterways in 2012? / Banbury Canal Day / Lina tackles project boat to beat the recession / A slideshow of our boat of the moment. / Blog Archive

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