October 2010
I have a particular soft spot for the old wooden boats made by Taylors of Chester and word of this odd interest gets around.
I have been in contact with Giles Morris who now lives in the USA but used to help maintain both Barbara Joan and Lindy Helen. He had heard of Barbara Joan's ongoing restoraton by Colin Heart and passed on some photos of her relaunch under ner new name Irene Alice. I was going to express sadness at the passing of her original name, till I temembered that we changed Wand'ring Bark's name soon after purchase too. Those that live in glasshouses and all that.
Its great to see new life breathed into these venerable old boats and hopefully the handful that remain are now safe for another fifty years.
Colin - she looks absolutely fantastic and really looks the business! Its all a far cry from how she looked a few years ago:
4 comments:
Ahoy there captain Ahab,
We met you last year on the River thames and you took a photo of us (GAzelle) and you have added it to your blog. I was just having a look through and I also noticed you had photos of Barbara Joan, how wonderful to see her back in good shape.
I remember seeing her in a very sorry state in the north West.
Where was she launched, and please could you tell me where the photos were taken. I would love to see her for real again.
Liz Millward - Gazelle
Liz
Its great to hear from you. I was delighted to see you all on Gazelle at Boveney Lock.
I wish I knew where Barbara Joan is - and I almost know. I read something written by her restorer somewhere on the internet but I cant remember where. My guess was on the River Lea or something like that. The photos were sent from a third party in America. If I find out I will let you know. If you send me a comment with your e-mail address I will keep it safe and I promise not to publish it!
Andy
Capt.,
Another of those cruisers on Martlet's blog:
http://martletderbyshire.blogspot.com/2010/05/nice-cruiser-near-barbidge.html
I am thrilled to see these pictures of Barbara Joan after restoration. She was designed by my grandad, who designed a number of boats for Taylor's, and my mother and I have recently started to try and track down as many of the boats he designed as possible. It's proving quite a task!
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