The Butty's beginnings

The Butty's Beginnings

July 2024

Seeing people eyeing up the butty is something of an everyday event, and it's often a prelude to a jam sale, but today a couple appeared on the towpath paying particular attention to the stern.

I wandered over to say hi and much to my surprise another layer of the butty's history emerged.

The gentleman started by asking if the elum (tiller) was an original and I promptly launched into my "the back cabin including the elum were, i think, built in the 1980's" only to be told "I know, I built it". That pretty much stopped me in my tracks at which point three photos were produced showing the stern as a boat called Reliance and the unmistakable shape of the tiller there on its pintles.

Montgomery's stern with its original back cabin when it was Reliance

It turned out that the butty had a history before is was acquired by Keith Ball and this is the chronology as far as I can recall from a rather brief discussion.

A 40 foot butty was built by a Mr John Rickerby (AB Boat Builders) and named Reliance in the 1980's. This butty was towed behind his short wooden tug boat and both craft would fit into a single lock.

Two side profiles of Montgomery's stern as built

Reliance was sold to Keith Ball who cut off the bows and it then became a 50 foot (ish) houseboat with a generator under the stern deck (probably called Montgomery). Ultimately the extended bows were removed and converted to a motor boat and the back cabin was rendered redundant, becoming a tool shed for Industry Narrowboats.

As you can see from the photos, the back cabin has undergone some changes. The overall profile looks the same but the recessed side panels have gone, replaced by flat steel sides with a porthole on both sides. Maybe the original cabin was in wood which rotted? Its hard to tell and I never asked... Certainly the old roof was much flatter that the barrel profiled roof we have today.

Montgomery AKA The Jam Butty today

My guess is that the old back cabin was replaced by Keith / Industry Narrowboats, built on the base built by Alan Rickarby. 

Way back in 2018 I remember being hailed by a boater as we travelled upstream to Leicester telling me that he had built our butty so we had a quick look back and lo and behold we took a snatched photo of the Rickarby's. In this case age has treated them kindly.

The Rickarby's in 2018

So back to that elum. It looks like it is a case of triggers new broom with many parts renewed over the years. I know that Industry Narrowboats replaced at least two of the planks 10 years ago using nothing better than scaff boards! I have since replaced part of the board nearest the boat (using a planed down elm base plank from Cannis) plus I replaced the tingles last winter in Iroco, which were completely rotten. It appears that the stem post is original, as adze shaped by Alan 45 years ago, plus the metalwork which was already second hand. Then there is the removable tiller arm - this is exactly as made in the 1980's and came from a bent branch found in a sawmill.

Its funny how layers of history emerge.