Whilst I was away

I (Kathryn) have sadly been away in Northampton General Hospital (NGH) having a broken right hip (broken 6-November) put back together but was allowed home on 23-December.  However Sculptor has continued to be looked after and used.

We did manage to cover Sculptor's 80th birthday - to that end next year's Braunston Historic Weekend is dedicated to Grand Union boats because all those that remain are either over 80 or will attain the age of 80 by the middle of 2017 - the huge increase in boats was between 1935 and 1937.

Sculptor took part in the Friends of The Canal Museum Illuminated Boats and carols event on 12-December - it was a really lovely event (as in fact it always is).

There have been a couple of occasions when Sculptor has had to be taken down to either the A508 or, as she was recently, to the River Tove (the River Tove joins the canal just below Stoke Bruerne bottom lock) in order to have her facing north when outside The Canal Museum which is the preferred position as it means the Museum staff can see her cabin and doors easily. Also it is very easy to wind her at the winding hole just short of the tunnel if we are going south but if she is facing south and we want to go north it is quite a job to wind at the A508 or reverse her up to the winding hole.

I am sure there will be some updates to this post as I am only updating it from memory of what I have been told happened during my enforced stay in NGH.

80 today

Sculptor's banner to celebrate 80 - Photo: Lynda Payton

It was on 28-November-1935 that Sculptor was delivered, in her Blue/Blue livery, to the Grand Union Canal Carrying Company Ltd from WJ Yarwood's yard at Northwich.  There is to be a bit of a celebration today in Stoke Bruerne to mark the occasion. Happy birthday old girl and here's to another 80 years.











Sculptor's banner says:

• Don't I look good for my age?
• I was conceived on 29-December -1934 (the date she was ordered)
• I was delivered on 28-November-1935
• I am owned by the Canal & River Trust and looked after by volunteers from The Friends of The Canal Museum
• I used to carry cargo for the Grand Union Canal Carrying Co and was a Fire Boat during World War 2
• I helped maintain the Shropshire Union Canal for many years and came to Stoke Bruerne in 1986 as an example of a Small Northwich working boat

Our thanks to Sarah Brown of CRT for facilitating the production of the banner.

Click here for some images of Sculptor's 80th taken by John Bannister.

Another day's work for Sculptor

The Wildlife Reserve sign

A beautiful trip up the
winding hole and back

Friday was another day's work for Sculptor moving some of the Interpretation Project 'furniture' down to Lock 15 and to the Wildlife Reserve - there was no other possible way of getting it there.  Another wonderful autumn day with the now almost expected 'Indian Summer'. 

We had to wait a while at the A508 whilst some 'postcrete' was purchased and took advantage of the wonderful weather and gave the hold a second coat of paint in the area Mike and John and put the first coat on last week.

There's a link to all the images here.

Sculptor Delivering for the Stoke Bruerne Interpretation Project

CRT staff and IWA Northampton volunteers
working together

Sculptor waiting in the glorious autumn
sunshine at the southern portal

Sculptor was used on 8-October (and will be again on 9-October) to deliver the structures for the Stoke bruerne Interpretation Project.  We had a great day out with Sculptor on Thursday travelling to the tunnel portal and down to the river Tove and return.  It was good to see Sculptor back in her role she held for a number of years as a maintenance boat.

Northampton Festival of Water

Sculptor heading down the 200-year-old
Northampton Arm on the way to Northampton

The Northampton Festival of Water was this year's IWA event (next year's will be at Wolverhampton) and on our doorstep. It was therefore our pleasure (after gaining permission from CRT to take Sculptor to Northampton) to assist the IWA Northampton branch in taking 'stuff' from Stoke Bruerne to Northampton and back again whilst enjoying the opportunity to use Sculptor on the river.

Sculptor alongside at Northampton

Five intrepid souls set off from Stoke Bruerne on the Wednesday before the event - David Blagrove, Rob Westlake, John Bannister, Mike Gardner and John Wetherell.  It is a relatively short trip to Gayton Junction and then down the Northampton Arm (200 years old this year) and on to the river.

Rob was invited to take part in a boat handling competition (no prizes though) with William, Southern Cross and Bletchley which by all accounts he enjoyed.

The return trip was on Wednesday 2-September and by 16:30 Sculptor was happily back on her moorings in Stoke Bruerne to await Village at War after being expertly reversed from the winding hole (not an easy task) by Rob.

Reballasting and painting the hold

Sculptor bobbing like a cork on an ocean

It was decided that we needed to reballast the boat - in essence getting the two IBC containers out, cleaning out behind and underneath them and then painting the hold sides and the back end bulkhead.

On Friday we pumped the water out of the two IBCs thanks to Ryan Dimmock on Southern Cross who leant us his 12v pump; then we tipped over five of the seven barrels (only five because we think there is old diesel in the other two), and pumped out that water by way of the bilge pump.  Sculptor then bobbed around like a cork on an ocean.

The hold sides look good - a second coat
for the back end bulkhead perhaps

On Saturday we took the two IBCs out of the hold together with the shutts and cleaned up the hold sides,  We then painted them.  That took most of the day.  We think the back end bulkhead may need another coat but we are pleased with the hold sides.

Tomorrow (Sunday) the IBCs go back in on a temporary basis as CRT are arranging alternative ballast for Sculptor soon.

We were surprised how good the iron work was and we noted that the knees were fabricated by Harts Hill Iron Works.  There's more information on Harts Hill Iron Works here from the Black Country Bugle.

Sunday update.

The bulkhead was given a second coat early on and a decision made to give the hold sides a second coat as so much equipment had been removed to gain access and the second coat would only take an hour or so to apply.

That done dunnage was made (from the redundant picnic tables from the Museum Green - a good bit of recycling) to lift the IBCs half an inch or so for two reasons:

• To allow air to circulate underneath
• To allow the drain valves to be easily accessed

The IBCs were refitted, Sculptor moved to the water point on ropes (too risky to move her under her own power with such little ballast) and the 2 IBCs were filled as were two 200L drums which were placed under the catch.  Sculptor was then moved, under her own power, back to her usual mooring.

Volunteer hours 34 (total 962 to date)

Braunston Historic Weekend

The Barge Arm at Braunston just
before the wonderful chaos starts

Another great weekend put on by Braunston Marina.  We took Sculptor up to Braunston on Friday 26-June leaving Stoke Bruerne at 07:00 - just as well we did as there was a wide beam waiting to come south as we left the tunnel at about 07:35 - they said had we been 20 mins later in leaving Stoke Bruerne we would have been asked to wait until the wide beam was through which would have delayed us until 08:30.

We arrived at Braunston at about 16:15 and were asked to moor outside Roger.  The first Roger we saw was about 30' long so we looked for another Roger which we found but it was inside four other boats. We were then directed to moor in the barge arm which was slightly odd as it was an FMC year but we were happy to spend our time there.

Sculptor and FMC Owl breasted up
entering Buckby top lock

Saturday was a glorious day; we participated in the morning and afternoon 'parades' meeting old and new friends.  Sunday was not quite so pleasant with blustery showers in the morning leading on to a more pleasant afternoon.  Again we took part in both the morning and afternoon parades.

It was a special year in memory of Sonia Rolt to whom a plaque was unveiled and also one in memory of the Braunston strike.

Tim Coghlan very kindly presented the Sculptor team, who were present, with a cheque for £1,000.

On the Monday Sculptor was returned to Stoke Bruerne in the company of FMC Owl, whom we breasted with up Braunston and down Buckby. A long but very enjoyable day's boating.

Volunteer hours 88 (total 928 to date)

Stern end, counter repaint

No fenders whilst the paint dries

We've repainted both the counter and the stern end recently as part of the ongoing 'opportunity' (when the weather permits) times to keep Sculptor looking good and in fine fettle for Braunston Historic gathering.

Getting ready for Braunston Historic weekend

The fore end is complete

Another view of the fore end

There's been a bit of painting going on to prepare Sculptor for the forthcoming Braunston Historic weekend.

That work has not been scheduled for a Sculptor day because of the vagaries of this particular English summer so it's been an 'opportunity' process to grab a good day when we can.

The pigeon box has been re-glossed

The stern end has been repainted

The fore end has now been finished, the pigeon box rubbed down and re-glossed and the stern end painted.

The fore end white band has been scrubbed and does look a lot better than it did although I am sure it could be better!

Sculptor is off on Friday morning (26-June) and will return to Stoke Bruerne on the afternoon of Monday 29-June all being well.

Volunteer hours 14 (total 840 to date)

Some Mason's Midnight blue ..... and an odd way to moor

The cants on the fore end are now in their appropriate Mason's Midnight Blue colour scheme but we have had to moor Sculptor with a kind of harness round the fore end in order that the paint on the 'T' stud can dry and harden off. It seems she is more than happy to be moored in that way for a short time.

Changing the oil

There had beed a small 'bodge' job
done previously on the oil filter!

Today was gearbox, engine and reduction box oil change day.

No problems with the reduction box once the drain plug was located - EP90 in there.

Draining the gearbox and engine is quite a complex task in that box uses the same oil as the engine and are filled via the same place.  The oil filter is a swine to get back on as Mike G will attest to.  It leaked a bit when first tested but that was soon resolved.  The engine seems to be leak free now but the oil levels are taking some time to stabilise so I'll check the levels in the morning and if they are where we expect them I'll run the engine to allow it to warm up and we'll see if we have any leaks. Thanks to Rob, Mike and Steve for their help.

Saturday morning update: Levels are fine and there were no obvious static leaks over night and no dynamic leaks when run for 20 mins this morning. Just waiting for the OK to say Sculptor is fully operational again.

Now that we are at a known base level (having changed the oils etc) I have a spreadsheet that we can record Sculptor's hours on so we will 'know where we are'.

Sculptor hours of use Date From Start Time To End time Hours Notes 05-Jun-15 Stoke Bruerne Stoke Bruerne 0 Engine/Gearbox/Reduction box oil changes and engine filter change 06-Jun-15 Stoke Bruerne 08:15 Stoke Bruerne 08:35 00:20 Engine run to check for leaks following oil and filter change 06-Jun-15 Stoke Bruerne 14:10 Stoke Bruerne 14:35 00:25

Volunteer hours 12 (total 826 to date)

A bit more painting ...and polishing....and blacking.... and oiling

Quite a bit of work on Sculptor this week mainly the little jobs that we all seem to overlook so in no particular order:

• Painting: Finishing of the fore end painting (almost). The main part of the repainting of the fore end has been done - with many thanks to Mike Partridge who did run a boat painting business some years ago - it's made all the difference to the fore end. Just the 'half moon' bit to be painted at the rear of each top bend now once the dark red has hardened.
• Polishing: All the brass has been polished - it will need a bit more from time-to-time but hopefully Sculptor will look on top form the Family Festival and Braunston Historic gathering.
• Blacking: No not the hull but the Epping stove in the back cabin - looks so much better now. 
• Oiling: In preparation for changing the engine and reduction box oils and the engine oil filter all the consumables have been purchased and we are ready to go on that on Friday of this week. 

Volunteer hours 10 (total 814 to date)

A bit of Bank Holiday boating and some painting

Mike Partridge undercoating the
fore end bends (Photo: KD)

Back to Mason's Deep Red
but still some tidying up
to do

On the Saturday of the Bank Holiday Sculptor was taken down to the A508 and winded. The plan was to leave her facing north outside the museum.  On the way down (at Lock 15) we met a gentleman who had been born on the butty Angel and who lives in Deanshanger.  He would like to join the Sculptor crew so hopefully we will see him again before too long.  It was decided not to moor facing north but rather to visit the winding hole by the tunnel and do a bit of gardening - many thanks to Rob Westlake who clambered around the winding hole and cut back a huge amount of undergrowth - it's not finished yet but will be soon we hope.

Sculptor was taken down to the A508 again on the Monday (no crews available for the Sunday) and a very nice quiet trip it was.

The fore end bends have been glossed in white and now undercoated (kindly by Mike Partridge) in order we can put a top coat of Mason's Deep Red to finish things off.  Many thanks to Mike.

Volunteer hours 18 (total 804 to date)

Sculptor Day

Sculptor with the top planks up

We enjoyed a Sculptor day on Saturday 16-May.

We had the pleasure of the company of Iain and John from Ellesmere Port.  Iain talked about the proposed maintenance schedule for Sculptor in the latter part of 2016 when she will go to Ellesmere Port for ongoing maintenance specifically, but not exclusively, looking at the gunwales along the full length of the boat and the keelson.  John is a 'heritage' carpenter who will oversee the work on Sculptor when she is at Ellesmere.

In the afternoon the side cloths were rolled back and the top planks raised and some cargo removed.  Thanks to all who helped.

Volunteer hours 25 (total 786 to date)

More CAATS Assessments

There was more CAATS assessments carried out on Saturday 9-May with the remaining crews who put themselves forward for assessment enjoying a day going to the top of the Northampton Arm.  Everyone who has put themselves forward has now passed the assessment.

Volunteer hours 20 (total 761 to date)

Collecting timber, CAATs assessments and some VIP Passengers

Loading the timber for the
interpretation project

Rolling back the clock a little were were asked to collect the timber for the Stoke Bruerne Interpretation Project recently.  That involved going down to wind at the A508, reversing through Lock 18 and coming alongside in Lock 19 in order that the timber (11 pieces of 9x9x60 - inches - of Oak) could be loaded easily. We were amazed that we should arrive at Lock 19 and the same time as the lorry which had come up from Devizes - the timber remains in Sculptor as the best (and probably safest) place to keep it.

The Sculptor crew with Ben Gordon
and Vicky Martin at the Northern portal

On the same afternoon we had the pleasure of the company of Vicky Martin (the new South East Waterways manager) Ben Gordon (a new trustee for CRT) and Louise from the museum on a trip through the tunnel.

Heading off for CAATs assessment

The Friday heralded CAATs assessments for four of us with Mike Dalzell from CRT.  We undertook a couple of pirouettes at the winding hole and then it was off through the tunnel to the top of the Northampton Arm and up and down Lock 1 three times followed by a return to Stoke Bruerne - a long day.  We understand we passed.

Richard Parry and Rob Westlake
bringing Sculptor through
Blisworth

2-May was the celebration of 200 years since the Northampton Arm was opened which was celebrated by an event at Gayton Sanitary station.  A good do all round put on by the IWA with a number of senior CRT people present including Richard Parry on his return from Canalway Cavalcade in London.  There had been some issue with the trains (it is a Bank Holiday weekend) and Richard was keen to delay his return home so we had the pleasure of his company from Gayton to Stoke Bruerne on Sculptor.

Volunteer hours 38 (total 741 to date)

A little bit of lubrication and a bit of fender erection

Steve D came over today with some new seal for the stern gland.  It's been dripping away for quite some which has required pumping out about once, sometimes twice, a week.  We found one of the studs had a thread-bound nut.  That was released with a couple of large scanners and the fitting removed from its housing.  Everything was cleaned up and new seal inserted.  There doesn't seem to be any water leaving past the seal - we have run Sculptor in gear just  to prove things and we'll take another look below the floors again in the morning.  We know the way she is loaded at the moment that the bottom of the hole in the rudder should be level with the water so it is any easy check to see if the seal has remained in place.

I have always been told that the rear fenders should be erect rather than floppy!  They are now more erect that they have been for some time.

Volunteer hours 5 (total 708 to date)

Doris Osborne's Funeral

We were privileged, on 2nd April, to have a very precious cargo, in the form of Doris Osborne's coffin.  We carried Doris' coffin from the southern portal of Blisworth Tunnel to the former James' family home at 3 Canalside. Doris was a daughter of Jack James, a boatman and later in life the lock keeper at Stoke Bruerne.  Jack started the museum in Stoke Bruerne.

There is a link here to images taken on the day by Steve Dean:

There is a link here to images on the Northampton Chronicle website:

There is a link here to a report of the funeral on the Northampton Chronicle website:

An appreciation of Doris' life by her sons Tony and Philip follows:

Farewell to Doris Osborne (née James)
6.5.1928 – 15.3.2015

Doris Osborne who was born on 6th May 1928 arrived in the canalside village of Stoke Bruerne on board a narrow boat and at her family’s request on Thursday 2nd April 2015 arrangements were made for her depart in the same way.

Doris was the daughter of Jack and Emma James and was born in Reading on board narrow boat ‘Emma’. She was schooled at a convent in Oxford whilst her parents worked boats over a large area. During the Second World War at the age of just 13 she helped the family run the boats Badsey and Balham as her elder brothers had been called up for war service. They often ran from Park Royal in London to Birmingham carrying a variety of loads the most notable of which was Guinness.

Jack and Emma James had come to know Sister Mary Ward in the course of their regular journeys through Stoke Bruerne and following the hard winter of 1947 they decided to purchase one of the canalside cottages owned by Sister Mary. Now the resident of No.3 Canalside Cottages, Jack decided to apply for the vacant position of Lock Keeper for the seven locks that climb up to the centre of the village. He quickly expanded his official duties and began tidying up the area and regularly won a national competition for the best kept lock. He also collected waterways artefacts and this was to become the foundation of the acclaimed museum in Stoke Bruerne.

In 1954 Doris married Reginald Osborne a jeweller and pawnbroker based in Regents Square, Northampton. They had three children, Anthony, Philip and Wendy. Doris lived a long and happy life and was involved in many voluntary roles and an active church goer, latterly at St. Peter’s in the village of Weston Favell. Doris was extremely proud of her heritage on the waterways and her family connection with Stoke Bruerne.

It was to honour and respect her past that she was carried from the southern portal of Blisworth tunnel aboard the narrow boat Sculptor the short distance to the front door of cottage No 3 above top lock. Sculptor was operated by volunteers, David Blagrove MBE, Kathryn Dodington and Rob Westlake with Doris’ sons Anthony and Philip on board. The towpath was lined by members of the family as well as boaters who were moored in the area, all paying their respects to a lady with such strong connections to the waterway network and village of Stoke Bruerne.

Volunteer hours 6 (total 703 to date)

Blogging again

It’s been a long time since I updated the blog for Sculptor. I am not going to offer any excuses.

We’ve had a few outings but nothing far afield:

• We undertook some training exercises when Sculptor was fully loaded in order that everyone could experience handling a loaded boat.  That was either through the tunnel to Gayton Junction or down to the A508
• We took part in the Stoke Bruerne ‘Carols on the cut’ event when Sculptor was illuminated.  We’ve been down to the A508.
• We’ve went through to Gayton Junction again in late January to practice in advance of CAATs assessments for operating Sculptor only to be thwarted on the Friday because of snow in Northamptonshire

The ill-fitting cloths

The cloths which were ordered for Sculptor in early October and should have been delivered in the same month finally turned up in mid-January for us to find that they didn’t fit at all so will, by 17-February, have been formally rejected. What a shame.  Sculptor has stood up well to the winter, which mercifully has been quite dry. The Friends of The Canal Museum have kindly agreed to a budget of £500 for new shutts – we don’t expect to have to use all of that money.

Bill Mann has refurbished the throttle quadrant (fitted by Bill and Richard) and the back cabin tidied up by Phil and Kathryn; all the doors and cupboards left slightly open in order they can breathe.

Engine hours since the last blog 50

Volunteer hours since the last blog 150 (total 697 to date)