19 May 1984. Journey start Bunbury Staircase locks cc John Revell

CC John Revell Northampton River Nene 23 May 1984.

I bought my first narrow boat in 1984 after many years of hiring boats. My trip began at Bunbury on the Shropshire Union on 19 May 1984 and I reached Northampton after 5 long, hard days passing through the centre of Birmingham including Gas Street basin (which was yet to be developed). Another long day on the Nene followed, starting at the Britannia Inn just below Northampton and finishing in time for drinks in the Chequered Skipper at Ashton where a live band was playing. As John Gagg had written in one of his canal guides there were torrents of water coming over the top gates at some of the locks. None of the locks had been electrified at the time and these included Ditchford radial arm lock which involved 148 turns of a hand wheel, once to lower the heavy bottom gate and once to open.  Years later I still find it surprising that none of the endless notices on Ditchford lock state that it is the only surviving radial arm lock on the Nene.

Lilford lock on the Nene on 24 May 1984. The manual wheel fitted on the guillotine is just visible

Two days later I reached Stanground lock where to my relief I found that my 48 foot boat would just fit into Stanground lock (which at 49 foot was the shortest lock I had encountered on my travels and which was the reason I had bought a 48 foot boat in the first place). This was my first meeting with Mr Rootham (I never knew his Christian name was Alan, let alone called him that for years) and then to Ashline lock where the resident lock keeper suddenly appeared and furiously wound paddle gear of a type which I had never seen before.

Bevill’s Leam pumping station near Pondersbridge on 26 May 1984 – cc John Revell

From there we headed for Pondersbridge. Although I had read that this was a dead end it still came as a shock to find Bevill’s Leam pumping station right across the river and no lock to go beyond so we turned round and headed for Turves where we had been told there was a pub. The Three Horseshoes did not disappoint. There was again live music in the saloon and a games area in the public bar with table football and darts.The friendly locals were amazed to learn that we were on a long boating trip from somewhere near Chester to somewhere near Ely and happened to be dropping into their pub in Turves on the way.

28 May 1984 Lodes End Lock opened in 1984. Very wet day! enclosure was built later.

Plaque Lodes End Lock 1984

There was heavy rain the next day and we set off late to find the pub at Chainbridge on the 20 Foot river which no longer existed so we continued to March and the boatyard of CT and P Fox Boatbuilders where I met Charlie Fox for the first time –  I recall he sold me some stern grease in a recycled treacle tin.

We finished up that evening at Benwick. Some of the houses in the main street and many of the gravestones had clearly been badly affected by subsistence but the Five Alls pub was memorable and full. There was a live and loud organ playing in the main bar and a deafening juke box for younger people at the rear.

The following day we went to Woodwalton Fen (Great Raveley Drain) in the rain and finished that evening in the George Inn at Ramsey Forty Foot where we signed the boater’s log book kept behind the bar and warmed up by the fire. I mention in passing that Joe Bugner, former world heavyweight boxing champion, lived in the big house opposite the George around that time.

The next day was memorable for all the wrong reasons. I damaged a finger badly when I caught it under the very low Ramsey Hollow bridge soon after leaving the George. A kind motorist took me to Manea train station where I eventually caught a train to Ely and walked into Ely military hospital and received welcome and prompt treatment. Meanwhile my friends (remember this was our first visit to the Middle Level)  boated along the Forty Foot river, the Sixteen Foot river and Well Creek  through Salters Lode and met up with me suitably bandaged at what was then called the Black Horse at Littleport at 9.30 pm. Remember there were no mobile phones then and red phone boxes were infrequent. Often they were already being used or there was a queue outside or they were simply not working. You also needed plenty of loose change to use them. You could not simply ring for an ambulance or a taxi from the boat let alone remain in contact with my friends but we all somehow managed to meet up at the Black Horse at Littleport late that evening.

After a brief spell at the Fish and Duck marina I was fortunate to move my boat to Fox’s marina where I was able to explore the Middle Level further over the next couple of years. I then returned in 1996 where I have been ever since both in my first boat and the second Olive Emily which Fox’s built for me in 2002. I will write more about this later.

John Revell
8 Oct 2023

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Does your boat have a distinctive bow?

Do other boaters ask you, “What number is it?!”

Are you proud to know the history of your boat?

Then you may be the owner of a Charlie Fox narrowboat! Charlie Fox boats can be recognised by a distinctive stem post, which is the fore post of the boat that forms the apex of the bows. The V-shaped nose is something that other Charlie Fox boat owners look out for, when spotting one another on the waterways.

Some Fox boat owners share a niche interest in Charlie Fox Narrowboats. Our family boating service was established in 1952 by boat builder Charlie Fox. In 1977 we also became a hire boat fleet and by 1981 we had moved into our current purpose built marina. We now build one or two boats per year for our hire fleet. We also provide maintenance, boat stretching and other boatyard work.

After five years we sell off hire boats, which are quite sought after, and for which there is a waiting list. We also sometimes build new boats on commission; one was even built and exported to be used in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, USA, as a trip boat.

Every Charlie Fox boat is numbered, with the number welded into the water tank access plate at the front of the boat. So if you spot a Fox boat out on the waterways, you can ask the steerer what number it is.

Peter Ekins has a list of Fox boats which he has been putting together since he bought March Mole (no.26) in 1995, which was one of Charlie’s first hire boats, (c1978). Although he has now sold March Mole, he still likes to gather information from other boaters, and he looks out for Fox boats on the canals. March Mole is now owned by Tina Catling. There is a Facebook group where Fox boat owners can keep in touch and look out for each other. So where are they now?

Claire Warhurst now owns number 38, Fair Winds. She is a live aboard and the boat is based at Overwater Marina on the Shropshire Union. She’s now 51ft and Claire has had her for two years.

Johnny Ballantyne has had 49ft Ruth, number 82, for the last 12 years. She is currently based at Prestonbrook on the Bridgewater canal.

Mr Toad, No 58, was bought by a new owner, in June this year. She had been with the previous owner since 2004, lately in Wisbech and prior to that with a couple in Kempston.

The Lark Ascending, was also bought by a new owner earlier this year. She is moored at Snaygill Boatyard on the Leeds and Liverpool canal. Her number is 123 and she was built in 2018.

Bishop Farewell, No 112, from Peterborough Club was spotted cruising this week near Water Newton on The River Nene.

Flying Fox is currently for sale, and was recently spotted on the Tring Summit, Grand Union canal, near Cowroast marina. She is 62 feet, built in 2003 with a cruiser style stern. She has a fixed double and an L-shape dinette which converted also sleeps two.

A few miles north of Cowroast, March Mole, number 26 was recently seen at the bottom of the Marsworth flight. She was built in the 1970’s for the hire fleet. Fox’s re-use names; for example there have been several Fox Hunters, and more than one Swift Fox.

You can read more stories of these much-loved boats in our previous article Charlie Fox Narrowboats: Where are They Now?

If you own a boat built by Charlie Fox swap pictures and stories in the Facebook group: Charlie Fox Boat Owners Group. and let us know about your own boat by commenting on our Facebook page.

If you enjoyed this article about a piece of boating history, subscribe to our blog in the right sidebar; look for ‘Follow Blog’. (We don’t send spam or salesy type stuff – just interesting articles about boats and waterways!)

The post Charlie Fox Narrowboats: Where are They in 2021? appeared first on Fox Narrowboats.

If you and your family love canal boats and narrowboating, take the pressure off of this year’s Christmas shopping and check out these unusual stocking fillers and gift ideas for your loved ones. We’ve done the research and all of these can be bought on line, so you can just sit back and relax with a lap-top while you’re Christmas shopping this year.

For the narrowboater who has almost everything, a thoughtfully chosen book is always welcome. The Imray canal guides are popular paperback books for river users planning trips along the Rivers Nene, Ouse, Cam and the Middle Levels; they make a great gift for your partner, dad or granddad. They contain maps for planning the cruises, details of moorings to stop at, and things to see and do.

Charlie Fox: Building a Legacy is a book that tells the life story of boat-builder Charlie Fox, founder of Fox Narrowboats. This will especially appeal to canal history enthusiasts and owners of Fox narrowboats. The design and build of one of Charlie’s boats is distinctively recognisable. There is even a Charlie Fox Boat Owners group on Facebook, where boat owners share pictures of their own boats and other ones sighted around the UK waterways.

‘Maidens Trip’ was first published in 1948 and is the semi-fictionalised story of Emma Smith and her two friends’ experiences of working on the Grand Union Canal during wartime. When boatmen were called up to fight, land-dwelling women were recruited to operate the boats. It offers an insight into the forgotten culture of the boat people, and the all-but bygone occupation of cargo carrying on the canals. This book will appeal to the women in your life who love boating.

‘Ramlin Rose: The Boatwoman’s Story’ by Sheila Stewart is my favourite narrowboating book. Sheila Stewart interviewed several women who were born, lived and worked on the waterways, and compiled their anecdotes into a fictional biography of a woman called Rose. It is fascinating to read about the practicalities of day to day life, and how the women managed to cook, clean, shop, birth and bring up babies, all while working the cargo boats. This book is a fascinating read if you are a mother, as it offers an insight into the challenges boating mothers faced in those days.

Do you remember the 1990’s children’s TV series, ‘Rosie and Jim’? Script writer and presenter of the programme, John Cunliffe, turned some of the episodes into children’s story books. John steered the boat ‘Ragdoll’, Duck sat on the roof, and Rosie and Jim learned about using locks and other aspects of canal travel. These books are a great introduction to inland boating for younger children.

Discover our local Fens navigations, back-waters, towns and villages with a DVD and enjoy the beauty of our Fenland waterways from the comfort of your own home. In From Source to Sea – River Great Ouse, Matt Hayes cruises down the Great Ouse on his boat with Fens expert Ernie Hall, and learns how the fens were created. Later, Matt fishes for Skimmer Bream. It’s then downstream to the City of Ely, to see the amazing Cathedral.

If you know someone who is planning a boating holiday next year this DVD may help them to decide what they want to see on their canal trip in 2020.

If you’ve already been on a narrowboat holiday why not get last year’s photos made into coasters, a cushion, a mug or a photo book? Fox boats holidays offer some stunning photo opportunities of watery sunsets, Fenland skyscapes and quaint, ancient villages.

The Christmas Gift That the Whole Family Will Love

Are you still struggling to come up with a gift idea? Do you wish your family spent more time together? Want to get the kids away from gaming, and the adults away from their smart phones?

Then a day out on the waterways could be the unique gift you are looking for! Our day hire vouchers for a trip on a narrowboat are for up to 10 people and make a wonderful Christmas gift. (Get an idea of what you might see on your day out, in this short video clip: Day boat hire near Cambridge and Ely.)

A day boat hire trip can be taken any midweek day between Easter and 30th September. Tuition and lifejackets are included and there is no extra charge for fuel. You can buy the voucher now and use it when the weather is warmer; this will give everyone time to synchronise their diaries! You could ask the whole family to chip in, and agree to make some memories together in 2020.

Buy now: Day Hire Vouchers

We hope these ideas solve some of your gift buying problems, and we wish you a very happy Christmas from everyone at Fox Narrowboats.

You may also like – Day Boat Hire: The Surprising Alternative to Punting in Cambridge

1. PS. Never miss an article – subscribe to our blog in the right sidebar; look for ‘Follow Blog’. (We don’t send spam or salesy type stuff – just interesting articles about boats and waterways!)

The post The Ultimate Canal Boater’s Christmas Gift Guide appeared first on Fox Narrowboats.

How long have Fox Boats been building boats?

What is so distinctive about a Charlie Fox Boat?

How many were built and where are they now?

A select few narrowboaters on the English waterways share an exclusive and niche interest in Charlie Fox Narrowboats. Our unique family boating service was established in 1952 by the enigmatic boat builder Charlie Fox. In 1977 we also became a hire boat fleet and by 1981 we had moved into our current purpose built marina, which now has moorings for 200 craft. The company was renamed Fox Narrowboats Ltd in 2004.

Charlie Fox boats are recognisable by the distinctive stem post, which is the fore post of the boat that forms the apex of the bows. Some however, have had it cut off, or in the case of a boat built for a customer, left off at their request. This V-shaped nose is something that other Charlie Fox boat owners look out for, when spotting one another on the waterways.

We now build one or two boats per year for our hire fleet. After five years we sell off hire boats, which are quite sought after, and for which there is generally a waiting list. We also sometimes build new boats on commission, so there are now approaching some 200 Fox boats in existence. Three Fox Boats were originally built for St. Johns Ambulance, and are wheelchair accessible. Samuel Slater was built as a millennium project and was exported to be used in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, USA, as a trip boat.

Each Charlie Fox boat is numbered, with the number welded into the water tank access plate at the front of the boat. Curiously, there are two boats with the number 80. Some Fox Boat enthusiasts like to see how many of the boats they can spot and what their numbers are.

Peter Ekins has a list of Fox boats which he has been putting together since he bought March Mole (no.26) in 1995, which was one of Charlie’s first hire boats, (c1978). So far he has traced over 100 of the 121 built so far. He gathers information from fellow boaters, a boat listing site on the internet, and by keeping an eye out when cruising; he also has an interesting collection of related letters and photos. (I have Peter Ekins to thank for several of the interesting facts included in this article.)

About a year ago Peter sold March Mole to Tina Catling, and the boat is now in York. Tina was kind enough to supply these photos of the interior, and of March Mole moored at the meeting of the Rivers Ouse and Nidd near Nun Monkton. The previous owners told Peter to remember his boat number, as you would get people asking. On his very first cruise with March Mole, that actually happened, much to the delight of those enquiring. Their boat was called Herbal Second Boat.

Chris Howes, now a mooring customer at Fox’s marina, was moored at Berkhamstead a couple of years ago when Peter approached him wanting to know the production number of his narrowboat to add to his now growing spreadsheet of Fox-built boats. Chris and Christine’s boat is now called Lily May, having been repainted and renamed by Paul, the previous owner, (renamed after his mum). She was built 2007 and named Swift Fox. She spent her first five or six years as a number of the Fox hire fleet, Paul bought her around 2012 and Chris and Christine bought her in 2015.

When Sarah Hacker met her future husband in August 2004 one of their first dates was a few days away on the family narrowboat, Aqua Roma, built by Charlie Fox in 1976. This sparked a passion for narrowboating and an interest in Fox Boats which lead her to contact Peter Ekins. March Mole is the direct sister of Aqua Roma. Peter was kind enough to supply his list of boats, and Sarah and her family continue to look out for Fox Boats on the waterways.

In 2014 Sarah managed to track down Fox Boat Ambassador, on the Ouse at Ely, which she had considered buying at one point. You can read the narrowboat adventures of Sarah’s boating family at her Narrowboating Chick blog.

Zoe Louise McPhilbin ‎contacted Fox Narrowboats on Facebook to say that she had welcomed R Squared to her family in May 2016, and in 2017 she was returned to her given name, a different Swift Fox, (no. 87.) Fox’s re-use names; for example there have been several Fox Hunters. Zoe absolutely loves her boat, which is still in great condition.

Rena and Chris Owens now own Vermuyden, moored at Golden Nook moorings near Chester, and Foxhunter (no.19), is also moored at Golden Nook Farm. She has been Craig Sheaf’s home for five years, and is undergoing a major refit at this time.

Shellfen 2 is currently moored at Swanley Marina on the Llangollen canal at Nantwich, and is owned by Rachel Elizabeth.

Betty G. Fillingham bought Alley’s Mist a few years ago, and said that it was a lovely boat and she would not hesitate to buy another if she wanted another boat. She thinks it was previously called Grey Fox. She sold it to a woman who wanted to live on it permanently. Betty says, “She was the most beautiful boat, newly repainted, all fully equipped and I wish I could have kept it.”

I’ve enjoyed discovering the stories of these boats, they are so very well loved. Do you own a boat built by Charlie Fox? Swap pictures and stories in the Facebook group: Charlie Fox Boat Owners Group. and let us know about your own boat by commenting on our Facebook page.

Boat building is still an important activity at Fox Narrowboats, alongside maintenance, boat stretching and other boatyard work. To learn more about the life of Charlie Fox, check out this book compiled by his granddaughter Emily. Available here: Charlie Fox

If you enjoyed this article about a piece of boating history, subscribe to our blog in the right sidebar; look for ‘Follow Blog’. (We don’t send spam or salesy type stuff – just interesting articles about boats and waterways!)

PS: There’s still time to grab a Christmas gift voucher for a surprising family gift this year.

The post Charlie Fox Narrowboats: Where are They Now? appeared first on Fox Narrowboats.

Progress on the Old Bedford river

Non tidal access to the historic Old Bedford River was lost in 2006 when the E.A. closed Welches Dam Lock, thus stopping access to a waterway that had been navigated for over 350 years. Since the closure various attempts have been made to access the Old Bedford from its outfall into the tidal Great Ouse. In 2009 an enterprising couple, Lois and Roy Parker, succeeded in getting onto the river and through to Welches Dam in their shallow drafted cruiser, but no narrowboat is known to have managed it.

On 4th April 2017 veteran of several previous tries, John Revell, lead another attempt in his 41ft narrowboat ‘Olive Emily’. He was joined by Chris Howes in his 45ft narrowboat ‘Lily May’ and Jeff Walters in his 50ft narrowboat ‘ever after’. The boats marshaled at Salter’s Lode lock on the Well Creek.

Currently access to the Old Bedford river can only be gained at low water on a ‘neap tide’ (which is the highest low tide, occurring only fortnightly). However because of silt build up at the mouth of the river to the Great Ouse, there is only a few inches of water and the passage can be described as between ‘very difficult’ and ‘damn near impossible’ ! However after much writhing about in the mud, and over an hour of trying, all three boats scraped through.

The E.A. had kindly raised the water level in the river sufficient for comfortable passage to be made, and previous problems of cot weed and ‘bottoming out’ were avoided, The E.A. had also lifted the guillotine gate at Welney, which is generally an obstacle to navigation.

Guillotine gate Welney

In the morning the three returned to Salter’s Lode for low tide. Again it was very difficult to get through the sluice gates onto the Great Ouse, but after two hours of trying the happy trio and their mud splattered boats finally made it !

An emotional John Revell observed “I was one of the last boaters to use Welches Dam lock from Horseway Channel before EA suddenly piled across the lock entrance in 2006. I never thought it would take another 11 years to reach it from Salters Lode. I’d like to give a big ‘thank you’ to the E.A. for their support this time, without which the trip would have failed. I’d also like to pay tribute to the late, great, inspirational Charlie Fox, it can be no coincidence that 2 out of 3 of the boats that made the difficult passage were Fox boats !”

Welches Dam lock

Chris Howes added “after the great difficulties getting onto the Old Bedford through the silted up estuary entrance, the journey itself was lovely. The huge frustration was that when we eventually made it to Welches Dam Lock we were only one closed lock and approximately 2 miles of de-watered channel away from the navigable network.”

Jeff Walters also added “I’d like to join in the thanks to the E.A. for their fantastic co-operation. As a member of the Project Hereward restoration team, can I make a heartfelt plea that the E.A. continue this invigorating, fresh spirit of working together by now facilitating the entry of the IWA’S highly qualified engineers into Welches Dam Lock to assess the true extent of necessary restoration?”

Chris Howes.

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