FOURTEEN months after moving to Erewash Canal Preservation and Development Association’s Langley Mill headquarters, work boat Pentland again took to the sky on May 11 when she was lifted back into the water.
Now awaiting a new ECPDA livery, the former British Waterways work boat was manoeuvred through the trees back into the canal by a team of ECPDA volunteers and the expert drivers from Walker and Son (Hauliers) Ltd of Tuxworth.
The 37ft boat was built in the late 1970s and had spent most of her working life on the River Trent and Erewash Canal before being sold to ECPDA.
Since Pentland arrived at Langley Mill in March 2017, all the steel work has been replaced and a new propeller shaft donated by Paul Barber of PJ Barber Boatbuilder Ltd of Sheet Stores Basin, Long Eaton; the gearbox has been overhauled by John Else; the hull has been blacked and the boat has been undercoated with paint donated by Dacrylate Paint Ltd of Kirkby-in-Ashfield.
After going on show for the anniversary celebrations of 50 years since the founding of ECPDA and 45 years since the reopening of the lock and Great Northern Basin at the junction of the Erewash and the Cromford and Nottingham canals over the spring bank holiday weekend (May 26-28), work will continue on the water to complete the restoration.
