By Janet Richardson
A FAMILIAR sight at the Braunston Historic Boat Rally in late June, the iconic pair Nuneaton and Brighton are still at work. They are owned and operated by the Narrow Boat Trust, a volunteer-led charity whose objective is to maintain the historic boats and demonstrate how they were operated commercially together in the day. The two narrowboats are loaded with coal once a year at Braunston and go down the Grand Union Canal to the rivers Thames, Wey and the Kennet & Avon Canal, delivering smokeless fuel to customers along the way.
A fine and increasingly rare sight: cruising above the Claydon Flight, with Frankie Morini of the Canal & River Trust steering Nuneaton and Colin Wilks on Brighton under tow. PHOTO: KEV MASLIN
For the crew it’s a working holiday and the days are long, but according to NBT: “It’s more fun than going to the gym.” All are volunteers but crew member Colin Wilks told Towpath Talk everyone is getting a bit long in the tooth and some are dropping out. “We wondered what we could do and came up with the idea of advertising taster sessions on Facebook appealing to people who had seen the historic boats and didn’t know how to go forwards. The objective was to acquire some new active members. “We have had some very gratifying results – from 60 enquiries, 15 have translated into paid-up members so we are very hopeful that it has been a success and is a great fillip as far as we are concerned.”
Following the Braunston rally, Nuneaton and Brighton will return to their base at the Sam Barlow Marina at Alverstone on the Coventry Canal, courtesy of Malcolm Burge for whose generosity the trust is very grateful. During one recent work party there, new recruits made up half the workforce having been drawn into NBT membership as a result of watching David Johns’ video on YouTube, referenced in the Facebook posts: ‘You can make me coal again’. The trust has been placing four trainees with four experienced members so that each was buddying up with a dedicated member of the crew.
At the end of August the boats will return to Braunston to load up ready for the annual coal run. They will also go on training manoeuvres taking the boats to Napton Junction and up the Braunston flight of locks and through the tunnel to demonstrate how to work the powered boat and butty when they are loaded – usually watched with interest from the canal banks. Although training sessions planned in July and September are already fully booked, the trust is always looking for more new members. Anyone interested should contact membership secretary Ian Johnson on 01483 591756 (evenings) or email [email protected] Website: www.narrowboattrust.org.uk YouTube videos: https://youtu.be/ c2YqBSO-nmc?si=lVEgy3GNOeJyFgiZ
About the boats
Both Nuneaton and Brighton were built in the mid-1930s for the Grand Union Canal Carrying Co (GUCCC). Town Class boats, Nuneaton is a Large Northwich built by Yarwood’s and the butty Brighton is a Large Woolwich built by Harland & Wolff in London.
