TVBC CLUB NOTICES

The TVBC photo gallery is up, and will be added to during the Autumn. 
Eventually I hope it will include nearly all of the Club boats.

Members are free to send me anything they wish to post here, 
subject to some small degree of censorship of course! (Webmaster)

A warm welcome is extended to the following New Members:

1. Colin Paillin of Melton Mowbray with "Sharpness" a canal tunnel tug built of riveted steel in 1908
2. Mike Thomas with "Venture", a 16ft open launch
3. Keith Roughsedge of Urmstone, Manchester with "Lady Avon" a centre-cockpit cruiser built by Taylor of Chertsey
4. Ian Atkinson of Old Windsor with "Zero" a Gibbs 26ft open launch
5. Paul and Katie Erlam of Maidenhead. They own a 1957 32 ft Rampart cruiser ‘Lysid’.
6. Bryan and Britt Hughes of Windsor, Berks. They are part owners of a 1955 Bates Starcraft ‘Sevillana’
7. Shirley Williams of Windsor, Berks, who has joined as an associate member.

The owner sent me a half dozen photos and this is a lovely boat and a real bargain for someone...(I can send you further photos if interested). Webmaster,

Hi Mike
The "Wicked Lady" is still for sale and although I initially wanted in the region of £10,000 I am more than willing to consider offers. At present she is on the Grand Union Canal

She's a 35ft by about 9ft Thames or Broads cruiser and dates from 1939.  She's 100% wood and most of the interior is original with lovely mahogany and brass fittings.  She has a 6 cyclinger Chrysler petrol engine; solid fuel burning stove; gas hot water and cooker; and is set up for 12V and 240V power supplies. Wicked Lady has a current British Waterways licence and safety certificate.

From front to back she has a double berth, small galley kitchen and shower room (with porter-loo) and centrel wheel-house and spacious living area to the rear.Although she's in great condition for her age she definitely needs a bit of TLC. She hasn't been out of the water for some time and athough the hull seems pretty sturdy and is not leaking she definitely needs some attention in this area.  The roof has sprung a couple of small leaks over the winter and overall she needs a new coat of varnish. Wicked Lady will be a great boat for someone who is passionate about classic boats and is looking for a 'project'.  There's not two ways about it this boat needs work but will certainly be worth it in the long-run.

I've attached some  pictures, please give me a shout if you require any further information.

...MORE RECENTLY...

...Thanks a million for putting Wicked Lady on your website. I've had a bit of interest since we were last in contact but no firm offers as yet. For a lot of people the prospect of putting in a bit of work to the hull is a little daunting and this plus the fact that she's for sale off-mooring means that this isn't turning out to be the easy sale I hoped for. I have now knocked the advertised price down to £7K but to be honest I'd take offers from about £5K upwards as I'm really rather keen to find her a new home before the Autumn. 
The engine is working although I've never really run her for more than a couple of miles in each direction of her current mooring, however she should be fine to be 'driven away' when we finally find her a new owner.

Thanks again for all your help
Hannorah Lee
Senior Corporate Development Executive
Help the Aged      Direct Line: 0207 239 1867    Mobile:  07748483 654      (3 Aug 2006)

I received these letters recently. Can anyone help? (If you reply, please CC me for info. Webmaster.)

(Posted 8/8/06) 
Dear Mike

I've just found your website and it is fascinating.

I have been idly trawling for a way to discover if a boat I knew as a child is still afloat; 'Fatima', a 6 (?) berth cruiser used to be based at Chertsey, owned by a friend of my father's. We boys would have a fantastic time when it was our turn to go with 'the men' on The Boat' for a week . . . as you can imagine. here is a description:

"FATIMA" - Registered vessel, maybe 30 -35 ft long, wooden construction; 'blocky' superstructure built on a finely curved boat base, slightly raked fwd wall, strong almost vertical stem post
central wheelhouse two rectangular windows at front , two at side with sliding doors fwd (pull back to open), two smaller sq windows aft - but another photo seems to show three; rear quarters slightly lower than wheelhouse, and with three square windows along each side, two at stern and a small aft deck with exposed rudder cables (I think). A long lower fore deck with three portholes just below deck level and a (blue) rubbing strake (?). Side deck outside wheelhouse but not beside aft cabin, so steps up to rear deck and lower one to foredeck

I am fairly sure the saloon was fwd of the wheelhouse but cannot remember if there were four or six berths; there was a good diesel? inboard engine and she may have been a ship's lifeboat

I would be thrilled if she were still around as I expect my brothers would be.
Philip Bentley

PS: my e-mail address has changed so use phil_bent@tiscali.co.uk
(If you have any info on this boat. please email me or CC me. Mike Phillips.)

Hello Mike,
I wonder, if you have time, if you could give me some advice/guidance.

We have a 42 foot "gentleman's"wooden motor yacht which was built for my grandfather in 1911 by Percy See at Fareham in Hampshire.
Originally with a Parsons paraffin engine which was replaced by a Thorneycroft diesel in 1948. My grandfather lived near Dublin and always kept the boat on the River Shannon at Athlone. A few years ago we brought her ("Seagull")up the Shannon-Erne waterway to the edge of Upper Lough Erne where we still use her regularily. My children are the 4th
generation of the family to use her .
My grandfather lent her in the 1st WW to the Admiralty and her crew sighted the U20 german submarine a few hours before she sank the "Lusitania" - otherwise the boat has had a peaceful life on our inland waterways in Ireland. I have quite a bit of historical infornation about her but am very keen to know about any other boats of that vintage built by Percy See which might or might be still extant. All that remains of the Parsons engine is the stand pipe. 
I am very keen to come to your traditional boat rally in July -unfortunately not in the "Seagull" -where maybe I could get some information. And also about maintenance etc. Her topsides are teak and the hull is pitch pine on oak ribs.
I hope I am not wasting your time and I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,
Jonathan Shackleton,
Lakeview, mullagh, via Kells,
County CAVAN, IRELAND.
EMAIL : jshack@indigo.ie

Mike,
Please can you help ?

I have recently acquired a 12" 6" clinker built skiff that looks like a picture on the trad' boat rally web site. If you go the the gallery of unpowered boats/ no name 5 there is an image of a guy with a baseball cap and hound. The skiff he is in looks just like mine. Please can you tell me what I actually have ?

It is in a bit of a mess having been painted inside and out and I'm in the process of taking it back at the moment. It is also lacking certain fittings ie. rudder, skull's, mast etc and I would welcome any advice as to where I might be able to source such items or obtain patterns for manufacture.

Any information on exactly how it should be finished and presented would be most welcome.

I appreciate that making contact through this web site is a bit cheeky but it is the only lead and hope of obtaining information I have found so far.

Christopher Roberts
Whitstable, Kent
01227 770985 evenings 
EMAIL:  christopher@johnbishop.co.uk

GREAT SOURCE OF USED ENGINES, SPARES AND MANUALS

Guy Cook has put up a new Web Site at www.thamesengines.co.uk with a table of engines and spares, plus some good photos. He is also looking for Club members with stuff to contribute or sell to add to the collection.

Some Interesting Facts about "Father Thames" that perhaps you never knew: 

DID YOU KNOW...

Mapledurham corn mill, from the 15th century, is the only water mill still working on the Thames.

A medicinal spring, reputedly good for "corns, ulcers and sore eyes", flows at Goring. 

A drop of rain falling into the Thames at its source (in the Cotswolds) will have been drunk by 8 people before it reaches the sea.

One inch of rain on the Thames catchment is enough water to make five rivers as big as the Thames is at Henley

Suffragettes burned down the church at Wargrave in 1914 because the vicar refused to remove the word "obey" from the marriage service.

St Mary's Abbey in the sleepy village of Medmenham in Buckinghamshire, is reputed to be one of the homes of the orgiastic Hell Fire Club in the late18th century. 

Dorney Court at Dorney Reach, just past Bray, was where the first pineapple was grown in Britain and presented to King Charles II.St. John's Lock at Lechlade, is the highest on the Thames, 250 feet above sea level.

Radcot Bridge, north of Faringdon, is a triple arched 12th century bridge, which has foundations that may date back to Saxon times. It is the oldest surviving bridge across the Thames.

Swan Upping takes place in the 3rd week of July, the responsibility of the Queen's Swan Marker, David Barber of Cookham, whose father held the position for 41 years. All the swans are the property of the Queen, or one of two livery companies - the Dyers or the Vintners. The swan uppers identify and tag the new generation of cygnets; those belonging to the livery companies are tagged - the Queen's are unmarked. 

It is reputed that Richard the Lionheart first introduced the swans to the Thames from Cyprus.

Maidenhead, originally Maidenhythe, is famous for its two bridges, the road bridge built of Portland stone and Brunel's brick railway bridge, also known as the "Sounding Arch" for its amazing echo. The railway bridge has the widest brick-built spans in the world.

Bray Film Studio, just past Bray Marina, is where the Hammer House of Horror films were made.

Across the river at Runnymede is a US Air Forces Memorial and the John F Kennedy Memorial set in an acre of England given to the American people.

(From an article found on the internet from an unknown source) 

To submit something for this page, email me: mike@phillipsweb.co.uk

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