Roger The Narrowboat

Roger had a long and varied career as a working boat on the Grand Union Canal since Bushell Brothers of Tring built him in 1936. He took his cargo whenever it was needed – mainly coal – to many a factory along the route between London and the Midlands.

Deliveries of coal

One of Roger’s jobs was to deliver coal from Coventry to John Dickinson’s paper mill next to the Grand Union at Croxley – at the time the largest in Europe. This work came under the stewardship of canal commerce stalwarts Arthur Bray, his wife Rose and her son Ernie Kendal. Roger carried 20 tons of coal for the 86 hour round trip, his "buddy" (butty) boat Raymond taking a further 30 tons. On arrival at the mill, the Brays unloaded their cargo from both boats hand by hand and earned at most £16 for their efforts.

Both boats later carried coal from Coventry to a jam making factory in Southall, a 240 mile round trip with more than 200 locks to pass through! Loading, travel and unloading took a full seven days. The competition on this trip was fierce and only one boat could load or unload at any one time. So it was important to arrive first and avoid hanging around – because crews were paid only for the tons of coal they were able to deliver.

Work gradually declined throughout the 1960's as ownership of Roger changed. He ended his working life when, worn out, he was replaced on the "Jam ‘Ole" run in 1968 by the Nutfield. The factory itself struggled and soon disappeared leading to the eventual demise in 1970 of the company Blue Line that now operated the boats. By the early 1990s, Roger found himself unloved and in poor repair in a pit beside the canal at Maple Cross. Liable to sink at any moment, Rickmansworth Waterways Trust stepped in to save the day.

Restoration

The last boat of his type, Roger has now happily retired to Rickmansworth and has been lovingly restored at Batchworth Lock to his former glory thanks to funding from both the Trust and the Heritage Lottery Fund. Many of the same materials as were found on the original boat were used for the work. Roger now forms a major part of our education work to show how life on the canal used to be. He also features every May at our family event on canals and the environment - the Rickmansworth Festival.