Tooley's Boatyard, Banbury

Dock theatre July 2010

2010-07-03T13:43:00.007+01:00

Hello all

Just a quick note to let everyone know that we will be having another Theatre in our Dry dock this year – due to the success of last year.

Mikron Theatre will start everything off on Thursday 15^th July at 8pm with there show Striking the balance. Ticket prices are £10.00 or £8.00 concessions

On Friday 16^th July Kate Saffin will be bringing her 1 woman show to our Dry Dock. Her show this year will be split in to 2 half’s – 1^st half will be Isobel’s war Then 2^nd half will be Mary rose – a boat of ill repute. Ticket prices are £8.00 or £6.00 concessions

Tickets are available in advance from our shop or alternately please call 01295 272917 to reserve. Tickets will also be available on the night - subject to availability.

Please bring your own chairs -Although we do have a few chairs.

Refreshments will be available on both nights.Hope to see you there.

Penny

2010-06-02T09:15:00.005+01:00

Hello again,
Not posted for a while, mainly due to being rather busy at the boatyard, but also partly to do with getting married!
Just wanted to let you know about a new service we are offering both at the yard and on-site, ever wondered what is lurking in the bottom of your fuel tank? Well now you can both find out, and more importantly remove it. The fuel pick up from your tank should not take fuel from the very bottom, this is to allow water (which sinks in diesel) and solids to form a layer, some tanks have a drain off to allow you to get the crud (polite technical term) out, however most don't.
Enter the Tooley's mobile fuel polishing system, (Fanfare and roll of drums at this point) using a battery powered pump, we collect the dirty diesel from the tank with a rigid lance, separate out the crud and return it to the tank, in effect hoovering the tank and polishing the diesel. The filters will remove anything bigger than 30 microns and all water, we then drain this off and present it back to you as a sample! The technology is certainly not new, it has been in use in the Marine industry and plant applications for many years, however I think we may be the first narrowboat yard offering this service. The circulating fuel acts as an agitator and will loosen and lift particles off the bottom and sides of the tank so we do recommend a fuel filter change at the same time and indeed anyone booking a fuel polish can take advantage of a discounted engine service at the same time. One of the main benefits however is to have an interesting table decoration to amuse and amaze Friends and Family!

Update

2010-05-26T19:53:00.004+01:00

Hi all

Well it has been a while since we last posted anything. We have had a very busy year.

We have had a change in the boatyard. Linda has now retired and Martin has had a career change and moved on. They will both be missed and I would like to say a big thank you to them for all their hard work.

We have a new member of staff. Bob has been with us now for a few months and is a great addition to the team. I am sure that he will do a post soon to introduce himself and tell you bit about himself.

The dry dock is constant with a steady stream of boats in for all sorts of work. Narrowboat Penfold is going in to the dock tomorrow. The Uxter plate (part of the hull in the engine room) is very thin and needs cutting out and replacing. I will take some photos so that you can see what we are doing.

While we swap boats over the swans have a look around

The other Matt has been busy. (as well as getting married - congratulations) He has been doing various work on boats that gets him called away from the yard. From gas work to breakdowns. He has come up with a great idea that we will be offering to customers. We are keeping it a bit quiet at the moment as we will be the first to offer this service on the waterways. We are doing the final tests it and running trials, but I am sure that he will be letting you know all about it soon.

We have a few events happening at the yard this year. I will let you know about these soon.

Regards Matt

The Big Freeze!

2010-01-13T19:30:00.002Z

Well this year has got off to a cold start!

At the moment we are frozen in. The boat in the dock was supposed to have come out on Monday, but the ice is too thick and we do not want to damage the new coat of blacking. The next boat to come in cannot reach the dock anyway. So we will have to wait for things to thaw out.

We also have a boat with a hole in the hull who cannot make it to the dock. It will be good to get them in the dock and make them water tight.

We have been kept busy doing various call out work. One job was an emergency call out down to Lower Heyford. The boat had an exhaust fitting that was perished, but the weight of the snow on top of the boat caused the boat to sit further down in the water and it started to take on water! our deliveries were reduced due to the snow and I had trouble getting a part, so i picked it up myself but i could not make it as the roads were blocked - so i had to walk the last mile.

Another job we are doing is replacing an engine. The customers engine block cracked when the temperature dropped below -15.

If you have left your boat over the winter it will be worth checking it over.

Common problems that can arise with this cold spell can be battery problems, frozen pipes and heaters. Make sure that you check your engine over before starting.

If you are worried about anything then give us a call - advice is free!

Regards Matt A

Christmas

2010-01-12T20:43:00.004Z

Well we have had a busy December. The Dry dock has been busy with boats and we have had a lot of call outs on the canal.

Every year we have Santa's groto in the old forge. This year we had about 2000 childern visiting Santa. Here's a picture of his arrival at the shopping centre.

I have had my own arrival this year. My daughter Alice was born on the 3rd December weighing seven pounds. She is keeping us up at night but she is great.

We have had chilly start to the New Year I will update you shortly

Cheers Matt

How is your bottom!

2009-11-12T08:23:00.003Z

When was the last time you blacked your hull?

Do you know what is on your hull?

There are many different types of hull blacking, but they broadly fall into 3 types, which you should not get mixed up. They are: -

1 Bitumen - this probably the most common hull blacking. If you cannot find out what is on your hull then you are probably safest going with this as it is oil based and will go over all other blackings. However, bitumen will dissolve in oil and diesel so it is not the best product.
A boat with bitumen should really be blacked every 2 - 3 years.

2. Coal Tar - this is better than bitumen. It is coal based. It will go over epoxy but not tar. It is resistant to oil and diesel.
A boat with coal tar should be blacked every 2 - 4 years.

3 Epoxy - There are different types and the most expensive is considered to be the best because it lasts longer. It will not go over bitumen or coal tar. You need to know what was on before as different epoxys are not always compatible.
They say that boats with epoxy can be left for up to 8 years. We would recommend docking the boat half way to check the hull condition.

If you have any questions about your hull coating then please contact us, as it is very important to know what hull blacking you have, and also to know that the boat has been prepped and blacked correctly - as it can come off if done incorrectly!

Also at the moment we doing a deal on hull blackings in November and December. Email us at info@tooleysboatyard.co.uk for further details.

Matt

Banbury Canal Day

2009-10-26T18:11:00.009Z

A bit late but heres our update on our Canal Day in Banbury.

The event was opened by the Mayor and the sponsors who arrived on our day boat - the 'Dancing Duck'. Then the Duck when on provide boat trips for the rest of the day.

At the boatyard we opened the site for the general public giving the full access to the yard.

On the canal side in front of the dock we had a pig roast with our restaurant boat 'Rosamund the Fair' providing the bar.

We also had old cast iron forge that we saved from Alcan (Banbury's old aluminium works) when it closed.

Its nice having this old forge as it was made in Samuelson's Foundry in Banbury. The interesting thing about it is that the Tooley's used to supply coal and pig iron to the site by boat - so maybe the Tooley's supplied the fuel and metal to make this forge.

So what a fitting place for this to end up. We have restored the forge back to running order and Ron did demonstrations on the day.

We also had our 200 year old forge up and running with demonstrations running through out the day.

Our Chandlery was open as usual and was packed full of people all day.

We also had a display of Roses and Castles painting in the yard and we took bookings for our painting classes.

Here in this picture you can see Atlanta an old working boat in the dock. The dock is normally dry so we can work on boats out of the water, but on the day we had the dock full of water.

You can also see some old engines that have been restored and being displayed by Pete Downer and friends.

Well the day was a success and thousands of people came down to the canal saw different things and enjoyed the day by the water. And thats what our Canal Day is all about.

Penny's post!

2009-09-19T14:10:00.002+01:00

Hi, my name is Penny, and I have been working here at Tooley's since March '08. I work part-time due to being the proud mum of baby Liam (although not so much of a baby now!). Prior to joining the boatyard, I had been working as the Manager of the Cafe Quay, a canal-side eaterie which Tooley's also used to run.

Along with helping in the Chandlery and in the office, I recently completed the Inland Helmsman Certificate with our instructor Martin, so hopefully I will soon be able to get out from behind the desk and maybe start running some of the weekly boat trips! I also keep track of all the different courses we run here, ranging from Blacksmithing to rope-work and traditional 'Roses' & Castles' painting.

Oh, and if you ever want a rope splicing, I'm a demon with the 'fid' (no complicated ones please!).

Penny

Hole in the Hull

2009-09-16T13:16:00.011+01:00

One of our regular customers is Dave. He moors his boat ‘Rumpleteaser ‘ south of Banbury. I will always remember the time that he brought his boat into the dock here at Tooley's.

Narrowboats are normally flat bottomed but nobody knew that Dave's boat had a 1" wide fin on the bottom of his boat and when we drained the dock the boat was perfectly balanced on the fin and it looked like his boat was floating 10" above the ground.

Well we have all been working long hours recently, so Matt M and I decided to get off early at 4pm (as we both travel in the van together). Then the phone rang. It was Dave off of NB Rumpleteaser. He told us that he was worried about some water in his bilge.

When someone says that they are getting water in the bilges it’s normally from rain water, a leaking water system or a leaking stern gland, but when we got to his boat we realised that it was far more serious. There was water trickling down inside the boat from just below the waterline.

We advised him to move everything to the other side of the boat to create a list to get the hole out of the water. We then contacted the next customer and managed to squeeze Dave in for an emergency docking.

We found that there was what looked like a 8” crack, and the metal in that area had thinned to around 1.5mm thick. So we welded a plate over the area to stop the immediate problem. We were still worried about a crack a behind the rubbing strake, so we re-booked Rumpleteaser back into the dock at the earliest time that we could arrange for the hull to be inspected.

So we booked in Marine Surveyor Barrie Morse to inspect the boat in the dock. He found that the problem was restricted to just that area behind the rubbing strake. This had to be removed and the area welded.

Now that his boat is watertight, we reckon Dave was lucky (he may not think so) that he spotted the problem before it was too late. It highlights the importance of trying to keep your bilges as dry as possible- not only does it stops the boat rusting from the inside but you can also see when you have a problem.

Adrift in time...

2009-09-10T14:57:00.003+01:00

As my description reads on the right of the page there, I am also a RYA (Royal Yachting Association) Inland Helmsman Instructor. This is generally a one-day course (though two days can be accomodated), teaching the basics of safely skippering a vessel on our canals and rivers. Usually, the course is run from our boatyard here in Banbury, on our sweet little 'Dancing Duck' training boat, however I am more than happy to run the course on customers' own boats.

And so I found myself yesterday back on the beautiful Thames (I say 'back', as it's where I 'cut my teeth' so to speak) at Sandford, in the company of two wonderful ladies on their wee 19ft cruiser. Having owned the boat for a few months, they fell in the love with the idea, yet found the actual moving of the boat a tad traumatic (which most people do), especially on the often fast-flowing Thames. So, armed with 'lucky' wet-weather gear (to maintain the warm sunshine), tea, coffee and cake, off we motored - firstly heading upstream through Ifley Lock and then down through the very pretty (and deep) Sandford Lock (pictured).
To cut a long story short, the day was very successful, with both ladies coming away with bags more confidence, and a more thorough understanding of moving a boat. There was also one additional lesson learnt during the day which was most definitely not on the syallabus and very much related to the importance of ensuring there is enough fuel in the tank - how to deal with a boat spluttering to a halt mid river and slowly beginning a downstream journey entirely of it's own accord. The trick is:

a). Don't panic.
b). Hope that there isn't a substantial flow in the river.
c). Pray that a Salters trip boat isn't just 'round the bend.

Anyhow, the boat did drift gently down towards the tow-path, and with some help from a convenient on-board paddle, it wasn't long before we were safely moored alongside the bank. There was an anchor on-board if needed (an essential bit of kit for river cruising), and indeed if there was a substantial flow I may have used it, though in this case it was unnecessary.

It was a fun day, and the river looked glorious in the September sun, and it's not often you can recreate a breakdown mid-cruise!

MARTIN

The Lady of the Leak

2009-08-29T08:56:00.003+01:00

Last Saturday Susan from NB Portland Bill came in to the shop asking me to go down and have a look at the list on her boat. I was in the middle of other jobs and could not go straight away. She was a bit concerned so I said that I would pop down after work to have a look at it.

She was moored 300 yards south of Banbury lock. I found it quiet easily as it was the boat with the 30º list to port! I was amazed that she still had belongings on her shelves. Water had filled her bilges causing the list.

The water in her bilges was clean so I started looking for at the water tank for problems. I found it straight away. The domestic water pump had not been installed properly and water was pouring out (It had been fitted by a friendly boater who was passing by), so I fixed the leaks.

I was concerned about Susan staying on the boat in that condition, but Susan (cool as a cucumber) explained that her last boat also had a list so she was used to it, and anyway her bed was on the port side so she could not roll out. So we arranged to bring the boat to the boat yard on Monday to pump the water out.

On Monday, I looked at the floor and found that the internal wood lining of the boat had been built on top of the floor (which is common) so I could not lift the floor up. I found the lowest point on the floor at the back near the stove and drilled some holes in the floorboards. I put and electric pump in and left it pumping out for an hour. We are now on the case for getting the rest of the water out.

A good tip for any boaters is to make sure that you have inspection hatches so that you can check your bilges and try and keep them dry as possible. Also if you hear your water pump coming on when you are not using it – then it’s worth getting the system checked out for leaks.

Matt A

2009-07-15T18:55:00.003+01:00

Hi everyone

We have not said very much recently due to the amount of work we are doing. We have had so much work on that we have all been doing long days to get all the work done. I am not complaining as all work is good.

Well most work is good!

The exception was last week when I was repairing a customer’s toilet. The tank had blockage and the macerator pump kept pressurising the system! I was looking at it in the 3ft by 3ft compartment when it exploded. I shall spare you the details.

One word of warning, recently we are had a problem with oil or diesel polluting the canal. We think that it has come from an oily bilge, possibly being emptied in to the canal via an automatic bilge pump. This can cause damage to newly blacked boats. Have a look at the picture of the boat with the blacking stripped off around the waterline.

Last weekend we turned our historic 200 year old dry dock in to a theatre. I will post in a couple of days to report on how it went.

Ok bye for now

Matt A

2009-04-29T16:35:00.002+01:00

My name is Linda and I work in the Chandlery at Tooley’s Boatyard.

That is me in the leather, looking as though I am propping up the bar.

I was out on the maiden cruise of the restored “Icebreaker – Oxford 1” going through Banbury lock which is just beyond the boatyard.

I moved up to Banbury from Brighton in 2003, although I have been cruising the Inland Waterways since 1984.

Our first boat was a 16Ft fibreglass boat that we had brought up from Littlehampton, Sussex and launched onto the Grand Union at Southall. Our mooring was at the BWB yard at the top of the Hanwell Locks. We had many happy holidays on this boat with our four children and dog.

Our next boat was a “Microplus” which we moored at Marsworth. This was a lovely mooring on the Grand Union above the Tring reservoirs.

Our current boat is (or was) a Clubline “Mulberry”. It was a 20ft steel boat which was outboard powered. This has now been stretched to 42Ft and is powered by an “Enfield” twin opposed inboard. We even have a pointy end!!!!

I have met many interesting people since working at Tooley’s, as the historic boatyard was used by a lot of the old working boat families and has a 200 year-old working Forge, which attracts a lot of visitors.

Hopefully you will come in and visit us.

LINDA

Taking a breather...

2009-04-14T18:37:00.020+01:00

I'm in the process of relaxing at home (well, as much as one can relax with a teething baby!), following two complete re-paints. The first, 'Emerald Dream', was a 57ft trad. The colours used were Atlantic Blue, cream, and Postal Services Red for the coach-lines and a few other areas. Although you do occasionally come across re-paint jobs that simply require a good sanding followed by an undercoat and a top, they are few and far between. More often than not, a full strip-back is what's needed, a far more thorough option to be sure.

Here is 'ED' as a bare beauty:

And here she is once coated in beautiful Mason's P-Type (we use Craftmaster's lovely thick, full-bodied primers and undercoats, followed by Mason's top-coats - a combination that works for us):

Not a moment's breath later, 'ED' was out of the dock, and 'Sonflower' was in. Again, a 57 footer, but this time with a cruiser stern. A good-looking boat laid out more for safe, family cruising than traditional wants, the colours used here were Deep Royal Green, a Lemon Chrome, and light grey 'raddle' decks and roof.

I do love the contrast with the yellow and green, and the light grey sets both off beautifully.

Anyhows, both jobs were very much appreciated by the owners, and I certainly felt a sense of pride as the sun glanced off 'Sonflower' as she exited the dock.

Time for a break now, and for some time with the baby. This new 'dad' thing is really something else! And extremely tiring. Zzzzzzzzzz...

MARTIN

Another day, another Matt...

2009-04-02T08:51:00.002+01:00

Hello there,

To continue the introductions, I am also called Matt. To save confusion if you call or come to Tooleys, I am known as Mechanic Matt, amongst other things.

My career started on rather larger vessels, as after studying Mechanical Engineering (Marine Bias) at Plymouth Poly, I spent 15 years in RMNB Devonport working on Royal Naval and RFA Ships.

During that time my small boat experience was keeping the boats, and believe it or not the jet-skis, of the Dockyard Police afloat and ticking over.

My interest in Narrowboats was kindled by spending a day on one with friends on the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation, this developed into a full time commitment when I convinced my young lady to live on one with me.

I started working on the canals as a mechanic with a local hire fleet, and have been at Tooleys for a couple of years,

I think the main reason for my continued enjoyment of the job is the sheer variety of engines and ancillaries that Narrowboaters and builders tend to fit, so if you have something unusual or a strange problem bring it to us, we’d love to see it!

Occasionally on the blog I am going to mention a maintenance task to jog some memories, this isn’t meant to put me out of a job, just to help make my tasks easier if I come to work on your boat.

The first one I’ll mention is clean out your deck drains, a simple five minute task that will help make working in your engine bay a lot nicer.

Ok that’s all for now, oh and sorry for the odd photograph but photography is another hobby, a free oil filter for your engine for the first person to email the canal name and lock number it was taken in.

Mech Matt.

Also introducing...

2009-01-12T18:01:00.002Z

Hello there!

Great photo there from the boss!

My name is Martin. Though it would probably be easier if I changed it to Matt, as there's two of them and only one of me.

I've been working at the wonderful Tooley's boatyard since March 2007, having moved from Bath thanks to the good lady wishing to be closer to family (looking back, it was a great big plan, as we now have a baby boy). I've been involved in boating since 1999, when I became licensed as a passenger-boat skipper on the Thames. Since then I've skippered 300-tonne 'Dutch' barges in both England and France, also obtaining the French equivalent of the MCA Boatmasters (the written exam taken, of course, in French - now THAT was a learning curve), as well as operating a 'wide-beam' passenger boat on the Kennet & Avon canal. I'm also a registered RYA Inland Helmsman Instructor, running as Chief Instructor the 'Isis School Of Boat Handling' here at Tooley's.

Along the way, my travels and work have now led me to be (here at Tooley's), dare I say, remarkably competent at boat painting, a role I've taken on since November last year following proven success painting all sorts of boats and barges. Alongside that, there's also some mechanical expertise, as well as marketing, IT (who DO you think dragged Matt A screaming into the 21st Century?!) and a firm belief in the future of Tooley's as THE boatyard for your works.

So, I suppose it's over to the other Matt now, 'M'. (Very Bond). In the meantime, I look forward to meeting any/all of you. And remember, if I don't look so happy, it's mainly down to the way my face falls.

Best,
MARTIN

Welcome!

2009-01-12T17:26:00.003Z

Hello!

Welcome to Tooley’s Boatyard’s new Blog.

My name is Matthew Armitage ( hereafter referred to as 'Matt A') and I am one of the company directors of Tooley’s Boatyard Ltd, having been involved in the Marine industry since 1990.
Tooley’s has the oldest working dry dock on the Inland Waterways of Britain, and has been in continuous use since 1790 when it was established to build and repair the wooden horse-drawn narrow boats, which plied the newly constructed canal network, so vital to the development of the Industrial Revolution.
The site was threatened by the Castle Quay development, but good fortune prevailed, and the site was saved and incorporated in the new Banbury Museum. Tooley’s is now a scheduled 'Ancient Monument' and run by ourselves as a private company since 2002, with its dry dock providing a service for the boating community and an opportunity for visitors to see work in progress, as well as the fully restored workshops - dating from the 1930s - including a carpenter’s store, a belt-driven machine workshop and a paint store. There is also a 200 year-old forge offering items made to order, as well as blacksmithing courses.

As we are a small team, we all have lots of responsibilities! My main responsibilities are:

• The day to day running of the yard
• Docking, Blacking and prepping boats
• Welding and basic Blacksmithing
• Some mechanical work
• Chandlery sales
• Isis School of Boat-Handling – Instructor
• Guide tours and Talks

We decided to do a blog so that people can see the day to day running of the boatyard and show people the work that we do.

The rest of the team will introduce themselves and we shall post regular posts of the different works we are doing at the boatyard, as well as (hopefully) some less serious stuff!

We will be happy to answer any questions you may think of, and any comments on the blog would be greatly appreciated. We would also love to post any pics or videos and/or any boating-related stories you may have that would liven up our day! (These can be emailed to us at info@tooleysboatyard.co.uk).

So, here we go - dragged screaming into the 21st century - the Tooley's Blog Page!

MATT A.