Kilsby takes flight
What's new?
Narrowboat Kilsby’s transformation is underway…
Pushed down the canal from Banbury to Aynho
Jack, a volunteer and liveaboard boater, helped move Kilsby. It was a long haul!
Jack’s been involved with the project since the very beginning. You can read his engaging account of the move here.
Kilsby takes flight!
Kilsby broke free from the water when a crane hoisted her out of the canal at Aynho Wharf and on to a lorry.
A group of ‘gongoozlers’ came to watch, sing songs and eat cake!
Kilsby prepares for a 60 mile road trip
Kilsby was driven to Stourbridge, in the West Midlands, to settle in for a serious overhaul at David Kemp Boatbuilding.
Cruising all the way on the canal would have taken too long - more than nine days, not to mention possible closures on the network. This gentle pace is normally one of the most amazing qualities of canal culture - but we have a project plan, a timeline, and we needed to shimmy it along! Relocating by road seemed to be the best option to secure our crucial slot at the boatyard.
Why Stourbridge?
Few people have the specialist skills needed for this type of restoration project. David Kemp is one of them.
We are lucky to have David as project partner, benefitting from his expertise in reviving Kilsby and all her historical features for the community.
‘Out of the water' at David Kemp's boatyard, with David and project lead Steph
Work began on April 13. What does this involve?
Kilsby will be rebuilt to look like she did 113 years ago - plus a few modern features. This means reinstating the original design of the hull, and adding an extra 10ft to the length of the boat (this was removed when she was ‘modernised’ at some point last century).
A backcabin and forecabin will be rebuilt and the stern (back end) remodelled to allow for a propulsion system.
We’ll give you more nitty gritty as work progresses - watch this space.
Kilsby on hard standing
How long will this take?
Work is expected to take 9 months, completing in January 2027. But as with any big job like this, expect the unexpected!
Can we go and visit?
YES! From May.
If you’d like to take a trip up to Stourbridge add your name to the list and we'll get back to you.
Meanwhile… If you’d like to join a Kilsby social a little closer to home….
We’re planning an informal evening social - 'Bring your own Waterways Icon'.
Come and share stories about someone special you’ve known, met or simply heard about.
11th June. More details to come.
And finally...
Historical titbit of the month!
Albert Brace was born on Kilsby in 1934. He was interviewed by Robert Davies of Waterways World in 2008. Here he talks about his life growing up on the narrowboat.
This photo shows Grantham, a boat from the same fleet as Kilsby, in the 1930s
"I was born on the narrowboat Kilsby (in 1934) to Jack and Eliza Brace at the Bordesley Street Depot, in Birmingham. Here, the company had the use of a basin plus warehousing facilities... I had two brothers, Jack and Isaac, and a sister Violet. We all learned the ways of the canals as we grew from infants. Kilsby was our butty boat; the iron motor was Pilot, built in 1924 at Saltley and registered in Birmingham...
During the war years we were issued with ration books like everyone else in the country. These little books full of coupons could be used in a limited number of shops along the canal to purchase carefully weighed portions of tea, sugar, cheese and so on. Even though food was limited, we didn’t fare too badly. And the whole family knew their routine for work: Dad or my older brother steered the motor, Mom the butty, while the rest of us lock-wheeled. Occasionally I had a day at school at Bulls Bridge [near Uxbridge], but that was a rarity, and I wasn’t able to read or write until I was much older."
Photo: Taken by Cyril Arapoff in 1930s, showing the cabin and back of the Fellows, Morton & Clayton butty Grantham, no. 262 (Kilsby is no.275 in the same fleet)
https://collections.canalrivertrust.org.uk/bw192.3.1.2.3.24
If you have any information about Kilsby's past, or the people and places in this article please get in touch: Kilsby@jlht.org
Thanks very much for reading, come back next month for another catch up on all things Kilsby!
