This is a picture of the family narrowboat “Chestnut Ten”, pictured here at the end of the Montgomery Canal in Wales, in a section that was re-watered in 2014. The first water seen since the canal breeched in 1936. I know this because I helped with the restoration. Click here for a video about the latest stretch being reclaimed, starring my good friend Mr Fred Barrett..
Chestnut is based on a Liverpool Hull from Skater Marine, and was fitted out by a guy in Knutsford who traded as Chestnut Marine Limited. He would custom-build one boat a year for a customer. My boat is the tenth boat he built, intended for himself and his wife when he retired, but as his wife fell ill he decided to sell the boat.
In 2010 Chestnut’s Builder decided to write the Ten in Roman Numerals. Unfortunately although pretty much everything nowadays is computerised almost nobody knows how to insert a Roman Numeral Ten and so the boat is listed as “Chestnut X ” everywhere.
A time machine
The problem with going anywhere on a Narrowboat is that it takes a lot of time. For instance, we moor the boat near Stone in Staffordshire and are planning a trip to York. Google Maps says this can be done in 2 hrs 20 minutes – in a car. In a Narrowboat it’s around 31 days. Of course it could be done in half the time if the boat keeps moving for 10 to 12 hours a day. But that’s not exactly in the spirit of Narrowboating. Long gone are the days when wooden Fly-boats were dragged along the canals by galloping horses! Nowadays it is pretty much essential to check out every pub passed, and there are lots.
The Website
Chestnut has her own website: www.chestnut10.org.uk