Name Bream

This is the Stern section of the original BREAM, with the Bow section found here.

BREAM was built in 1932 as a Fish Class narrow boat by W. J. Yarwood & Sons Ltd of Northwich for Fellows, Morton & Clayton Ltd. The Fish Class is a set of 18 single motor boats built for Fellows, Morton and Clayton between 1932 and 1936. The Fish Class was designed as a special fleet of fast express boats, each with a hold two feet longer than the standard motors, enabling them to carry 25 tons easily. They could be more flexible and offer an express service in response to increasing competition from rail and road.  All had 9hp Bolinder engines fitted. 

BREAM was the first built, ordered as the prototype vessel. Her hull was built of coppered steel, unlike other Fish Class vessels, lined with pitch pine planking in the style of a 'Josher' with a pointed bow. Her British Waterways index number was 053621 and her fleet number was 130. She was registered at Birmingham and was aptly nicknamed the MAURETANIA by the crew after the Blue Riband Cunard liner of the time. She is believed to have broken all records for the fastest runs, fully laden.

BREAM spent most of her working life on the Shropshire Union Canal, travelling between Ellesmere Port and the Black Country.  Cargoes carried included metal tubes from Bilston to Ellesmere Port, and flour and sugar in the opposite direction.

In the late 1960s, BREAM was cut into two halves. The 15’ Stern section was converted to a pusher tug/icebreaker by riveting the 30’ fore end of an LMS day boat. At this point, her original engine was replaced with her current engine, a more powerful Armstrong Siddeley AS3, but retained her original Bolinder fuel tanks. BREAM’s Stern section is one of the few survivors of boats that were specially created from earlier boats at a time when costs of new craft were prohibitive. 

After conversion, BREAM was fitted out as a hire boat until sold to private ownership, after which she underwent various modifications including a steel roof. She took part in the Avenue of Sail for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Pageant on 3 June 2012. 

Update, June 2026: Vessel for sale.