Name France

Built in 1904 by Fellows Morton & Clayton at Saltley, Birmingham, FRANCE is a narrow boat of iron construction with a diesel engine by Lister model JP2. From 1904 to 1937 she was a horse-drawn carrying boat, then an engine was installed by Yarwoods at Northwich and and she continued in the FMC fleet until nationalisation in 1949. 

In 1951 she was sold to Thomas Clayton at Oldbury, converted to a liquid cargo boat, carrying tar, and renamed ADDER. In 1956 she was sold to Jones & Powell and her tanks were removed.  In 1962 she was sold to Leonard Leigh. During the 1980s she was owned by Mungo Oark and leased to Warwickshire Fly as a camping boat. Her name reverted to FRANCE during this time. In 1994 she was sold to Alan Vigar, in 2009 to Steve Harmer, and in 2010 to Frank Ritchies.  Under his ownership an extensive restoration programme was carried out by Roger Farrington and Michael Pinnock, restoring FRANCE to carrying condition.  A Bolinder 1113 engine was installed at this time. In 2012 she was repainted in Leonard Leigh colours. In 2015 she was sold to Paul James and based at Alvecote Marina. 

In March 2024, FRANCE was bought by David Ray of Norbury Wharf Ltd, Staffordshire.  Since then an extensive maintenance programme has been carried out, including a full repaint, partial replacement of running gear, docking for inspection and blacking, and engine works.