Registration number 2379
Status Registered
a12admin
Swan - starboard view
Photo Comp 2012 entry: Swan and Buckden resting at Hebden Bridge

Details

Function Cargo Vessel
Subfunction Narrow Boat
Location Trent & Mersey Canal
Current use Private use
Available to hire No
Available for excursions No

Construction

Builder Yarwood, W J & Sons Ltd, Northwich
Built in 1933
Hull material Steel
Rig None
Number of decks 1
Propulsion Motor
Number of engines 1
Primary engine type Semi diesel
Boiler type None
Boilermaker None

Dimensions

Breadth: Beam
7.10 feet (2.17m)
Depth
4.20 feet (1.28m)
Length: Overall
70.50 feet (21.50m)
Tonnage: Gross
20.00

History

SWAN was the first of eight motor boats built by W J Yarwoods & Sons Ltd in 1933 for W H Cowburn & Cowpar, a chemical company based in Trafford Park, Manchester. Used to carry chemicals in carbuoys or drums, SWAN was then later fitted with special tanks to carry carbon disulphide to Courtaulds, based in Coventry, using Bridgewater, Trent & Mersey and Coventry canals.

SWAN was sold circa 1956 to Gordon Waddington of Bolton to carry coal from Lancashire coalfields to Runcorn gasworks, using the Bridgwater canal. No modifications have been made to SWAN; she retains her original engine (Gardner 4VT also in Skylark and Stork) and fuel tanks while the canal artwork, castles and roses painted in the 1940s or 1950s, are preserved on fittings in the back cabin. SWAN remains in good condition following a cabin restoration in 1999 and the restoration of the hull and wooden bottom in 2009.

Sources

Liley, John, Journeys of the Swan, Allen & U, 1971

Own this vessel?

If you are the owner of this vessel and would like to provide more details or updated information, please contact info@nationalhistoricships.org.uk