Name Queen

QUEEN was launched in 1917 and constructed by an unknown builder. The first owners of this narrowboat were Hildick & Hildick of Walsall and her original name was WALSALL QUEEN. Her construction is of wood; transverse elm bottom, iron knees and carvel sides. She was purchased by A. Harvey-Taylor in 1924 and re-registered as QUEEN at Tring. Her original engine was replaced at this time with a Bolinder. She was abandoned in 1947, then sold as a pleasure boat in 1949. Abandoned again in 1986, she was rescued as a houseboat. In 1993, she sank and was left at Denham. The following year, British Waterways donated the boat to the Wooden Canal Craft Trust (now the Wooden Canal Boat Society Limited) who raised her and moved her 200 miles to Runcorn for preservation. She rests now at The Portland Basin Museum, Ashton-under-Lyne where she is the last survivor of the Hildick & Hildick fleet with a hull unaltered from its original construction.