Name Southam

Built in 1936 by W. H. Walker of Rickmansworth for The Grand Union Canal Carrying Company, SOUTHAM is a cargo carrying butty of wooden construction. She has transverse elm bottoms, steel knees and carvel oak sides and was a towed vessel. She worked on the canals between London and the West Midlands carrying coal and general cargo.

Sold as surplus to requirements in 1962. After an abortive attempt use her for cargo carrying again, stymied by the great freeze, she was fitted with a full length cabin and marinised BMC  3.4 litre Commodore diesel engine in 1965.

For the next 27 years she was use by various owners as a pleasure boat or residential craft. Abandoned and sunk in 1992, British Waterways took possession of her and sold her to The Wooden Canal Craft Trust (now the Wooden Canal Boat Society Limited) who towed her to Runcorn for extensive refitting and dry dock work.  The BMC engine was rebuilt as a 3.8 litre unit.

In 1995 she moved to Portland Basin Museum, Ashton under Lyne, where she has been very useful for towing, particularly on recycling trips.

In 2014 SOUTHAM suffered a transmission failure and was laid aside pending  mechanical, cabin and hull repairs. These have been started but the 2020 pandemic caused delays.

The intention is to keep SOUTHAM in her motorised/converted condition to represent the way that former working boats had a new lease of life following the demise of the carrying trade. She will be used when needed for towing and will travel to waterway events to promote the work of the Wooden Canal Boat Society. The old BMC engine has been replaced by a similar unit in better condition.