Narrowboat President

History of NB President

Link to the Presidents Website: President

President

President was built in 1909 at a cost of £600 in Fellows Morton and Clayton's company dock
at Saltley, Birmingham. One of the directors of the company, Joshua Fellows, gave his name
to the distinctly shaped `Josher' hull which has riveted wrought iron sides and a 3" elm
bottom. The company built and operated 31 steamers between 1889 and 1928. The specially
developed compound steam engine and coke fired boiler took up much valuable cargo space.

Steamers could carry 18 tons compared to over 25 tons in a horse drawn boat but were powerful
enough to tow several un-powered boats behind, called butty boats. Steamers often worked fly,
that is day and night, on the canals between London, Birmingham, Coventry, Derby and Nottingham.

The busiest part of the route was between London and the canal centre of Braunston. Here
steamers often unloaded or exchanged cargoes or butty boats, returning to London or working
on alone to Birmingham where narrow locks made it easier to use a horse rather than tow the
unpowered boats. Steamers usually took 54 hours between London and Birmingham non-stop using about 1 ton of coke as fuel and drawing water direct from the canal.

Photo Copyright © of Bob Jervis

Most cargoes were valuable ones such as spices, tea, wool, cheese, soap, sugar, wheat,
barrels of beer and spirits, tinned goods and even bedsteads and bicycles. The maximum
crew of a steamer was four men or women working shifts. All male crews were usual except
during the Great War when family crews ran several steamers.

Steamer captains, whose distinctive uniform included unbleached corduroy trousers, took great
pride in the appearance of their boats. Practical blue overalls were worn by the engine driver
and his assistant, whose job also included boiler stoking. A curtain protected the engine from
dust when firing or cleaning boiler tubes. There was spartan sleeping accommodation in the cabin
and in front of the boiler a hammock was provided for the driver. Any cooking was done on the
`bottle' stove in the cabin or using the heat from the boiler. Bell signals provided the means
of communication between the steerer and the engine driver.

Photo Copyright © of the Webb Family
President during her Bolinder years from 1925 to 1932.
Photograph shows Hanna Webb, Daughter of Captain Tom Webb.

The problem of the lack of space for cargo and crew was solved by the introduction of the more
compact Swedish Bolinder Crude Oil engine. Fellows, Morton and Clayton tried their first motor
boat in 1912 and the first steamers were converted in 1915. President had her boiler and engine
replaced by a 15 horse power Bolinder NE in May 1925 at Saltley at a total cost of £287 and
returned to the FMC fleet as a Motor Boat.

With her carrying capacity increased by nearly 5 tons and the crew reduced by two, President,
bearing the newly introduced colour scheme of red, yellow and green, went to Shipley Colliery
with her butty, Beatrice and loaded nearly 50 tons of coal for Stoke Bruerne. She worked regularly
between London, Leicester, Nottingham and in 1933 started journeys between London and Birmingham
along the improved and widened Grand Union Canal. Her main cargo was coal but after 1944, some
journeys with different loads took President to Ellesmere Port, Liverpool and Manchester. She was
sold in 1946 to the Walsall based coal carrier Ernest Thomas. President was resold to George Matthews
of Wolverhampton to carry coal in early 1948, the year in which canals were nationalized. Possibly as
part of an unpaid debt, she passed into the ownership of the British Waterways Northern Maintenance
fleet based at Northwich. She ended her working days as a maintenance boat on the Trent and Mersey,
Macclesfield and Shropshire Union canals. At some stage in the late 1960’s the Bolinder engine was
removed and replaced with an AS2.

Advertised for sale as a derelict, engineless hulk lying at Northwich in 1973, President was
bought by enthusiasts Nicholas Bostock and Malcolm Braine, boatbuilder, for restoration to its
original appearance complete with working steam plant. After extensive major repairs to the hull and building a complete replica cabin and boiler room, the major difficulty was finding a suitable engine and boiler, because the originals had been scrapped. A 1925 vintage Muir and Findley boiler of "Scotch" return tube type, virtually identical to the original but working at 100 psi, was installed along with a contemporary simple twin cylinder engine originally from a Thames launch. The boiler was fed with filtered canal water by a 1927 Worthington Simpson Horizontal steam pump. The President Steamer Company operated the boat from 1978 as a museum piece throughout the canal system.

President was bought by the Black Country Living Museum in January 1983. Friends of President
was formed in October 1984 to assist in the operation and maintenance of this unique vessel.
In 1990 the Muir and Findley boiler was replaced by a Cochran dryback return flue boiler.

In January 2001, President was taken to Ian Kemp’s yard at Stourbridge. She had been a restored
steamer for 25 years – 8 years longer than when she was a commercial steam narrow boat! Since 1976,
there had been natural wear and tear on Malcolm Braine’s restoration, resulting in the need for a
certain amount of re-restoration

It was also necessary to replace the steam engine. The search for a Haines compound condensing engine as originally installed in President 90 years ago had not been successful.
A 50 year old Sissons single cylinder engine (with a 7” bore and 12” stroke, developing
12/14 hp), has been installed complete with a condenser.

President continues to be based at the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley. During the
summer months, President and her butty Kildare visit rallies and events, recreating a scene
long absent from the canal system.

Thanks must be given to Richard Thomas PRESIDENTS archivist and historian for producing
this article for us. Also to the owners of the excellent photographs we've been allowed to display.

There is a Link to the Presidents website at the top of this page where you will find even more
Information on this all time great. Loads more interesting photos to view and you can become a
member...they also give crew lessons...well worth a visit.

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