History of Narrowboat Alder
Alder as it exists today was built in 1965 at British Waterways’ Bradley workshops in Birmingham. It was believed that at the time two ex-working boats were used to make the tug, recent research has revealed otherwise.
In the autumn of 1965, ex Fellows Morton and Clayton motorboat Alder was cut up at Bradley. The fore-end was given a new stern and made into an un-powered painting boat called Alder II. The stern was given new bows and made into a 22ft pusher tug called simply Alder. The same processes were applied to another FMC motorboat, the Bream.
The hull of the motorboat Alder had been built by WJ Yarwood of Northwich in 1931. It was made of coppered steel, that is steel with a proportion of copper in its make up and was delivered to the FMC workshops at Saltley in Birmingham, where it was given a cabin and engine room, housing a Bolinder semi-diesel engine. In September 1931 the motorboat entered the FMC fleet at no 301. It was registered in both Birmingham and Northwich and began work mainly in the North West, working on the Shropshire Union and Trent & Mersey Canals.
Restoration of NB Alder
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