For as many years as I can remember Kilsby has been moored on the Hythe Bridge Arm in Oxford. You may remember a pinky red paneled boat with yellow framing opposite the small, but adequate facilities block. It has, for the last several years, looked very sorry for itself, there being a constant battle to keep the water on the outside. Recently the owner relinquished her grasp and bought a new boat and Kilsby was donated to a charity.
Kilsby, if she was able to be saved, is to gain a new life as a hire/trip boat and had to be towed to Tooley's Historic Boat Yard where it was to be appraised and the first stage of its reformation was to be performed.
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Wrapped ready for transportation
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It travelled over several days as volunteers were available. The boat was so badly listing that Tooley's placed several old batteries on the roof to level it up. During its stay in Thrupp the batteries were nicked and had to be replaced before it could continue its journey. One day it appeared behind me on the Tooley's Wharf.
Tuesday 28/01 it was unceremoniously dragged into the dry dock where it started being stripped of its 'soft' bits, of which there were many. There was not a piece of wood on the boat that was not damp to one degree or another. This was a shame because there was a lot of Mahogany on it.
On Day One the inside was stripped out. It was not pleasant. There was more wild life hiding behind the slimy wood walls than was healthy, some of the biggest slugs, snails, and worms I have ever seen. The half filled skip at the yard was soon filled and then the yard itself.
6 0'clock ish next morning the skip was taken away and a nice empty one put in its place. It didn't take long for the volunteers to fill this one all stacked very neatly. The cross board water tank came out followed by the poo tank and a strange oblong box construction in the top of which was gas bottle storage and below a coal bunker.
On Thursday there was another change of skip and the loading continued filling this one to its maximum capacity. This saw the majority of the wood out of the boat and any 'surplus' stacked up on the wharf again. The BMC 1.8 also came out.
Yet another skip arrived and was subsequently filled on Friday and still the junk came out, including a ton or more of house bricks.
Saturday morning came, and buckets and buckets full of detritus that had been residing on the bottom of the boat under the floor were added to the pile already on the wharf which included a fridge and a cooker …… oh and a bath!
Once again when Monday came the skip was replaced with an empty and that afternoon I filled that skip to nearly full with what was on the wharf, only the bath remains.
Kilsby was taken out of the dock first thing and moored up near where the old bridge had been.
Kilsby is an interesting boat because its cast iron hull sides and wooden tri-keelson bottom are 107 years old. In its heyday it had been a working boat and for many years after that a house boat having at least three owners during its 25 years on the Hythe Bridge Arm!
I had the privilege of towing the now stripped hull up the canal to the old arm where it will rest until April when it will be inspected and assessed for refurb. I will post the vid next week.
