A HISTORIC narrowboat embarked on a 10-day journey from Ellesmere Port to Stoke Bruerne last week.

Sculptor, one of the few historic composite hulled narrowboats still working the UK, set off on a 10-day journey from the National Waterways Museum in Ellesmere Port.

The boat is going back home to her mooring at the Canal Museum in Stoke Bruerne where she is going back on permanent display.

The narrowboat has spent the summer months being repainted at the Northwich Dry Dock before moving to the museum for essential preventative conservation work (oiling the wooden boards, tarring the keelson), as well as undergoing a deep clean to prevent further deterioration. 

Built in 1935, Sculptor is a unique treasure, starting out as a firefighting boat during the Second World War and now one of the Canal & River Trust’s few operational boats in its Collection.

Chester and District Standard:

The summer make-over was led by collections technician Alec Swain, supported by a team of museum staff and volunteers.

Alec said: “It’s been a big collaborative effort to get all the conservation work done and now to get her back home.

"We’re very grateful for the help of Canal and River Trust staff as well as volunteers from across the country and even some members of the public. Moving a historic narrowboat does come with challenges. 

"We ran aground in the 40 mile/hr winds at one point, but thankfully a man walking his dog came to our rescue and pulled us off the bank. There have also been some surprising coincidences.

"When we arrived at our scheduled stop in Norbury, we were excited to see ‘Spey’ another well-known and much-loved historic boat (with strong connections to the National Waterways Museum) already moored up, and the surprises didn’t end there.

"A man in the pub where we had dinner overheard us chatting and mentioned he used to work on Sculptor in the late 1970s.

"We swapped numbers to stay in touch so we can find out more about what it was like working on the boat nearly 50 years ago.

"After so much time out of action, it’s really rewarding to see Sculptor back where she belongs; back out on the waterways giving demonstrations of historic boating for everyone to enjoy.”  

In 1943 Sculptor was commissioned by the Ministry for War Transport to be used as a firefighting boat and was used frequently in the V1 and V2 bombardment of London between 1944 and 1945.

After WWII she was returned to the Grand Union Canal Carrying Co. and then following nationalisation spent much of her life as an engineering works boat.

In 1985 she came to Ellesmere Port to be restored and then moved to The Canal Museum in Stoke Bruerne which has now become her home.