Calopteryx

Calopteryx is a 58 foot 6 inch narrowboat. The shell is a Jonathan Wilson “Josher” style with recessed panels The fit out is being completed by Forton Boat Fitters at Wheelton Boatyard. This is at Johnson’s Hillocks Locks near Chorley on The Leeds and Liverpool canal. It is an ongoing project because of the delays caused by Covid 19. The engine wil be a Barrus Shire 44. We wanted a bit of extra power as most of our cruising will be on rivers. Over the years we have cruised using hire boats, generally 66 feet long, and they are not available where we need them and in any case, are too long for the Northern Canals. We originally thought to name the boat Brindley James, as a nod to that famous canal engineer, but it fell out of favour. However Calopteryx (Virgo) is the latin for Beautiful Demioselle, a common damselfly on Southern waters, though they are creeping North. Choosing this name also solved the arguments over the colour schemes! So now we wait, hopefully to launch in August 2020. Time to build and rebuild this site. (photos to follow)