The Pen Makers Boat: #544 Now Sold

NB Saturn Oak and Chrome Premium Ballpoint Twist Pen

(£4 from the sale of this pen will be gifted to The Shropshire Union Fly-Boat Restoration Society, the Custodians of NB Saturn)

EUROPEAN OAK - Quercus robur

Usually straight-grained, the heartwood of European Oak varies in colour from light tan to brown. Quarter-sawn pieces show attractive flame figuring. The wood is fairly hard, heavy and dense, clean but with the occasional knot. European Oak is a beautiful timber and with an oil finish, the grain will turn a deep golden brown.

This particular piece of oak (probably English rather than European) is just a little bit special though. It is one of the large bow mainframes from the Shropshire Fly Boat Saturn. The days of the fly-boats began with the success of the Bridgewater and Trent & Mersey canals in the 1770’s. Up until the heyday of the fly boats cargos had sedately plodded up the towing paths (Haling Way’s in them thar days) at three miles per hour or so but the new Fly Boats with teams of four men and two horses regularly galloped their loads of perishable goods at ten miles per hour.

Built in 1906 for the Shropshire Union Canal Carrying Co. at Tower Wharf, Chester, Saturn was used for the fast carriage of cheese from the producing towns of Cheshire and Shropshire to the major markets such as Manchester.

Saturn is the last horse-drawn Shropshire Union Canal Fly-boat in the World – originally built to travel non-stop, day and night. Over 100 years old, she has been fully restored to her former glory; not only to preserve her for posterity but to educate present and future generations about our waterways, narrowboats and horse-boating.

Pen #544 was turned Mercia Marina, Willington on 21st May 2016

After Fradley Junction and the drop down through busy locks came a run across glorious countryside to Alrewas and down onto the main Trent River for a short run past fast flowing weirs and our stop at Burton-on-Trent. It was a short half day trip through a few more downhill locks and into Mercia Marina at Willington which would be our next port of call and a floating market with the added benefits of the marina facilities including our much anticipated 240v electrical hook-up.

This was our first time trading from pontoons and it certainly did bring a new set of challenges. The first of which was just getting into position on our pontoon. The wide open spaces created by all the flat water in these new super-marinas can really accelerate any breeze into a ferocious wind that will blow a 60 foot 18 ton flat bottomed narrowboat off course in the blink of an eye. Luckily our fellow traders were there to lend a helping hand.

It wasn’t until the first trading day that many of us appreciated that the very narrow (and shorter than advertised) finger pontoons were going to be a tight squeeze for sharing with another boat. They were only about two foot wide and had no barrier at the far end which at 40 feet long was about two thirds the way along the average boat. We shared our pontoon with a day trip boat which was fine until it started leaving every hour for fifty minutes to convey its passengers around the local canals leaving our customers standing back to look at the pen displays and teetering on the edge of the pontoon!

Like I say a challenging weekend but enjoyable none the less, however it may be something that we don't revisit in the future as our insurance is valid for trading from a towpath only.