Author: Robin-at-Tooleys
Hardy 22-3-25
Turning Hardy around ready to go into the dry dock. A very smooth trip up to the winding hole – an impeccable turn, didn’t even need a banksman with a rope to help her round. And then back to her mooring.
Hardy 8-3-25
Today’s task is to fit some plates over gaps in the hull. This involves Craig getting quite a workout getting some Chalico softened up ready to use.
National Historic Ships UK
Delighted to tell you that National Historic Ships UK have awarded us a grant of £500 towards Hardy docking, surveying, mapping the hull planks, prioritising which need replacing first + some caulking and hull work. Docking is booked for April 3rd – 5th: watch out for more details about an open day, new opportunities for…
Unlocked!
Finally, Banbury Lock is open after being closed since the beginning of January. Lock 29 on the Oxford Canal in Banbury has been closed since early January for essential repairs. The Canal & River Trust initiated the closure to address maintenance issues, with the work finishing February 21, 2025. The new lock gate has been…
Jewellery from the Stars
We have been having fun in the forge recently where we have been forging a nickel iron meteorite into jewellery! It fell in Sweden in 1906 but it is actually around 4.2 billion years old and came from a asteroid belt near Jupiter. This is a small part of around 250kg of the material found…
Hardy 1-2-25
We covered Hardy’s cabin some time ago and, to be honest, it’s been looking rather untidy for a while. So today is Makeover Day.
Hardy 19-1-25
2025 has started for Hardy with some work on plates to make keeping her dry (I think I’ve got that right, I don’t understand half the technical stuff that goes on!) and discovering the bilge pump battery is a bit poorly…
Hardy 30-11-24
Hardy’s Bilge Pump: Now that winter is upon us we have a weekly checklist to keep Hardy safe and well till spring. Bilge pumps and mud were the key topic on Saturday! Here’s one of our volunteers, Chloie Green, who has a lot of boat working experience running through the workings of the main pump…
Tim West
We were very sorry to hear of the death of Timothy West, actor and canal champion, on November 13th aged 90. He was working till the last, with his last TV appearance aired on Wednesday Nov 14th – a guest role in soap Doctors in what was its penultimate episode before it finished on the 15th…
Storm Bert Leave its Mark
As with everybody else, we at Tooley’s Boatyard have been suffering with the water levels from “Storm Bert”. On Sunday we came the closest since 2007 to flooding. The towpaths went under water, and the water came through the boatyard and made it to the front doors of the Chandlery. A big thank you to…