Hardy was the last wooden narrowboat to be built by Nurser Brothers of Braunston in September 1940 for Samuel Barlow Coal Company and carried coal to the wharf in Banbury (where the bus station is now) until the late 1950s. In 1962, HARDY was sold to the Blue Line Carriers in Braunston and some time before 1971, she was sold into private ownership and converted to a pleasure boat.
In 2018 Tooley’s Boatyard raised her in Braunston and brought her to Banbury with a view to saving this historic vessel. We’ve managed to keep her from further deterioration mostly by keeping her sunk so that her timbers don’t dry out and fall apart!
In February 2025 we were awarded a grant by National Historic Ships UK towards docking, surveying, mapping the hull planks, prioritising which need replacing first along with some caulking and hull work.
To help out… go to: https://ko-fi.com/historicnarrowboathardy where you can pop a bit of loose change into the virtual piggy bank, about the equivalent of a cup of coffee would be just perfect!
Supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, over the canal weekend in October 2022 we asked 100’s of people what they thought the future of Hardy should be. The overwhelming response was that it should be restored to a functioning boat.
But… restoring an old boat is a lot of work and is very expensive! In order to keep costs down we will use volunteers who can learn a lot from expert craftsmen for much of the restoration work. So if you would like to be involved in the work please get in touch with boatyard.
We are currently asking for volunteers. Please contact us via 01295 272917 if you can help.
See Hardy on Facebook
BBC Oxfordshire News – April 2025
Coal trade narrowboat restoration work begins
BBC Sounds
(Starting at 1 hour, 38 mins)
Latest on Hardy:
Hardy 2-4-25 a
Hardy slid smoothly into dock ready for next stage.
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.
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 and why we need to keep it clear of mud.