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 9-11-24
We’ve reached the half-way mark with our crowdfunding prize draw to support the restoration of Hardy. And to cheer you on, here is a short video made for us by the talented Ollie of Banbury BID with incidental music by Dom Prag.
Hardy 2-11-24
The team hunting down a possibly leak: we’re really looking forward to buying those power tools and being able to start replacing planks! And we might need a few more brooms as well.
Hardy 2-11-24a
Please take a look at our prize draw fundraiser, enter to win a forge experience and share the Hardy love (and possibly the mud).
Hardy 24-10-24
Rounding off our videos of hemp rolling and caulking at canal weekend – Nathan and Jacob weighing with the (yes we know it’s not a caulking…) hammer and caulking iron!
Hardy 12-10-24
Here’s a bit more of last weekend’s canal festival and the demonstrations of caulking: Jacob learning how to tease out and roll hemp ready to pleat and then hammer it into the gaps between the planks of Hardy’s hull. With some sage advice on had from Ian Staples!
Hardy 9-10-24
A busy festival weekend in Banbury with all sorts going on including boat trips, a floating market, live music and more (not that yours truly got out of the dock to see any of it, but it was all there). Our wooden boat expert, Ian Staples was demonstrating caulking on Hardy. Here’s how it’s done…