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 9-10-24
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…
Hardy 7-9-24
A messy session lead by Ian Staples: heated up the Charlie that we made a few weeks ago. Mixed it with Oakham and filled a troublesome hole up from the inside and outside of the boat.
Hardy 27-7-24
Coming up this afternoon… preparation for learning about Charlie making…
Hardy 23-6-24
A combination of drier weather and last week’s jaunt has caused Hardy to spring a few small leaks. Here’s Craig, one of the team, at work with some hemp and a caulking tool…
Hardy-16-6-24
A fine bit of teamwork taking Hardy on a voyage to turn round – so we can work on the other side.
Hardy 18-5-24
Now we have planks, a day of planning… Ian Staples, our resident wooden boat expert came to have a proper look at the new planks and advise on storage until we start using them.