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 after more than two decades.
As well as being a thoroughly busy and revered actor, Tim West, with his wife Prunella Scales, had strong links to the Boatyard and visited us regularly.
Their boat, Peggy Thompson, was built here in Banbury at Tooley’s boatyard in the 1990 by local boat builder Barrie Morse. They also moored in the town for many years – initially near Hennef Way and later, at Sovereign Wharf. In 2019 they moved the boat to Braunston to be a little more central with options to cruise without too many locks as they were both in their 80s by then. That journey was filmed as their last Channel 4 Great Canal Journey. By that time Prunella was suffering from increasing dementia but the muscle memory kicked in as soon as she grasped the tiller and she still handled the boat with confidence.
As well as boating trips they were great champions for the heritage of the waterways, sharing the stories and history of the canals through not only Great Canal Journeys and other television appearances but supporting the restoration of various canals including the Kennet and Avon with its famous flight of 18 locks at Devizes, the Caen flight. Theirs was the first boat to navigate the flight when it was reopened by the late Queen Elizabeth in August 1990
Locally, they were regular visitors to Banbury’s Canal Day in October over many years after Matt Armitage, who has run Tooley’s for over 20 years, wrote and asked them to come and open the event in 2009.
“I wasn’t sure they would want to come, given all their commitments, but they accepted with enthusiasm and spent the day exploring and meeting everyone associated with Tooley’s and the forge. Since then they have attended several canal days and other events”
Often making the trip to Banbury from their home in South London specifically to see or join in an event. They attended shows at Theatre in the Dock – apparently a little nerve wracking for the performers to be in front of not just one, but two national treasures! Tim’s contribution wasn’t only as audience, in 2017 he took part in two audio pieces created by Tooley’s trustee, writer, performer and boatwoman, Kate Saffin.
Kate says
It was such a privilege to work with Tim, such a joy to watch a consummate pro sit down with a script, read it through, ask a few questions about the background… and then find just the right character and record it.
In 2019 he attended the celebration of the creation of Tooley’s Boatyard Trust on the 250th anniversary of the first meeting of the Oxford Canal Company shareholders – in the room where it happened – at Whately Hall (known as the Three Tuns in 1769). A particularly special moment for him was being reunited with Barry Morse and reminiscing about the building of their boat nearly 30 years earlier.
Matt remembers Prunella dashing into the shop, windlass in hand, while Tim was in the lock with the boat, to say hello or order an item they needed for the boat. One of Tim’s final contributions to the canal in Banbury was to write the forward for Matt’s history of the boatyard ‘Forging Ahead’ in which he said:
“Tooley’s Boatyard in Banbury has for me a personal importance. My own narrowboat was built here in 1990, by Barrie Morse, who at that time held the lease for the Boatyard … and in many ways the yard continues to uphold the principles of traditional skills as laid down by George and Herbert Tooley at the very beginning of the 20th century”.
Links
An article in Banbury Guardian covering the trust launch event in 2019: https://www.banburyguardian.co.uk/news/people/banburys-tooleys-boatyard-looks-to-the-future-691636
https://soundcloud.com/user-731508666 – The making of Cressy: Tim plays George Tooley Senior and Docking narrated by Tim