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News from the museum
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On this page we tell you about some of the things we have been doing at the museum. You can also follow our social media feeds to get more immediate updates and news.
Moored outside the museum at the rear is the tug Bantam IV, which was built at Brentford and launched in London in 1950. In the summer we had hopes of getting the engine started and taking it to the Angel Canal Festival but these hopes came to nothing when we found it impossible to start the engine. The engine is the original one, a Lister JP2 diesel, started by hand. Unfortunately a diesel engineer could not fix the problem and found water where water should not be and on his advice a decision was made to give the engine a complete overhaul. This has not been done since the museum aquired the tug in 1994 and quite possibly it has never been done.
Right: Bantam IV on the way to Canalway Cavalcade in 2015, seen at hampstead Road Lock
The engine needs to be taken out of the tug and that's not an easy thing to do. In November plans are in place to tow the tug from the museum to Watford where a specialist boatyard has the facilities to remove the engine-room cover and lift the engine out onto a lorry. It can then be taken by road to Vintage Diesels at Braunston, Northamptonshire, a company that specialises in the rebuilding of old diesel marine engines. Whilst the engine is away, the engine compartment can be cleaned and repainted, and the hull re-coated and inspected by a surveyor.
We have made the decision to have electric start fitted to the engine. This means a small modification to the original engine, which is something a museum would not normally do. As a museum we aim to preserve original artefacts as they are. However, the modification will make it easier to maintain the engine in working order in the future and we decided that on balance that was in the best interests of conservation. Manual start of a large marine diesel is hard work and exhausting and can be beyond the physical strength of older volunteers.
To enable the tug to be towed to Watford we have enlisted help from Hillingdon Narrowboat Association who are facilitating the loan of a privately-owned tug and a boat that can provide crew accommodation and amenities.
All being well boat movements will take place week commencing 11th November 2024
The museum's jointly-owned passenger boat Long Tom has had nother good start to the summer season with many scheduled trips being full or close to full. In 2023 we sold 3530 tickets for boat trips on Long Tom, substantially boosting our visitor numbers to around 20,000 visitors per year. In 2024 we have increased the programme slightly so we hope to beat the 2023 record. The boat trips have been a great success for the museum and have contributed to our charitable objective of public education. Most trips include a commentary from a guide as well as a cup of tea or coffee and we probably make the nicest Fairtrade coffee on the canals, using coffee bags. All trips include a museum visit.
