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Here you will find information on the Editor
of TillerTalk and the WTNBC, Dave, along with the club secretary, Christine, plus an insight in to the builders
of the finest narrowboats, and winners of so many boat shows, year in and year out; Jonathan Wilson and Tim Tyler
| THE EDITOR Dave Beet by
Christine |
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Dave, has
owned and fitted out quite a few boats which, in the early days at least, he had little time to cruise. At that time, he worked
the club & cabaret circuit with his comedy show group and he thought himself very lucky if he managed one weekends boating a month. Dave's boats have been;
(Susie Too) A 20ft Loftus Bennet which he took to sea quite a few
times. Deciding then to see the inland waterway system he purchased a 36ft Narrowboat shell (Suralia) This was a non trad` open rear deck type. Following the fit out he cruised extensively, before
selling it and then buying (Trojan) a 55 ft Narrowboat (Mike Heywood trad) shell, with the
welding by Jonathan Wilson, who at that time was just 16 years of age, Dave again fitted this one out, and once more cruised each weekend
before obtaining a 70ft Narrowboat
(Eagle) This to was a new Mike Heywood shell (welding again by Jonathan Wilson, who was then
19 years old) which he once more fitted out and cruised extensively before returning to sea boating aboard a twin engined
motor cruiser
35ft
Viscount (Storm) While still owning
the Viscount he bought a 45 x 21 ft Catamaran AnnGinSan which required
a full refit. This he only sailed once before selling on to a couple who intended sailing her to New Zealand. In 1996. (Storm
sadly sunk in the summer floods of 2007 and her latest owner saw her written off by the insurance company.)
Dave
then bought, the craft type he had admired for a long time. This was a 36' Moonraker 350, Delta Moon. Again, a total refit was called for before Dave managed to make many trips up and down the
East Coast of Britain and over to Belgium several times. Dave then joined the Moonraker Owners Club and, following
an article submitted to Morvyn Phillips, he was asked if he would consider editing and publishing the first club magazine.
`Moonrakers International` (as it has now become) was born. Following on from this Dave went on to
design and maintain the Moonraker Owners Club website which can be browsed by clicking on the link
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/david.beet He also translated in to English the original Danish Moonraker web site and this also thrives today. Prior to that he
counts himself very fortunate to have also sailed around the West Indies aboard the Cabrina 'J', a 97 ft steel yacht, skippered
by John Horn. He later sailed aboard the same yacht throughout the Med, which took him back to the time he 'drove' 'The
Majulema' (a 77ft Motor Yacht built originally for General Franco) also around the Med.
CLUB SECRETARY Christine Beet by
Dave
Christine became interested in boats and boating at
a very early age, prior to meeting and marrying Dave she had only ever owned a small boat.
Christine has now clocked up many cruising hours aboard
the 57ft Narrowboat 'Volusia' she built alongside Dave in 2005. Christine brings a lot of organisational skills
to the WTNBC.
In the past she too has edited and produced
newsletters, been treasurer of several committees, and has been on the publications and public relations committee of a national
organisation, for which she organised annual rallies and events.. e-mail:- christine@wtnbc.co.uk |
The Builders;
Jonathan Wilson
Always a deep thinker,
even as a youngster, Jonathan has studied in great detail many subjects that on first meeting one would never expect the depth
of knowledge he has on subjects so diverse and far reaching. Interested in narrowboat building, even
before he left school he would often go down to his uncle's boat building establishment in Hanley Stoke on Trent. As soon as he left school he started working for Mike Heywood, first at Stoke and then moving over to Hoo Mill
lock on the Trent and Mersey, just above Great Heywood Junction where Mike's, and Johns early boats were built. After a while John moved on and started building his own boats as Stenson, a good bit further down the Trent and
Mersey. Several other venues saw Jonathan carrying out his skills then he set up at Thorne on the Stainforth and Keadby canal.
The latter move allowed him the room to build wide beam boats which is just another string to Jonathan's
bow, to date he has built quite a few broad beam craft and enjoys the diversity this side of the business brings. Johnathan
was always concerned about the noise his boatbuilding activities brought to the neighbourhood at Thorne, plus a constant problem
with the slipway there so, when the opportunity came to base himself in Sheffield right next door to the beautifully refurbished
canal basin, which is smack in the centre of the city. Well it was a place he couldn't resist! While
all this was happening Mike Heywood passed away and Jonathan took charge of the yard at Hixon for a while before handing this
aspect of the business over to Tim who by now was a full partner in the whole concern. Expansion of the yard at Sussex Street
is planned for the near future with a new, and much larger workshop to compliment the existing one. Add to this Jonathan's
intention to open up a new yard somewhere else on the system with moorings, slipway and possibly a dry dock then it's clear
to see things for the future are looking very positive indeed. One of Jonathan's pet projects at the
moment is the building of a large sea going motor yacht, and to this end he is devoting quite a lot of what spare time he
gets these days.
Tim Tyler
Tim was fascinated by what he had seen of the Narrowboat building world which had dominated
the life of his brother in law, Jonathan Wilson; so much so that he went along and served his apprenticeship under the watchful
eye of Jonathan himself. Tim was a natural, and it took no time at all before he became an award winner
in his own right. Jonathan and he then became full partners in the business. Tim runs the Hixon end of this ever expanding
business. Not many people outside the fraternity realise that all shells produced by Tim and Jonathan
start life at Hixon, they are then transported on to Sheffield where the finishing off takes place at the Sussex Street Yard.
The predominant feature in all this is 'Family'. Not just immediate family, which is a very strong
bond in itself, but when you add the extended family and friends forged over a lifetime, then it is not hard to see where
the quality, so apparent in the craft built by Tim and Jonathan, comes from. Tim, based as he
is at Hixon, is looking after the long family tradition, where the late Mike Heywood had first set the ball rolling.
The family tradition mentioned usually becomes apparent with a phone call to the yard where Tim's Father often answers the
phone. Tim has two daughters who he spends as much time as possible with, but as always the work of keeping the boats coming
out on time devours much individual attention but Tim is quite philosophical about it all and just gets on with the job of
building upon the great reputation he has accrued within the industry.
The Cabinet Maker;
Anthony 'M'
If I were a carpenter,
sang the Four Tops! They must have taken one look at an Anthony ‘M’ fit out and thought they never could be carpenters
to this standard so gave up the idea and became the Anthony ‘M’s of the singing world. OK it’s just a play on words, but there is no doubting the class and style of an
Anthony ‘M’ fitted boat. He makes boats
that are a cut above the rest and, more importantly, he now turns out superb boats working at the Sheffield yard exclusively
for Jonathan and Tim, The last two Crick fit outs
for instance, Dignity and In-Tuition, were both to his designs and both for different reasons were show stoppers. A boat fitted
out by Anthony 'M' is of the A stream. No one comes close to his fit out standard, and are an investment second to none. Most
people who own one proudly carry his name on the side of their craft. You can catch his column too in TillerTalk!
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