Josher ‘Dragon’ at Norton Canes boatyard, Wyrley & Essington Canal
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Josher ‘Dragon’ at Norton Canes boatyard, Wyrley & Essington Canal by Martin Tester as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
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Josher ‘Dragon’ at Norton Canes boatyard, Wyrley & Essington Canal
Image: © Martin Tester Taken: 11 Jul 1970
'Dragon' was built for Fellows, Morton & Clayton in 1925 by Yarwoods of Northwich. She was acquired by boatbuilder Malcolm Braine in 1965 and subsequently restored to original carrying condition as seen here. In 1970, so about the time of this photo, she was sold into private ownership. See: https://hnbc.org.uk/boats/dragon. FMC boats were generally known as 'Joshers' after Joshua Fellows. There has been a boatyard at Norton Canes at the end of the Cannock Extension of the Wyrley & Essington Canal since 1846. It was acquired in 1965 by Malcolm Braine who quickly established himself as a leading restorer of narrow boats. He later built entirely new boats. He sold the business in 1986; in 2015 the business moved away from Norton Canes to a new boatyard in Glascote Basin on the Coventry Canal near Tamworth.
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
52.656672
Longitude
-1.971869