The Prize
The Prizes!
A two hour forge experience with our amazing blacksmith, Ems. Ever wanted to just have a go at making something in a forge? You’ll have two hours learning one to one, and take home a simple item you have made. 
A 40 minute skippered boat trip for up to 10, including light refreshments. Bring your family or friends for a Christmas or birthday treat. Or just because you’d like to see Banbury from a different angle. We’ll supply a skipper and afternoon tea or Prosecco and nibbles depending on your preference and time of day.
4 tickets for The Gruffalo – this year’s Christmas show at The Mill Arts Centre. A generous donation from the Mill. Show runs from Dec 5th to the 23rd. The winner will be able to request their preferred date which will be subject to availability.
Afternoon tea at the canalside museum café – enjoy their delicious cakes and treats with tea or coffee as you watch the boats go by
The Cause
Hardy was the last wooden narrowboat built by Nurser Brothers of Braunston in 1940 for the Samuel Barlow Coal Company and carried coal to the wharf in Banbury (where the bus station is now) until the late 1950s.
In 2108 Tooley’s Boatyard raised her and brought her to Banbury. We kept this historic vessel going through the pandemic – mostly by keeping her sunk so that her timbers didn’t dry out and fall apart!
Now we’re working on Hardy to teach and preserve traditional boatbuilding skills as well as, one day, show how the boat families lived and worked.
We have a lot of the traditional wooden boat building tools but this is the 21st century and we're pretty sure the Tooley's would have made use of modern Tools! So, we're fundraising to buy a couple of essential power tools:
- A power saw capable of slicing the big hull planks: Dewalt DCS573H2T-GB 18V XR Brushless 184mm Circular Saw - 2 X 5Ah Powerstack £400
- A planer to work on the timbers: DEWALT DCP580N 18v XR Brushless Planer BODY ONLY £128
We've chosen Dewalt because the boatyard already uses their metal working products on the modern boats, so we can do some battery pack sharing.
Anything over the £528 that needs will be spent on:
- Stockholm tar (we can no longer use cheap coal tar, which is probably a good thing but pine tar does cost more) £35/kg
- Paintbrushes, handsaws and chisels
- Everyday safety equipment: gloves, masks, protective head gear for some work
We’d love you to join in – by buying a prize draw ticket or two; joining our team learning wooden boat building skills or helping us document the journey, raise funds or spread the word. There are so many wonderful stories of the canal that made Banbury what it is today