A narrowboat with a mast, a sail and an oar

THE team that has already built the first new Cuckoo boat, unique to the Chesterfield Canal, for over 80 years are now fitting it with a mast, a sail and an oar.

Very few narrowboats used sails. Cuckoos used them on the Trent when navigating up to Torksey Lock to access the Fossdyke in order to reach Lincoln and even Boston, or to go further up river to Nottingham and thence onto the rest of the inland waterways system. The sail is 8ft by 14ft and was bought thanks to a very kind donation from Jeremy Ford.

Sailing narrowboats

Other canals had sailing narrowboats in the early days but there is very little information available.

The only other well known sailing narrowboat is Shamrock from the Bridgewater Canal which was bought from Rathbone's Boatbuilders at Stretford Junction by Marcus Fox of West Stockwith.

We believe that the Chesterfield and Bridgewater boats were the best known and may have been the only ones to sail any distance. We also believe that the Bridgewater boats which sailed may have had raised cabins.

Using hand tools

The oar is called a sweep, and is seen pictured held by Andy Jessop. Like everything else to do with the boat, it has been carved using hand tools. (No power tools have been used at any stage.) More sweeps will be made later.

The team has not finished yet. A lee board will also be made to help with stability on the Trent, plus some extra long boathooks, called stowers, to help push away from the banks of the river. Together with the sweeps and a chain, kindly donated by Keith Barlow, the boat will soon be fully equipped to recreate some epic river voyages first undertaken over 200 years ago.

If you would like to help to finance the boat by becoming a Friend of Dawn Rose or donating for the lee board, go to the Chesterfield Canal Trust website.