Restoration Articles
From 1920s Luxury to Electric Engine: The Incredible Transformation of an Antique Teak Canal Cruiser
The saga of this remarkable narrowboat was born in the 1920s, a time when river and canal cruising were still rare indulgences. Charles Wadham Lyne, a vicar who incongruously hailed from a wealthy merchant family, discovered the joys of boating holidays while flicking through The Motor Boat magazine, a well-known periodical even in those early days of motorized nautical adventure.
As the vicar delved deeper into the world of boating, a parallel story unfolded in the life of Hugh Poths, another avid reader of The Motor Boat. Retiring from managing a rubber works company in Malaya, Poths arranged for a load of local teak to be sent back to England. His dream? To build his family a boat for cruising on their local rivers. Using his stock of teak from Malaya, Poths commissioned the construction of a boat designed for the delights and challenges of England’s winding waterways.