Bailey Bridge Pontoon Canal Cruisers.

A Memory of Great Haywood.

I built the boat shown on the right hand side of the photograph.  
Bailey Bridge pontoon MKVI N0.19053 was manufactured by Gee Walker & Slater Ltd, Uttoxeter Road, Derby and sent to Engineers Stores, US Army Depot, Newbury, Berkshire on 29/9/1944.  At post-war WD surplus sales, a considerable number of these Bailey Bridge pontoons were bought by Levesley's International and stored at their depot at Alrewas near Burton on Trent.
John Dobson, a local boat builder at Burton, began putting cabins on to these pontoons for sale as canal cruisers.  I bought the pontoon hull for £18.00, built the cabin to a Dobson design, fitted out the interior and named it 'Agenor'.  In August 1950, powered by a British Anzani 4HP outboard engine, she made her maiden voyage to the Inland Waterways Association's first National Boat Rally at Market Harborough on the Grand Union Canal.  Subsequent voyages around the Midlands' canals included the Macclesfield Rally in 1953 and the rivers Trent, Severn and Thames.