The Model Canal Boat

The Model Canal Boat

As well as fabulous food and great service, Caf at Bridge 80, at Overwater Marina near Audlem in Cheshire, now has something else bringing customers flocking in – Caf owner Martino is now the proud owner of a scale model of the 8 berth Queen Aubrey canal boat – once the monarch of the Simolda hire fleet, which was based at Nantwich Basin End in the 1980’s.

The idea to build the model came about in 1981, after a conversation between Sid Cummings, of S.C Cummings Ice Cream van builders of Crewe and employee Oliver (known as Oscar) Randle. Sid had recently brought Nantwich Basin End (now Nantwich Marina) where he hired out canal holiday boats. Oscar was a cabinet maker and model builder, and he agreed to make a promotional boat that would be an exact copy of the Queen Aubrey’ one of the hire fleets ‘Queen class’.

Oscar spent three months building the model in his spare time, referring to photos to ensure that every detail was correct, which when finished was unveiled in the Crewe Chronicle. So pleased was Sid with the attention the boat received, and the booking enquiries it generated, that he gave Oscar and his family a free 2-week boat hire – along with spending money.

The model boat was used to entice the public to the idea of canal boating as a holiday and was built to demonstrate that narrowboats have all the conveniences of home, with spacious eating, cooking, bathroom, and sleeping areas to enjoy as families explored the canal system. The model was placed in locations such as shopping centres and banks and was made interactive, with levers that open doors for the public to see all the space. These levers are still in place today and if you operate the bathroom door one and look closely you may just glimpse the poor unfortunate model holiday maker trying to have a shower!

It seems fitting that it now sits in the canal-side Caf at Bridge 80, looking out over Overwater Marina. As Martino points out ‘it’s the perfect way of giving our customers the chance of an inside look at the world of narrow boating’.

Regards

Carol
Touring Park Manager