Grand Union Canal Carrying Company

[1] For the first time the main line from London to Birmingham and the River Trent were all owned by one company with the exception of the Oxford Canal between Braunston and Napton.

A main objective was to create a route capable of taking 14 ft barges or two narrow boats from London to Birmingham.

The company secured new traffic in the 1930s and ordered new boats from W. J. Yarwood & Sons of Northwich, Harland and Wolff at Woolwich and W. H. Walker and Brothers of Rickmansworth.

[3] Eventually the company acquired around 186 pairs of boats of a new improved design.

With the outbreak of World War II men again left the canal.

The boat was originally built by Harland and Wolff in May 1937 for the Grand Union Canal Carrying Company, but is seen here at Tatenhill Lock, Staffordshire, in British Waterways colours following its most recent restoration.
A reproduction of the livery carried by GUCCC boats from 1937 until the outbreak of World War II . This is Bicester , built by Harland and Wolff . Until the 1980s it was regularly used to carry cargo including wheat, lime juice and retail coal. The boat is now converted as a cruiser with a full-length cabin.