The previous chapter of this memory can be viewed under Camden Town. Jack Hill continues his reminiscences of manoeuvring a boat, he had just purchased, through the Islington tunnel on the waterway system, whilst navigating towards Waltham Abbey with the help of his brother-in-law:-

Once in the open air, I was able to restart the engine and we continued on our way but not for long as we discovered that the waterways system closed down for the weekend and lock keepers went home to tea. So there was no alternative but to tie up the boat to a mooring, remove the outboard engine, find a way up to street level and then hail a taxi back to Little Venice and Len's car.

Next weekend we met at the spot in Islington, hitched up the outboard motor and set off, eventually arriving at the River Lee or Lea Navigation and turning northwards. The Lea presented us with a problem as it is quite wide and the depth alongside the towpath was minimal. Thus for long lengths I had to wear waders and walk with my left shoulder pushing the boat into water deep enough to float. Cross winds didn't help as they were blowing from the west.

A 70-foot butty boat looks relatively small when viewed from the towpath but when seen from water level it looms over one.

Eventually, by late evening the dock at Waltham Abbey had been reached and to our dismay the openness of the site was very apparent.. It soon became very clear that the local fishermen found the boat roof was an ideal base for setting up their gear as it gave them access to the deeper water.

I began at weekends to work on the interior of the boat, but found to my dismay that I seemed to be spending more time baling out before I could get really started. I should add that the construction was double skin timber and this became waterlogged.

Meanwhile, I was still living at Belsize Park and working at London architects Farmer & Dark who had offices at Westminster, in Marsham Street. Usually, I cycled to work, using the same Raleigh bike I had back home at Leicester, the one with the drop handlebars; and stored it in the area also occupied by Frank Dark's Bentley. He only lived in Queen Anne's Gate but that was over a mile away.

Traffic was much lighter then, and so cycling was a joy sailing down the Mall, having waved good morning to Her Majesty, and then cutting through past the Abbey.

One of my first jobs was to create the working drawings for the second phase of Doncaster Power Station. The first half was built and so I had to take the original drawings and transpose them as a redraw. The sheets were enormous and overlapped
the drawing board but a larger sized board was not made available.

I struggled with this work until, in early October, I was called to have a talk with FD. Naturally I was worried at what I had done or not done and was amazed to be asked if I would be willing to go out to Kuwait to work in the drawing office on the site of Town Power Station B. You will of course get your salary doubled and you will also have free accommodation. What would any eager graduate have said but yes.

So suddenly, the problem arose what to do with my boat Pandora. Brother-in-law agreed to visit her once a month from St Albans and inspect her, but after eight months or so it was obvious that disposing of her would be a better idea. He
managed to find a local boatyard willing to take her for the tiny sum of £36.

All work on Doncaster was put to one side and now I was involved with discussions with the mechanical engineers, Messrs Ewbank and Partners, in Buckingham Place Road. They were the holders of the contract with the Kuwait Government and so I was seconded to them.

The next stage of Jack Hill's memoirs can be found in the Bayswater section of this website.