The historically significant Tooley’s Boatyard in Banbury is inviting people to experience a taste of the past this Saturday (April 5) as it opens its doors to the public.

Staff at Tooley’s Boatyard will demonstrate some of the traditional skills used to build and maintain canal boats.

They will also show visitors how they are maintaining Hardy, a 1940s coal-carrying boat, and detail the colourful story of the boatyard and Hardy.

A spokesperson for Tooley’s said: “The world of the working boat people has now disappeared, but their stories can live on through projects like Hardy.

Banbury's historic boatyard Tooley's is inviting people to check out their restoration work on the 1940s narrowboat Hardy this Saturday.

“Once restored, Hardy will have a traditional back cabin where visitors will be able to see and experience what it was like for a family to live, work and travel with a home just 10ft by 7ft!”

Hardy is believed to be one of the last of the wooden narrowboats that carried coal and materials to Banbury.

Currently, a team of volunteers led by staff from Tooley’s are working on restoring Hardy and bringing the narrowboat back to its former glory.

Visitors to Saturday’s free open day will also be able to take in the boatyard’s skilled blacksmiths in action in Tooley’s forge.

Tooley’s is the oldest working dry dock on the canals and played a big role in bringing the Industrial Revolution to Banbury after the Oxford Canal was opened in 1778.

Tooley’s Boatyard will be open to the public this Saturday (April 5) from 10am until 4pm.

For more information, visit: https://tooleysboatyardtrust.org.uk/

Experience a taste of the past this Saturday with free open day at Banbury's historic boatyard

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