''Hadar'' is a

replica A 1:1 replica is an exact copy of an object, made out of the same raw materials, whether a molecule, a work of art, or a commercial product. The term is also used for copies that closely resemble the original, without claiming to be identical. Al ...

of a small Northwich

narrowboat A narrowboat is a particular type of canal boat, built to fit the narrow locks of the United Kingdom. The UK's canal system provided a nationwide transport network during the Industrial Revolution, but with the advent of the railways, commerc ...

of the Star Class originally built for the Grand Unicorn Canal Carrying Company (GUCCCo.) by W.J. Yarwoods of Northwich. She was built by Roger Fuller Boatbuilders Ltd of Stone, Staffordshire, and completed in 2007, and painted by Tina Paramore. Hadar 01

Owner-operators

She is owned and operated by Keith and Jo Lodge. Keith first started working on canals in 1968 at the age of 15 on an ex-working narrowboat Pisces, now operated by the Hillingdon Narrowboats Association, which is still running today as a community trip boat, which it was when Keith started on it. ''Hadar'' is a close copy of ''Pisces''. Jo was introduced to canals and narrowboats when she met Keith in 2000. For 10 years, from June 2007 until November 2017, the boat carried and sold coal, but now is just used for domestic purposes.

Dimensions

The boat's colour scheme is that which the GUCCCo. adopted in 1937 in celebration of the

coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The coronation of George VI and his wife, Elizabeth, as King and Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth, and as Emperor and Empress of India took place at Westminster Abbey, London, on Wednesday 12 May 1937. ...

. Apart from the traditional boatman's cabin at the rear, and engine room, it has additional of cabin space forward of the engine room (of which is underneath the sheeting), which, along with te shallower draft by reduces the cargo-carrying capacity to 8 tonnes maximum. It was built to the newer width of rather than the original 7 ft ½ in (2.15 m) and with a draft of rather than the original and a length of rather than to make travelling the canals today easier.

Engine

''Hadar's'' engine is a National DA2 built in 1949 at Trojan Ltd of Croydon on behalf of the National Gas & Oil Engine Conpany as part of an order of 18 such engines to be made into generator sets by Auto Diesels of Uxbridge for dispatch to Middle East Pipelines. These are the specifications for the engine: Hadar 03

Name

The name ''Hadar'' comes from the GUCCCo. Star Class boats being named after stars or constellations. "Hadar" is more commonly known as "

Beta Centauri Beta Centauri is a triple star system in the southern constellation of Centaurus. It is officially called Hadar (). The Bayer designation of Beta Centauri is Latinised from β Centauri, and abbreviated Beta Cen or β Cen. The sys ...

" and is the tenth-brightest star in the night sky. It is in the southern hemisphere and part of the

Centaurus Centaurus is a bright constellation in the southern sky. One of the largest constellations, Centaurus was included among the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations. ...

constellation and one of the two stars that point to the

Southern Cross Crux () is a constellation of the southern sky that is centred on four bright stars in a cross-shaped asterism commonly known as the Southern Cross. It lies on the southern end of the Milky Way's visible band. The name ''Crux'' is Latin for ...

Fleet number

''Hadar'' carries the fleet number 48. The GUCCCo. numbered their boats in alphabetical order, and ''Hadar'' would have been numbered between ''Grus'' No.47 and ''Henry'' No.49. No.48 was originally allocated to a boat called ''The Hawk'', which was inherited from the original Associated Canal Carriers Limited, and was sold off in 1936, so the fleet No.48 has been vacant since then. Coincidentally ''Hadar'' is the 48th boat built by Roger Fuller. Hadar 07a

Events

''Hadar'' can be seen on the UK canals throughout the whole year, and may be occasionally seen at canal festivals and rallies. During 2011 it attended the reopening ceremony for the Droitwich Canals, after taking 30 years to restore, having been officially abandoned in 1939. It also appeared in 2011 in a

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

programme
The Golden Age of Canals
', which showed the hard work and dedication of the early pioneers of canal restoration, which has resulted in many lost canals being restored, and many more still under restoration, and the creation of the

Inland Waterways Association The Inland Waterways Association (IWA) is a registered charity in the United Kingdom and was formed in 1946 to campaign for the conservation, use, maintenance, restoration and sensitive development of British Canals and river navigations. No ...

. It was also used as part of th
C&RT North West Launch Event
in Manchester in 2012 when

British Waterways British Waterways, often shortened to BW, was a statutory corporation wholly owned by the government of the United Kingdom. It served as the navigation authority for the majority of canals and a number of rivers and docks in England, Scotland ...

, a statutory corporation wholly owned by the government of the United Kingdom, the custodians of English canals since the canal system was nationalized in 1948, became a charitable trust and was renamed

Canal & River Trust The Canal & River Trust (CRT), branded as in Wales, holds the guardianship of 2,000 miles of canals and rivers, together with reservoirs and a wide range of heritage buildings and structures, in England and Wales. Launched on 12 July 2012, the ...

Home mooring

As from October 2013 ''Hadar'' has a residential mooring at th
Saltisford Arm
of the

Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter st ...

in Warwick, in what was part of the original Warwick and Birmingham Canal to its terminus on the outskirts of Warwick, the arm being created when the Warwick and Napton Canal was joined to the Warwick and Birmingham Canal about a half mile north of the site of the original terminus, however the existing arm is now half its original length.

References

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