Stafford Boat Club has been going for over sixty years. It very nearly did not survive its first decade.
A meeting aboard New Hope, 1964
The inaugural meeting of the club was held on 29th October 1964 aboard a narrowboat appropriately named New Hope, moored at Radford Marine — now Radford BMW car sales. The aims then were to promote canal boating, to campaign to keep the canal system open, and to push for restoration of the waterways.
A club without a home
By 1967 membership had begun to dwindle, mainly because the club had nowhere permanent to call its own. In 1968 an approach was made to Stafford Borough Council for the use of the then-derelict Hazlestrine Canal Arm, which had once carried clay and bricks from the Hazlestrine Brickworks. The Wildwood estate had not yet been built.
Members worked hard to begin restoring the arm, but numbers kept falling — until, in 1976, there were only three members left.
Down to three members
In a last attempt to save the club, those three used the local press, radio and personal contacts to call a “Save Stafford Boat Club” meeting. Over a hundred people turned up. The revived club got underway, and soon secured the lease of the land from Stafford Borough Council, a right of way from the estate developer, and all the planning permissions and easements it needed.
Building what you see today
From there the club went from strength to strength, eventually buying the field opposite the clubhouse and all the land it had originally leased. The site was developed by the members themselves, who took on every job and project with enthusiasm and no little skill.
The original clubhouse was a wooden hut, which served well for many years before being replaced by the present building — again built entirely by members, and officially opened in 1990. Next to the slipway is the wet dock, or painting dock, completed in 2004, which has proved a real boon for boat painting given the British weather.
The ornamental lock feature in the middle of the field is purely decorative — we have already heard one passing boater ask how on earth you get a boat to it. Access to the site has been improved with automatic gates and ornamental brickwork and ironwork, and our newest feature is a handsome bridge over the end of the arm.
Looking ahead
None of us is getting any younger, and in recent years we have lost a number of members. The lock feature will be completed as a Garden of Remembrance in their memory.
The site and its buildings need constant upkeep to stay at the standard we want. With the continued help and support of its members, Stafford Boat Club will carry on progressing.
Fancy joining us?
Pop in and meet some of the members. There is no obligation, and it is by far the best way to get a feel for the place.