Introduction

Narrowboat (or narrow boat if you prefer) Rufford was lowered into the water on 14 January 2005 at Stockton Top Marina (formerly Blue Lias Marina) above Stockton Top Lock on the Main Line of the Grand Union canal.

Sister vessels Apperley and Pendlebury were built ahead of Rufford and Hawksmoor, Soudley, Beeston Castle, Castleber, Goosemoor and Huxley followed later in 2005. Soudley and Goosemoore have a stern galley, rather than mid galley, layout. Further vessels have been built since to a similar design. They were all commissioned by Ownerships, a former boat management company.

Rufford was equipped with a removable satellite dish, but has now been upgraded with a digital TV decoder, and has also been treated to a new sofa-bed and new carpet. Rufford  is one of the few "new generation" boats to retain its dishwasher.

You can see some pictures here (including inside) and many more pictures of Rufford on her travels in the Gallery.

Rufford's owners have designated the boat to be both pet-free and smoke-free.

There are 12 shares in Rufford.

After the demise of the management company Ownerships in the spring of 2010, the owners moved the boat to Fradley and self-managed their affairs for the summer. The decision however was to enroll with a new management company in August.

Currently one share is for sale for £5500. The 2010 "sinking fund" contributions for maintenance and management are the equivalent of £86.20 per month, though reimbursement is not required for the remaining months. A pre-booked week for 2010 begins on October 8th.
This share holds position 3 for choosing 2011 booked weeks.

For further information, contact us .

 

Design

Rufford and her sister vessels were of a new improved design. This was based on Ownerships' previous design for a mid-galley semi traditional layout but with the incorporation of changes from the 'wish lists' of their existing customers.

The new vessels had a revised internal layout, different colour schemes inside and out and an improved level of mechanical and domestic equipment which includes a bow thruster and dishwasher.

Diagram of Rufford's layout

All vessels are of the same basic design but have small differences in layout and colour.
The interior finish was designed by Jan McDermott - photographs of older sister vessel Apperley

Build

Steel fabrication

Graham Reeves, G&J Reeves Boatbuilders, Coventry Bridge Yard, Station Rd, Napton, Nr Rugby, Warwickshire, CV23 8HX, UK, Tel: +44 (0)1926 815581

Fit out

John Milburn, Milburn Boats, Bridge Grounds, Staverton, Nr Daventry, Northants, NN11 6BG, UK tel. +44 (0)1327 702164

Location

Rufford was initially based at Stockton Top Lock Marina on the Grand Union Canal in Warwickshire and moved home to Norbury Junction, Staffordshire on the Shropshire Union Canal in March 2007. She then moved to Heritage Marina on the Macclesfield Canal in March 2009.
Following the collapse of the OwnerShips management company Rufford was moved to Fradley Junction for June and July 2010.  
See the Bases page of this site for more information.

Contact Us

If you have any comments, questions or suggestions regarding this site or Rufford just send an e-mail to webmaster@rufford.org.uk.

Many thanks to former owner Richard Marston for use of photographs and text, and for his work over the first 4 years of this website.

Based on a web design originally hosted and managed by InitialSite

 

Home         Specification          Gallery          Bases          Links          Owners Area