Sunny Valley

[Sir Percy]

I came across an article in Crick Boating Times about the Stoke Bruerne museum, which caught my eye due to the photo of a boat there named 'Sunny Valley'. A thread on this forum tells me it's the one used in the film 'Painted Boats'.

http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=72839&p=1479086

with a post about whether it was a butty, and another explaining how it was motorised as part of the story.

 

The reason the photo rang a bell with me is because I recently bought a book titled 'The Unsophisticated Arts' by Barbara Jones, a reprint, first published in 1951. There's a painting of the boat, and also a line drawing of a butty carrying the same name...?

 

 

[Laurence Hogg]

Sunny Valley was a butty and still is. The Painted boats story is just factually based fiction.

[Ray T]

 

This illustration was also used on the dust jacket of the 1966 edition of L.T.C. Rolt's book The Inland Watwerways of England.

[Johnboy770]

Also depicted in this picture i have on my wall by Brian Collings..

 

 

 

[FadeToScarlet]

Sunny Valley was a butty and still is. The Painted boats story is just factually based fiction.

Isn't the bit in Stoke Bruerne museum a mock up used for filming?

[alan_fincher]

Isn't the bit in Stoke Bruerne museum a mock up used for filming?

 

No I don't believe it is.

 

I seem to recall it was a separate thing, probably made at the same time, and possibly by the same people, but not actually used as part of the filming. That is, it was built as a museum display.

[Ray T]

 

No I don't believe it is.

 

I seem to recall it was a separate thing, probably made at the same time, and possibly by the same people, but not actually used as part of the filming. That is, it was built as a museum display.

 

 

Also from CWDF 2015

 

To correct wiki, Sunny Valley (ex GUCCCo Northolt) is still still very much in existence, I helped leg her through Blisworth Tunnel a few years ago. The display that used to be in the museum was a fairly crude mock up of a back cabin.

SUNNY VALLEY was exFellows, Morton and Clayton Ltd. horse boat NORTHOLT and had nothing to do with the Grand Union Canal Carrying Company Ltd..

 

edit = The 'crude mock up of a back cabin' at Stoke Bruerne was built at Braunston specifically for use at the museum.

 

Edited by pete harrison, 26 April 2015 - 12:55 PM.

 

A critique of the film here from Andrew Denny.

 

http://www.grannybuttons.com/granny_buttons/2010/03/painted-boats-released-on-dvd.html

Edited May 5, 2016 by Ray T

[Johnboy770]

Also from CWDF 2015

 

 

SUNNY VALLEY was exFellows, Morton and Clayton Ltd. horse boat NORTHOLT and had nothing to do with the Grand Union Canal Carrying Company Ltd..

 

edit = The 'crude mock up of a back cabin' at Stoke Bruerne was built at Braunston specifically for use at the museum.

 

Edited by pete harrison, 26 April 2015 - 12:55 PM.

 

A critique of the film here from Andrew Denny.

 

http://www.grannybuttons.com/granny_buttons/2010/03/painted-boats-released-on-dvd.html

Sunny Valley/Northolt is ex FMC and now part of the SMWT Fleet

[IanM]

As it was back in 1993 (although thinking about it, it might have been a different year)

 

1993 Braunston Boat Show by Ian, on Flickr

[Sir Percy]

Strange. I guess the second pic (pen and ink line drawing:

'bow of butty boat') used 'artistic licence', then.

Edited May 5, 2016 by Sir Percy

[ditchcrawler]

As it was back in 1993 (although thinking about it, it might have been a different year)

 

1993 Braunston Boat Show by Ian, on Flickr

They are sharing a mooring ring, is that still allowed today?

[Ray T]

They are sharing a mooring ring, is that still allowed today?

 

Depends whether one of the boats is a "Challenger". Still .

Edited May 5, 2016 by Ray T

[BuckbyLocks]

The Barbara Jones painting from 1945 was painted at Braunston just after SV was taken on by George and Sonia Smith when they went to work for Barlow. It was used as the frontispiece and dust wrapper of the 1st Edition Inland Waterways of England by Tom Rolt, Sonia's later husband.

The exhibit in the Canal Museum is an exact copy of the mock-up made for use in the film 'Painted Boats', made at Braunston by the same workers who made the original. Their names were recorded on the inside of the cabin, only visible when deconstructed. I think it was made in 1962 or 63.

[Ray T]

From here: http://collections.canalrivertrust.org.uk/bw192.3.2.2.13.1.137

 

Model cabin of 'Sunny Valley' in front of the Blue Line Cruisers Limited building in Braunston

Description

Black and white photograph showing a model cabin of the narrowboat "Sunny Valley" being transported by a van from "Blue Line Cruisers Ltd" in Braunston to the museum at Stoke Bruerne. "Samuel Barlow Coal Co Ltd Coal Contractors Birmingham. No 88" and "Registered at Daventry No 547" are written on the cabin.

Date

1963

Reference code

BW192/3/2/2/13/1/137

Model cabin of 'Sunny Valley' being moved by workmen

Description

Black and white photograph showing a model cabin of the narrowboat "Sunny Valley" on a wooden trailer with several men stood around it. "Samuel Barlow Coal Co Ltd Coal Contractors Birmingham. No 88" and "Registered at Daventry No 547" are written on the cabin.

Date

1963

Reference code

BW192/3/2/2/13/1/142

Narrowboat moored at the side of the canal

Description

Sepia photograph of the Samuel Barlow Coal Company Limited narrowboat 'Sunny Valley'. Taken from the same side of the canal as the narrowboat showing the cabin with a woman standing at the door, at the back end of the boat.

Date

June 1945

Reference code

BW192/2/81/5

Edited May 13, 2016 by Ray T

[Margaret CUMMINGS]

What a surprise, I have only just seen this topic !

As a family we found Sunny Valley in the 1980's almost derelict and used as a platform to get on to a Tourist Trip Boat . We brought it back to Stoke Bruerne, in a very sorry state, where we set about restoring her to her former glory as she appeared in Painted Boats. As it was a Black and white film the colours presented a bit of a problem, but knowing the colours of the 'Barlows' Boats and where it was last docked, (Braunston, near Daventry) we soon established the style of the Roses and Castles, each area having it own brush marks, and the order of the original colours of the diamonds on the bow. Getting these diamond colours in the right order, was most important, if wrong the old boaters would never forgive us !

When restored, to how she looked in the film, which was taken at Stoke Bruerne, 'Sunny Valley' was moored outside the Museum as a floating exhibition. During our extensive checking of records we discovered that the museum had the wrong Birmingham registration on their mock up cabin of Sunny Valley in the Museum !

The man that painted the decorative Roses and Castles was Brian Collings, who lives in Stoke Bruerne. Because he painted the boat, we insisted he painted a picture which was printed as a limited edition. This was the first picture that Brian had ever had printed, and he has gone on to paint many more pictures. I have the original oil painting that was used for the prints along with several other of his originals. my favourite being 'Quiet Corner'. But, I have to say, the original Sunny Valley large oil picture, is far better than the prints could ever show.

Sunny Valley when restored attended the Easter Gathering at Ellsmere Port for her inaugural interduction, where she received an excellent welcome and pride of place. But first she had to get through Braunston and we had Brian Collings on board who had painted the diamonds, and the roses, and the Castles. He was still worried he might have made a mistake in the order of the coloured diamonds, but he needn't have worried, Arthur Bray gave him the thumbs up, as we passed him, and Brian had a grin on his face for the rest of the journey ! However, on leaving Ellsmere, Sunny Valley disgraced herself by leaving very early on the Sunday morning. It wasn't really her fault, David Blagrove was keen to leave at Sparrow Fart, and where the motor boat went, Sunny Valley followed ! It took a bit of shuffling, and woke lots of people up. I was still sound asleep in the bed 'Ole of Sunny Valley, listening to the steady lap of water around the hull .......

Later she attended the Grand National at Coventry where she won the Cockerel Trophy for the Best Turned out Working Boat. Unfortunately, I had to return to work very early on the Saturday, in the retail shops and missed her receiving the award. But upon returning home after an exhausting Saturday saw her on the TV. What a wonderful surprise, but the BBC along with the exhibition organisers had broken into the cabin, they wanted pictures of a real boatman's cabin. There on the TV was my boatman's bed as I had climbed out of it early that morning, all ruffled and chaotic, not thinking to put it all tidily away. I've heard of never washing your dirty linen in public, but showing it on TV ? I was somewhat mortified !!

Many happy memories of Sunny Valley who spent a lot of time at Gas Street Basin, Birmingham, with Kestrel ex FMC 1928. Kestrel is still in the family owned by my son.

Margaret Cummings (formerly O'Callaghan)

[The Bearwood Boster]

What a lovely,enjoyable post.Thank you Margaret.

[jake_crew]

A fascinating story.

 

Did you by aany chance get a copy of the BBC braodcast ?