In its short life, Dawn Rose, the only Chesterfield Canal Boat in existence, hand-built by our volunteers, has been towed by various boats, including Python on the River Trent (click here), by lots of people on its annual Sponsored Boat Pull (click here), by Andy Kershaw from Radio Sheffield and Tom Ingall from BBC Look North (click here) and by Charlie the horse (click here).
On Sunday 15th September 2019, a new method of haulage was tested – tractor power.
We had featured a couple of articles about tractors being carried by canal in issues of our magazine Cuckoo earlier in the year. This sparked the idea.
Michael Spurr, one of our members, brought his tractor to Barnby Wharf to see how well it could manage as a new towing companion. The result was a spectacular success.
To see a drone video, click here.
We are very grateful to Michael for bringing his tractor, to his nephew for the video and to Peter Simpson for the photos.
We are currently waiting for Elon Musk to return our call about using a SpaceX vehicle as the next towing possibility.
