GRAND UNION - TOWN CLASS (Type F)
By mid 1936 the GUCCC’s expansion programme was in full swing and even before the Star Class fleet had all been delivered the company placed orders for a second round of boats consisting of 86 pairs. These boats were to be built to a revised specification featuring a deeper 4’ 9.5" hold. In practice the larger hold allowed a greater degree of freeboard rather than providing much in the way of additional cargo capacity.
The boats, which became known as the Town Class, were supposedly named after towns in Great Britain. However many of the names selected are villages and places in London rather than towns as such. It appears that the names were drawn from some sort of railway directory as they are all the names of railway stations.
Several Town Class boats were given incorrect names. In some cases the names were mis-spelled by GUCCC and in other cases GUCCC perpetuated earlier railway mis-spellings:
BERKHAMPSTEAD: should be BERKHAMSTED
BILSTER: probably should be BILSTON
EDGEWARE: should be EDGWARE
FULBOURNE: should be FULBOURN (This is a railway mis-spelling)
GLOSSOR: should be either GLOSSOP or possibly GLOUCESTER
Seventeen boats were given abbreviated versions of station names:
BADSEY: Littleton & Badsey
BARNET: High Barnet
BATTERSEA: Battersea Park
BEAULIEU: Beaulieu Road
BOGNOR: Bognor Regis
CHALFONT: Chalfont & Latimer
HAWKESBURY: Hawkesbury Lane
RAWDON: Apperley Bridge & Rawdon
SOUTHAM: Southam & Long Itchington
TADWORTH: Tadworth & Walton-on-Hill
TARPORLEY: Beeston Castle & Tarporley
In some cases the abbreviation of the name makes it impossible to ascertain which station the boat was named after:
BELFAST: could be Belfast Great Victoria Street, Belfast Queens Quay or Belfast York Road
FENNY: could be either Fenny Compton or Fenny Stratford
HAMPSTEAD: could be either West Hampstead or South Hampstead
KEW: could be either Kew Bridge or Kew Gardens
OULTON: could be either Oulton Broad North or Oulton Broad South
YEOVIL: could be either Yeovil Junction or Yeovil Pen Mill
The orders went out as follows:
Harland & Wolff: 24 pairs plus 24 motors (Large Woolwich)
Yarwoods: 38 motors (Large Northwich)
Walkers: 62 butties (Large Ricky)
The Harland & Wolff and Yarwoods boats were of all-steel construction whilst the Walkers boats were wooden. From the above it can be seen that there is no such thing as a Large Northwich butty or a Large Ricky
motor.
The boats, which became known as the Town Class, were supposedly named after towns in Great Britain. However many of the names selected are villages and places in London rather than towns as such. It appears that the names were drawn from some sort of railway directory as they are all the names of railway stations.
Several Town Class boats were given incorrect names. In some cases the names were mis-spelled by GUCCC and in other cases GUCCC perpetuated earlier railway mis-spellings:
BERKHAMPSTEAD: should be BERKHAMSTED
BILSTER: probably should be BILSTON
EDGEWARE: should be EDGWARE
FULBOURNE: should be FULBOURN (This is a railway mis-spelling)
GLOSSOR: should be either GLOSSOP or possibly GLOUCESTER
Seventeen boats were given abbreviated versions of station names:
BADSEY: Littleton & Badsey
BARNET: High Barnet
BATTERSEA: Battersea Park
BEAULIEU: Beaulieu Road
BOGNOR: Bognor Regis
CHALFONT: Chalfont & Latimer
HAWKESBURY: Hawkesbury Lane
RAWDON: Apperley Bridge & Rawdon
SOUTHAM: Southam & Long Itchington
TADWORTH: Tadworth & Walton-on-Hill
TARPORLEY: Beeston Castle & Tarporley
In some cases the abbreviation of the name makes it impossible to ascertain which station the boat was named after:
BELFAST: could be Belfast Great Victoria Street, Belfast Queens Quay or Belfast York Road
FENNY: could be either Fenny Compton or Fenny Stratford
HAMPSTEAD: could be either West Hampstead or South Hampstead
KEW: could be either Kew Bridge or Kew Gardens
OULTON: could be either Oulton Broad North or Oulton Broad South
YEOVIL: could be either Yeovil Junction or Yeovil Pen Mill
The orders went out as follows:
Harland & Wolff: 24 pairs plus 24 motors (Large Woolwich)
Yarwoods: 38 motors (Large Northwich)
Walkers: 62 butties (Large Ricky)
The Harland & Wolff and Yarwoods boats were of all-steel construction whilst the Walkers boats were wooden. From the above it can be seen that there is no such thing as a Large Northwich butty or a Large Ricky
motor.