Thursday, June 25, 2026

Skipton's Apple Crumble tugboat

Skipton Tug 1

Wandering around Skipton, I spotted something a little different. Yes, the canals are lovely (more photos in a future post), but there is a tugboat serving crumble!

Of course, I had to know more, so once I'd walked my lunch of Yorkshire pudding, sausages, mash and peas down, dessert was to be from the towpath. 

Skipton Tug 2

At a guess, this is a converted Bantam tug, although the superstructure seems more boxy than normal. 

Food is served through a hatch in the side, presumably it used to be the side window. 

Skipton Tug 4

The photo above is from a bench where I sat scoffing the crumble and ice cream. All the time pondering the modelling opportunities. I've built a Bantam in the past, so the upperworks don't worry me, and hopefully I can buy another hull. The toughest job is all the lettering. You can't really avoid it if you want the model to look right!

Skipton Tug 3

To be honest, this isn't going to bother my workbench for many years, if ever, but I hope the photos will inspire someone. Looking online (search "the ice cream tugboat skipton"), there is no shortage of information, apart from a history telling us what the boat was before it became a crumble dispenser. 

Skipton Tug 5

 

1 comment:

James Finister said...

We moored up near it a few weeks ago