Please Note : that the PostCode Towns and Prefixes are
derived from an old file downloaded from the Internet.
This prototype is to show BroMit's range of skills.
Style or Stern types (from Wikipedia)
There are three basic types of arrangement at the stern of the boat,
to meet different needs in terms of a more traditional appearance, or
freedom for everyone to enjoy summer weather or long evenings, or
protection from bad weather. Each has its strong advocates, but the
boundaries are not fixed, and some boats blur the categories as
designers try out slightly different arrangements and combinations.
TRADITIONAL STERN
Traditional boats had an open, unguarded "counter" or deck behind the
rear doors from which the crew could step onto land, or steer (with
little regard to the prop churning below less than one-misstep away).
In bad weather, the boat could be steered in relative warmth, with the
steerer forward of the rear doors,standing on the coal box inside the
cabin, with their legs next to the stove and only their upper body emerging
from the hatchway. Many modern canal boats retain this arrangement,
although the coal box is now the "steering step". On trad boats, the bow
"well-deck" forms the main outside viewing area.
CRUISER STERN
Cruiser stern boats were designed to allow more people to be on deck during
the reasonably good weather of the British holiday season. The hatch and
rear doors are further forward than on a trad boat, creating a large open deck
between counter and rear doors, protected by a rail (perhaps with seats)
around the back and sides. At the rear, a "cruiser" narrowboat looks very
different from traditional boats, and the steerer is quite unprotected in wind
and rain. The name for this style arises because the large open rear deck
resembles that of the large rear cockpits common on glass-fibre river cruisers.
SEMI-TRAD STERN
This is a compromise to gain some of the "social" benefits of a cruiser
stern, while retaining more traditional lines and some protection for the steerer
in bad weather or in cooler seasons. As with the cruiser stern, the deck is
extended back from the hatch and rear doors, but in this case most of the deck
is protected at the sides by walls which extend back from the cabin sides - a
more sheltered area for the steerer and companions, usually with lockers to sit on.
