Steaming Ahead

On our travels from Skipton to Bingley Five Rise today we saw a boat in the distance with lots of smoke coming from it. We thought it may be a chimney fire but as we got near we realised it was a steam powered narrowboat. We just had to moor up and take a closer look and as the owners were looking out of the hatch Frank asked if we might see the engine room.
Dave and Cheryl welcomed us into their lovely boat and took us through to the cleanest, shiniest engine room I've ever seen! 
Their boat - Amethyst - is only about 4 years old but the engine is over a 100 years old. It was made in Dumbarton, near Glasgow and shipped to Canada where it was used on a logging boat. After its working life it spent many years as a museum exhibit before being brought back to the UK. Sadly it went into disrepair and never worked again until Dave managed to get hold of it as scrap. An engineer by trade, he spent many months lovingly restoring it and said there was nobody more surprised than him when it actually worked. The coal fired boiler produces the steam that drives the engine, which is directly connected to the propellor. 
It was a cold, windy, showery day today but next to their boiler it was so cosy and Bella made herself right at home and dozed off whilst we were chatting.
Dave and Cheryl have only been boating for 2 years - just like us- but it has become their passion - just like us :-)