Narrowboat gauging

Reader's Letters & Queries: NarrowBoat, Spring 2024

Regarding the image in the article on ‘Alternative revenue streams’ (p7, NB Winter) and in particular the reference to vertical metal indexes let into the hull sides, I attach photos of an index and its identification plate, which were removed from the remains of a wooden hull at Braunston in the early 1970s. It is made of copper, 66cm long and 3cm wide, and rather crudely marked from 7in to 33in increments of ½ ton. The identification plate is numbered 468 plus what I assume is a date – 10/11/20 – but with the day/month separated from the year, presumably because of the fixing holes. I have never seen a similar index plate and have tried over the years to find out what boat it belonged to but without success. As you state that this method of gauging ended in 1906, it has added an extra puzzle: could it be as old as 1820? Nigel Hollis…