I would like to add a reply to the above. I have only just spotted it even though it was posted 5 years ago. As far as I know Edwin Fasham is still going strong. He gave a talk to our society maybe 3 years ago now. He still lives in the house that features in the picture in Shenley Fields. The subject of his talk was how he built his own narrowboat - mainly from cast aluminium with much of it being built just by himself. A step up from a packing case canoe