Write a commentIf you have walked or driven past the Quays Shopping Centre in Newry any time since last August you couldn’t have helped seeing Lorraine Fox’s green and black Barge.
It arrived after an epic journey from London last summer and this week The Sandwich Barge is holding several open days to show the people of Newry what they are about and from tomorrow Thursday 5th March until Saturday you will have a chance to look round it, chill out beside it’s wood burning stove and avail of refreshments and home made cakes.
Lorraine grew up on the Scrogg Road in Kilkeel. Boats are in her blood and as a child she often went down to the harbour and in her teenage years spent much of her time in Newcastle. In 1985 with the troubles in full flow Lorraine decided to go to London to join other members of her family there. She met her husband and they had two children but sadly he died when they were very young.
Afterwards she moved house and ended up beside the water. “I lived on Regents Canal which is a beautiful part of London and it reminded me of home. I was thinking of actually coming back home because I liked being near the water
“I had this idea of doing something within that area, because you’d see people coming down, relaxing by the water, there’d be no refreshments or anything there for them and I thought, wouldn’t it be good if you could provide a service for them like with refreshments.”
This led to the idea of providing sandwiches and coffees and teas on a boat and after talking to a lady through her son’s school her friend let her know she had a boat in Wiltshire and Lorraine went and checked it out and the rest is history!
“We made what you would call a gentleman agreement, only it was a ladies agreement and we sealed a deal for 50p!”
Lorraine is keen to show people that just because you’re skint or on a low income doesn’t mean you can’t still achieve your dreams.
Being a widow with very very little income it was an incredible position to find herself in but it helped her by forcing her to be resourceful. She proceeded to gut the boat right down to the hull, picking up cast off wood from building sites and items as varied as found furniture and kitchen sinks were donated from businesses. Lorraine put her proposal for her Sandwich Barge into British Waterways and after some time ended up with a successful water based business.
Back to Newry
With a love for her home area and a good knowledge about the jewel that is Newry Canal, several years ago Lorraine started to investigate the possibility of bringing her idea back home while checking from time to time on how things were developing in Newry. Last August she took The Sandwich Barge from London via Warrenpoint Docks travelling up the Newry Ship Canal on her way to the Albert Basin.
“I think Newry needs it as well. I think it needs to celebrate it’s canal and to have an original narrow boat in it because if you look around you, I’m surrounded by Tall Ships and cruisers and originally I think they had Lighters or Barges. I’d like to see the whole canal system open up, I’d like to see the people of Newry welcome it, I’d like it to attract tourism, It’s a lovely little business and I just want to kind of celebrate that and celebrate that in the place where I was born.”
Organic - It’s all about a healthy lifestyle and good food for a good price
“It’s the first organic cruising Cafe in London and I wanted to bring something like that back home, to be the first organic, not necessarily cruising boat in Northern Ireland but I wanted to bring that home because I’m actually proud of my home and I’m proud of the business as well and I wanted to share that pride with Newry and bring something back home to Newry”
On coming to Newry and trying to open for business
“I didn’t think it was going to be easy as far as getting permission but I thought it would have been welcomed with open arms and not as difficult as the problems I’ve been having.”
Lorraine has applied for a trading license from Newry and Mourne District Council so far without success.
“I spoke to them and I said in the interim while you are making up your mind or making a decision on a trading license could I just apply for a Temporary Events Notice and trade now and again just to show the local people what it’s all about, until you make up your mind and they said yes, but a temporary events notice in Newry isn’t the same as the one in England. You have to speak to the Events manager who organises events, which I’m not really trying to do, I just want to get a license to trade.”
In London for special events she could get a Temporary Events Notice (TENS) but in Newry it appears that this is just available for “mobile traders” and she wasn’t regarded as a mobile trader!
In the long term she would love to see the canal opened up and navigable all the way to Portadown and beyond. “I’d like to see the canal used in more abundance, I know they’ve got the cycle route right up to Portadown, I know the IWAI are trying to rejuvenate the area by bringing the canals back into a navigable state and it would be lovely to see the boat cruising up and down maybe stopping in different areas of the town possibly going to Portadown and having events along the way to promote what a great asset Newry has.”
“I can see the potential of this but I don’t know if the powers that be can see what I see or what I envisage. I know a lot of the local people like Newry 2020 have a similar vision to me and this boat next to me The Silvery Light, I love that little project and I’d like to see the children and youth groups getting involved in that.”
Lorraine despite the difficulties is here for the long haul and is determined to see it through. “I don’t think I’d be upsetting any other businesses in the area because I’m moored right outside one of the biggest shopping centres that is used by people north and south and I think that the consumers and the locals like a bit of diversity. They can go to Starbucks, they can go to Costa, they can go to Courtney’s, they can go to the Sugar Supper Club. I mean if we didn’t have a choice our lives would be pretty boring and mundane”
Once the technicalities are sorted out Lorraine is considering leasing the barge out to a suitable applicant/ applicants who could work and live on the boat.
The Future
Thinking to the future Lorraine would see the barge as a tourist attraction in it’s own right!
“In a years time I’d like to see someone running this beautiful wee business, I can see it attracting a lot of tourism not only from Southern Ireland, or Belfast city or any of the other local areas within Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland. I can see it attracting people from France, Europe. I can see it as a big attraction for those that are visiting Carlingford. I can see it as a nice little buzz. I can see the boardwalk. I can see people sitting dining on a pontoon. In summer I can see a nice little gazebo, I can see people playing music celebrating their Irish heritage. I can see a lot of young people getting involved”
Reflecting on the project as an educational tool Lorraine concluded “I would like the young people in this area to learn about the mechanics of the boat, how to cruise a boat how alternative energy works like the solar panels, wind generation, how to fix engines. There’s so much potential for it and I can see it being a success, I’m just waiting for the council to be ready for it.”
Open Days
Lorraine is holding open days on The Sandwich Barge from tomorrow Thursday the 5th of March to Saturday the 7th of March from around 11am to 7pm or so.
Feel free to go along and check out her selection of teas and coffees and homemade local produce and see inside the barge itself with it’s cosy wood burning stove. (It’s moored right outside the front of The Quays so you can’t miss it!)
