Photograph: Waterways archive. Reprinted in Narrow Boat Magazine.
A Samuel Barlow Coal Co boat renamed Sunny Valley, which featured in the wartime film Painted Boats shot in 1944. Its Frank Nurser painted exterior is in contrast with wartime austerity. The image also shows the boat horse used in the film, owned by Jo Garrett Senior who was a day boatman for SBCC. (Chris M. Jones)