The Barge
The Arts Barge Project rescued Selby Tony in 2013. She was one of a small fleet belonging to BOCM factory in Selby and used to work on the River Ouse transporting animal feed, newsprint and other goods between Selby, York, Goole and Hull.
Since 2013 she has undergone remedial steel works in Waddington’s Boat Yard in Swinton and passed a full survey. She has undergone steel conversion works by Hirst Boatbuilders in Knottingley, to Architects specifications by DSP Architects.
To come into York, the barge was ballasted down with 45 tons of water and sand to get under the bridge at Great Heck. Acaster Water Transport did an amazing job with their tug Little Shuva. See a video of this extraordinary feat below!
The Arts Barge made its debut season as a temporary festival venue in the summer of 2019. Funds for the project are raised through arts events, regular donations, crowd funding, grants and private investment. The project started in 2009 and we continue to fundraise to finish the job!
Selby Tony is now in Foss Basin, where internal fit-out and installation of a proper deck-house will take place. The Arts Barge has permission to moor permanently alongside Tower Gardens if an appropriate mains connected rise and fall mooring can be installed. Until then, Foss Basin is her home!
In 2022 an Arts Barge Aviva Crowd Funder and events raised £13,000 to fully insulate the barge. Volunteers helped with the enormous task of installing internal woodwork in preparation for the insulation which was completed in the Autumn. An extra £1000 raised bought us some portholes!
The barge hosted a short season of events in 2023 due to planning restrictions. The rain was relentless over the winter and spring and there was considerable flood damage to the temporary mooring arrangement. The gangplanks and utility supplies needed repair and a new secure mooring structure is needed. We now have a permit to attach secure poles to the mooring stone edge and this will take place before the winter.
Latest Update: October 24
Summer saw a successful fundraising ‘Raising the Roof’ campaign with music and arts events onboard alongside a crowdfunder to raise £5,000. It’s time to build the deckhouse! This will provide a covered top deck entrance area to house an accessible loo and lift. And most importantly - it will stop the rain getting in!! The wonderful Workhaus has offered to donate glass for the deckhouse and Brewers Decorator Centre generously donated ALL the paint to get Selby Tony repainted and restored to her original colours.
Work has begun and it’s very exciting to see the outline shape of things to come. Skilled volunteers have made a brilliant job of the roof timber frame, building 16 curved roof beams by hand to make Selby Tony a beautiful deckhouse roof. Thank you to the dedicated deckhouse team for your work so far! If you’d like to get involved with the next build stages please get in touch with hannah@artsbarge.com.
View fullsize
![]()
Support
