CLEAN SWEEP WITH A BROOM

Bought in 2011, Admiral VII has been a labour of love, if not a busman’s holiday, for cross-Channel ferry captain Steve Morgan

- MIKE TAYLOR

How long would you give yourself, working alone, to restore and modify a 42ft (12.8m) classic ex-broads cruiser built by well-known company Broom Boats Limited of Brundall in 1962? Three years... five? Try seven.

Admiral VII, beautifully built of mahogany planking on sturdy oak frames with a high-gloss teak interior throughout, is owned by ferry captain Steve Morgan. Her original, charter layout comprised a galley and saloon aft with a centre wheelhouse athwartships, eight berths and two heads, giving adequate if busy accommodation for leisurely cruising on the Broads. Power comes from an unstressed, four-cylinder, 2.5-litre BMC diesel driving through a Borg Warner Velvet Drive gearbox. She is thought to be one of seven of her type. At the end of her working life, she found her way down to Oxford, where a woman owner used on the upper reaches of the Thames before she came up for sale by Henley Sales and Charter with a list price of £29,750.

THE HISTORY OF BROOM

Charles John Broom established his boatbuilding business in 1898, acquiring the Brundall boatyard of the Norfolk Broads Yachting Company, where he had worked up from craftsman to yard manager. With the demise of the River Yare as a commercial route, Broom began building holiday cruisers for wealthy clients, setting up a hire fleet.

After World War One, Broom reopened, focusing on wooden craft with light petrol engines, standardising on the design for a 30ft (9.1m) boat, as well as making motor-sailers on which the masts could be lowered to negotiate the various low bridges that predominate the area. The coming of the Second World War saw Broom’s skilled team in urgent demand for Admiralty contracts.