Dave Moore

Born on the 1st of June 1949 in Rowley Regis in the West Midlands.

Educated at Rowley Regis Grammar School, followed by Newland Park College, Chalfont St. Giles.

Resides at Brierley Hill in the West Midlands

Occupation: - School Teacher.

Co-owns narrowboat "Resolute".

One of the founder members of The Waterways Craft Guild.

Dave's introduction to the world of narrowboats and their unique paintwork was over 35 years ago, when, as a schoolboy he helped crew his school's narrowboat to the National Rally at nearby Stourbridge in the West Midlands. The school had converted an old working boat into a floating classroom. This early exposure soon led to contact with canal folk who widened his waterway horizons. Over the next few years he helped restore a local canal, cruised much of the canal system and had a taste of the last commercial traffics to be carried by canal. All this was invaluable in absorbing the still practised traditions of canal boat painting as docks changed from working craft to pleasure cruisers.
His first commission - for a fee of 40 Park Drive cigarettes - was to paint the name "Imp" on the sides of a pleasure craft.
"Daeve" said the owner (a thorough-going Blackcountryman) "yo' got nice 'ondwritin - con yo' paent me boat's naeme on the sides?"
Dave recalls - "It took all day to execute 6 shaded letters!"
"I'd been fascinated by letterforms as a kid" he remembers. "This had been reinforced by learning to write in Italics at school and I seemed to absorb much of the theory of lettering and layout along the way. Like many canal enthusiasts I dabbled in the "Roses and Castles" art forms and a few years later I was producing painted ware for a local marina. Thank God, none survives"

Marriage, music and a spell in Australia curtailed his involvement for part of the 1970's although he never lost touch with the movement. His return in 1980 saw him at evening classes for signwork, formalising his earlier experiences. He spent some time, later, helping another signwriter who was busy, and was sent to letter a few boats.
"People liked what I did" he says "and the customer base grew". All the time the essential skills of decorative painting were being developed.
"I was fortunate to be around when there was still work afloat by dockyard painters to provide proper models" he says "nowadays, the problem is that many painters don't look at historic models to guide their work. It's often the case that the interested public, or holidaymakers, buy a piece of painted ware and assume that it's "proper" canal art. Not all of the stuff for sale commemorates the work of the old timers - and a few must be spinning in their graves at some of it!"
Currently, Dave's work is very sought after and he has a healthy waiting list. He especially ejoys traditional decorative liveries in historic syle on replica or original boats. Often the overall cost of such a craft is close to a family home (and sometimes higher). He remains concerned that standards should remain as high as possible and this has led him to involvement with the recently formed Waterways Craft Guild. The Guild are a national body committed to preserving traditional skills to very high standards in the waterways sphere. As painting commitments allow he also offers weekend courses for those who are serious about canal boat painting.

A "younger" Dave Moore at the helm of Tay

"The survival of a unique English folk art form is amazing" he comments "It's vital that we should encourage practitioners to aim for the highest standards and to respect the work of the old dockyard masters".

The editorial team at "Up The Cut" would like to extend their thanks to Dave Moore for his invaluable assistance in the creation of this article.

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