A STOURPORT volunteer, who once lived on a narrowboat, has donated items to furnish Bramble, as The Shuttle continues its appeal to get the vintage vessel looking ship shape.

Jean Percival joined Stourport Forward at its first heritage weekend in May 2009 but is getting ready to set sail to a smaller house away from the town.

In preparation for her downsize, she has found a new home for rag rugs and lace plates from her life on the waterways, before she settled in Stourport.

The member of Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal Society hopes the authentic items will become the finishing touches to the 1934 working boat’s renovation.

“The lace plates came from my boat,” said Mrs Percival. “They will help to decorate the back cabin of Bramble and make it more authentic because that’s how they used to decorate the cabins of the working canal boats.”

One of the rag rugs will warm the feet of children who will jump aboard to learn all about life on the waterways, while the other will stay on dry land in the Old Ticket Office heritage room.

“They were both made by a boat woman who lived on board a canal boat, made rag rugs and sold them to boaters. Rags rugs are another traditional item that used to be found in the cabin of a working canal boat. They were made on board by women using old pieces of clothing, hence their name rag rugs. The rug that I have given for use aboard Bramble includes pieces of my old green sweat shirt,” she explained.

“I have been, and will continue to be, very happy to support the Bramble Appeal. I believe that it is very important that the boat is restored to her original condition and then made available to local people, children and visitors at Stourport Canal Basins so that they can learn about what it was like to live and work on a canal boat in times past and to discover how hard some families worked to transport coal, carpets and a whole range of basic supplies around the country by canal,” she said.

Chairman of Stourport Forward, Pauline Annis thanked Mrs Percival, for her “very kind donation of her own precious memorabilia” and for all her work for Stourport Forward, including helping to deliver a range of events and staffing the heritage rooms.

She added: “We will miss her greatly and think of her when we see the lace plates and rag rugs on board once Bramble has been fully restored.”

Ways to jump aboard our Bramble Appeal: If you or your school or group can organise a fund-raising event, contact The Shuttle and we will help publicise it by featuring it in our weekly coverage .

If you wish to send a donation, make cheques payable to Stourport Forward Limited and send them to Jennifer Meierhans, at The Shuttle, 6 Towers Buildings, Blackwell Street, Kidderminster DY10 2DY.

Please include your contact details as Stourport Forward would like to respond with letters of thanks to all those supporting the appeal.

If you can help with materials for Bramble’s refurbishment, contact Jennifer Meierhans on 01562 633346.

For more details, contact Shuttle editor Clive Joyce on 01384 358282.