Setting sail on a DIY boat

Building a 14-tonne narrowboat from scratch has been no easy feat - but Richard Smalley and Wendy Norledge are determined to set sail on the Whitchurch canal in time for Wendy's 60th birthday.

The couple, who have spent the last four years building the boat at their Cornwall home, were at Whitchurch Marina today to see their boat Just Do It launched for the first time.

They plan to moor it outside a friend's canalside home until next month, when they will make their maiden voyage to Llangollen to celebrate Wendy's milestone birthday.

Mr Smalley, 58, said the couple had been on narrowboat holidays and decided to build the boat as a retirement venture.

The pair plan to test their creation with a week's holiday on the Llangollen canal, before leaving the comfort of their Cornish home for up to two years, travelling Britain's waterways.

Mr Smalley said: "It's been on my mind for the last 10 or 15 years.

"I'd been chatting to Wendy about it and thinking and then I thought 'stop messing about, just do it', and that's where the name of the boat came from."

The other end of the boat is adorned with the couple's names, with Lincoln on one side, where they originally came from, and Cornwall on the other, where they have lived for the last 30 years.

Mr Smalley said he wanted to launch the boat in Whitchurch because the couple's friends lived nearby and could help and he planned to return to Shropshire on future travels.

"I like Shropshire a lot," he said. "Cornwall is great but Shropshire is just as good."

Richard Smalley and Wendy Norledge on board their boat Just Do It.

The narrowboat is lowered on to the water in Whitchurch.

The couple chose Whitchurch because they have friends in the area.

Richard and Wendy will make their maiden voyage to Llangollen.