Although never a member of any of IWA’s committee, Emrhys Barrell, perhaps best-known as the founding editor of Canal Boat magazine, was a long time supporter of IWA and the inland waterways, pioneering electric boating and in later years a leading advocate for the River Stour Trust.  Emrhys had a long and distinguished career at sea, as part of the British marine industry and as a journalist writing about UK rivers and canals, and waterways in Norway, Holland, France, Italy, Germany, Canada and the USA.

He studied Naval Architecture in Newcastle and Sunderland, qualified as a Merchant Ship Deck Officer and worked on Bulk Carriers across the Atlantic and into the Great Lakes.  Joining Derek Kelsall Multihulls, he progressed to Project Manager and was involved in the construction of significant Round the World sailing vessels.  He joined Motor Boat and Yachting as a technical journalist and boat tester. At the same time he experimented with electric propulsion on a small day boat on the River Wey.  Moving to the Isle of Wight, he took on the role of Yard Manager at Groves and Guttridge in Cowes and was responsible for New Builds and providing support to Admirals Cup competitors, Cowes Week participants and Offshore Racing Power Boats entered in the Cowes to Torquay International Power Boat Races.  Returning to journalism, he became the joint founder and editor of Motor Boats Monthly.

[The photo, left, shows a portrait photo – by Linda Barrell]

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Emrhys was a trustee and vice president of The River Stour Trust, and his company serviced their 21ft Frolic electric launches which offered skippered day trips on the River Stour from Constable’s Flatford Mill, which are major fundraisers for the Trust.  Emrhys’s company also installed an electric drive system into John Constable, a restored River Stour working barge based in Sudbury.  He arranged publicity and events for the Trust and raised significant sums to pay for new lock gates and re-construction works to re-open Stratford St Mary and Dedham locks to allow navigation.

Although widely travelled, Emrhys’s roots were very much on the Thames, and he was a parish councillor in his home village of Goring-on-Thames and keen local campaigner.  Emrhys successfully battled several medical issues over many years while at the same time carrying forward his business, journalism, volunteering as well as his interest in classic cars, for which he led tours on the continent.

[Largely written with notes and photos from IWA vice president Paul Wagstaffe]

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