The owners' story

John & Elaine had no idea what the future held. John, an accomplished trumpet player and Elaine, who sings and plays piano, met whilst playing in a local band. The couple married, and combined their five children into one family.

Always on the look out for a new project, John & Elaine bought a new 58’ Narrow Boat shell and with John’s practicality and Elaine’s eye for detail set about fitting out the interior.

It was during the finishing stages that they both realised that a lot of what they wanted in terms of soft furnishings & furniture and items that required an element of engineering were not readily available and when they were, the style and finish was not cohesive.

As time went on John & Elaine were asked to fit out other boats and a company was formed, Kinver Boat Services Limited., with all members of the family, including the kids as share holders.

 

The company's growth

Kinver Boat Services is a company born out of necessity. Finding the necessary elements to fit out their own and other clients narrow boats was becoming so frustrating that they decided to design, manufacture, install and subsequently market their own range of Narrow Boat furniture and stainless steel tanks.

In addition to the soft furnishing range Kinver Boat services operate a thriving Narrow Boat fit out and refurbishment business as well as supplying made to order stainless steel tanks for drinking water, heating system header tanks and secondary fuel tanks. This has led to the offering of unique design led chandlery and parts for narrow boats.

Whilst the Canal and Narrow Boat markets provide a good proportion of Kinver Boat Services furniture revenues, the company is providing an ever expanding range of products and services to service boat owners, and other people who need to fit-out confined spaces.

 

About our bespoke, compact furniture

The company specialises in furniture for canal narrow boats or any other area, in fact, where space is at a premium or confined. Compact, practical and beautifully designed & finished, their furniture and matching furnishings are now being used in many markets including Luxury Power Boats, Caravans, Small apartments and flats, Hotels and guest houses where extra guest accommodation is required, nurseries and normal domestic homes where a room may be small or have difficult access or in fact any area where space is limited or guest sleeping accommodation is required.

When you see the range available it is not surprising that it is able to adapt to so many kinds of interior. Kinver Boat Services produce, chairs, sofas, sofa beds, storage sofas, bed chairs and foot stools that magically transform into a single guest sleeping mattress meaning that even the most compact space can be used to create an additional sleeping ‘berth’.

The range of materials covers classic brocades and twills through to more modern styles and textures. A client can even provide their own fabric as each piece of hand made furniture is manufactured to order under the direct control of John & Elaine.

 

About the beautiful rural setting of Kinver, South Staffordshire

We’d be glad to show you our superb range of furniture here at Kinver Boat Services Ltd in Kinver, an area of outstanding natural beauty with a history worthy of investigation.

With a variety of architecture & walks on national trust ‘Kinver Edge’ we also benefit from a selection of top class restaurants all within striking distance of our premises.

Kinver was listed in the Doomsday book, King John visited the area many times before his death. The area was a royal hunting reserve with Stourton Castle keeping watch over the huge area of forest, Henry VIII enjoyed deer and hare coursing in the 16th century.

Up until the beginnings of the industrial revolution the area was made prosperous by the wool trade, a fact made obvious by some of the fine 17th century houses that line the High Street.

As this trade fell away, the opening of the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal breathed new life into the area. The High Street boasted five malt houses to cater to the seven pubs, five of which are still serving excellent local beer. One original malt house still stands behind the pharmacy.

One of the most fascinating aspects to Kinver is the almost permanent occupation since iron age times of Kinver Edge, the local forest and sandstone escarpment area, that has the remains of an iron age fort and many cave houses carved into the red sandstone rock. These houses were lived in until the late 1950’s and show that environmentally friendly living is not a new invention but one born out of necessity.

Nearby is also a huge network of caves and silos built during the second world war as an underground bomb proof manufacturing plant for engine parts. It has had many uses over the years including a nuclear shelter and document store. It now stands unused, although regular trips are organised to see the tunnels in their natural state.