Name Laughing Water II

Built in 1912 by Bill Horsham at the Ray Motor Co. boatyard at Boulter’s Lock, Maidenhead, LAUGHING WATER II is a Thames saloon launch built of mahogany on oak frames, now with a 20 hp Vetus diesel engine. She was built for Lady Nancy Astor, Britain's first woman MP who lived at nearby Cliveden House. Subsequently, LAUGHING WATER II was modified and changed ownership on several occasions. Mr Walter Scott bought her from Lady Astor and sold her to Mr George Wilson in the mid-1950s. The next owner, Mr Jack Tomkins, became Deputy Chairman of the Upper Avon Navigation Trust and LAUGHING WATER II was the first boat to navigate the restored Southern Stratford Canal in 1964. In 1974 she was purchased by Mr Paul Wallace who took her to The Trent & Mersey Canal where Ray Woodland, the present owner's father, found her, sunk and derelict, and bought her in 1976. 

After a substantial programme of restoration she was relaunched in 1987 and subsequently travelled across much of the UK canal and river network until 2000. Andy Woodland, the present owner, inherited her in 2006 following the death of his father and transported her to Cox’s Boatyard at Barton Turf in Norfolk, where extensive restoration of the hull and rebuilding of the cabin were undertaken to safeguard her for the future. She was moved in 2021 to Debdale Wharf Marina near Leicester, where she is kept in the water, in need of interior refit and overhaul of the engine.