Name Belfast

BELFAST was built in 1936 for the Grand Union Canal Carrying Company (GUCCCo). The boat was built as part of an order for 24 pairs of rivetted steel narrow boats by Harland and Wolff at North Woolwich on the River Thames and is therefore known as a 'Large Woolwich'. The Large Woolwich boats were part of the GUCCCo 'Town Class', each boat being named after a British city, town, or village. BELFAST was originally paired with butty BAILDON and fitted with a National 2DM engine.

BELFAST remained in the GUCCCo fleet until nationalisation in 1947, passing into the fleet of British Waterways, who replaced the National 2DM engine with a Petter PD2 in 1959. In 1963, BELFAST was leased to Willow Wren Canal Transport Services, based in Stoke-on-Trent, but by 1970 she was made redundant and laid up in the Wendover Arm, a branch of the Grand Union Canal, as cargo carrying in the canals was coming to an end.

In 1971, BELFAST was purchased by the Dacorum Narrowboat Project and towed to Birmingham, where a wooden cabin was built over the hold. From 1972 onwards, she was hired out to schools, scouts, guides, and other youth groups, first out of Boxmoor, Hertfordshire, and later at Nash Mills in Hemel Hempstead. In 1979, the PD2 engine was replaced with a new Lister ST3, and in the 1990s the wooden conversion and back cabin was replaced in steel.

In 2016, the Dacorum Narrowboat Project closed, and BELFAST was purchased by her current owners the following year. A survey in 2021 found that the steel bottom had reached the end of its life, and in 2022 the bottom plate was completely renewed, with overplating removed, and new steel let in at the footings, around the bows and over some of the knees. The new plating around the bows has been rivetted to the internal angle iron frames and the 1990s steel back cabin, which was the wrong shape, has also been replaced with a replica cabin - her original riveted steel engine room remains to this day. As of August 2023, a National 2DM engine like that fitted originally has been sourced by the current owners to replace the current one.