MALTHOUSE WHARF - Key Persons
It is with great sadness we announce the death of John Bowen. John sadly passed away on 10th January 2021. John was the founder of our wharf and he had years of experience of Inland Waterways and boating matters, having owned a wharf and boatyard on the Grand Union Canal in the South Midlands from 1982 until moving to Brentford in 1995. He started developing Malthouse Wharf soon after that and lived on his Dutch Motor Barge based there for 15 years. He was joined by Paul and Sarah with their own live-aboard cruising vessels in the late 1990's. John retired from the navy in 1982 after a 30 year career commissioning ships and is a practicing Small Ship Marine Surveyor and Consulting Engineer. He had vast experience of Dutch barges and small ship surveying in Europe and the UK and was the proprietor of Bowen Marine Associates.
Paul is responsible for development and maintenance of "shore-side services" to moored vessels and Wharf Infrastructure. Working in the marine industry for over 30 years, Paul is a professional Marine Systems Engineer specializing in oil fueled heaters and cooling appliances for barges and small ships. He is a skilled marine mechanic and has fitted out many boats, all to very high standard. His most recent restoration project is his own 1920's Dutch Motor Barge which was rebuilt from the bare hull upwards and he now lives on it at the Wharf when not cruising in the River Tha mes and canals in Europe.
Sarah brings riparian asset and mooring and accountancy skills to our company. A keen boating enthusiast, Sarah is the owner of a narrow boat moored on the Wharf, which she has cruised extensively over the network and River Thames for 25 years and has lived on it for most of that time. She is a keen supporter on the IWA. When not in Brentford, Sarah lives in North Devon with her husband Michael and she runs a successful gardening business Mrs P's Gardening Service working with wide range of customers in their gardens, orchards and vineyards!
Susie brings a lifetime of sailing and waterways experience to the team, and currently lives on a 1932 German Rhine barge houseboat. Before that she helped to build a 60 ft narrow boat with her husband and family, cruising it all round the system for many years holidays at the same time as being a partner in a wharf and dry dock business on the Grand Union Canal.
Apart from all her marine experience, Susie has senior management skills in the sheltered and affordable housing industry sector, helping to manage new building projects for a national housing provider of such buildings and the management of them after being tenanted. She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH)