Our History
P&S Marine Est. 2002
Before We Were Here
P&S Now and Then
How have we evolved
Our History
During the 18th century until the mid 20th century the canals were the roads of Britain and the most efficient way to move goods. Horses were perfect for pulling narrow boats because they could pull up to 50 times more by boat than by cart. The bridges were built so they could easily walk the towpath beneath. This continued until the 1960’s to be a reliable form of transportation.
Croxley Green was mainly sand and gravel with water cress farming common in the area, too. Gravel extraction started in the area in 1902. From the dry pits in Rickmansworth, gravel was crushed and processed in Croxley Green. It was even used in the building of the iconic twin towers of the old Wembley Football Stadium in 1922.
P&S Marine was founded by Derek Harrison and John Pattle, one whole Century later in 2002.
Derek and John became well known for their expertise. 13 years on they decided to retire and the business was handed on to John’s son Tom and mobile then engineer, Ralph Kitts.
Ralph comes from a family with boating roots going back to 1858. His family ran a business running steam trip boats from Stanstead Abbots and owned the land which is now known as Lee Valley Marina.
Our tagline “Have A Safe Road” comes from these times, when it was the way to say have a good journey.
Tom left in 2022. The business is joint owned by Ralph and Jack Penty.
A Look Back In Time
Charlie Tothill
