1965 - David Piper works for Shropshire Union Cruisers (SUC), maintaining, building and running their fleet of hire boats

1966 - SUC commission their first boat with a steel hull, the cabin is still made using wood and is built by David.

1969 - David leaves SUC to pursue his dream of building his own boats and David Piper Boats is formed.

1970 - David Piper Boats build their first steel hull, steel cabin boat for the Briggs family of Chorley.

1972 - David Piper Boats move to site at Red Bull in Stoke-on-Trent, leased from British Waterways.

1972 (late) - Land adjacent to the site at Red Bull comes up for sale. David buys this enabling him to increase the number of moorings he has. David also begins work on building a new family home.

1975 - David and his family move into the newly built bungalow on the Red Bull site.

1979 - British Waterways work with David Piper to come up with the 'hire boat construction' standards.

1982 - British Waterways hire 'boat construction standards' are introduced.

1984 - Simon Piper, David's son, joins his father in the business.

1992 - Simon sets up Piper Boats working alongside his father's business and supplies steel shells.

1997 - Simon moves Piper Boats to premises in Biddulph, North Staffordshire to expand his businesses into building Dutch style barges and wide-beam barges.

2000 - David Piper retires.

2005 - Simon's business - Piper Boats moves to new 17,000 square feet manufacturing facility on Victoria Business Park in Biddulph.

Today - Piper Boats still build narrowboats using innovations developed by David Piper. They are now the UK's leading manufacturer of Dutch style and wide-beam barges.

If you'd like to find out more about the history of Piper Boats and David Piper Boats visit http://www.piperowners.co.uk/piperowners_history.htm