REPORT 204 - Boat Museum Society

Number 204
March 2014
THE BOAT MUSEUM SOCIETY
President: Di Skilbeck MBE
Vice-Presidents: Alan Jones, Harry Arnold MBE, Tony Lewery
DIRECTORS
Chairman:
Vice-Chairman:
Vice-Chairman:
Treasurer:
Membership:
Jeff Fairweather
Will Manning
Chris Kay
Barbara Kay
Barbara Catford
Lynn Potts
Terry Allen
Sue Phillips
Ian Posnett
Bob Thomas
Cath Turpin
Mike Turpin
07909 990880 6 Thornton Road, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire. CH65 5DF
01244 403194 5 Westminster Court, Philip Street, Chester. CH2 3BF
07453304315 3 Rosecroft, Bromborough, Wirral. CH62 6ET
07952 032935 3 Rosecroft, Bromborough, Wirral. CH62 6ET
0151 353 8758 17 The Looms, Parkgate, Neston, Wirral, CH64 6RE
0151 625 1244 58 Frankby Road, West Kirby, Wirral, CH48 6EF
0151 334 8058 8 Shetland Drive, Bromborough, Wirral, CH62 7JZ
07745134160
8 Newbury Way, Moreton, Wirral. CH46 1PW
07414983946
5 Cygnet Close, Great Sutton, Cheshire, CH66 3TB
01928 733061 32 Springbourne, Frodsham, Cheshire. WA6 6QD
0151 632 5446 1 Market Street, Hoylake, Wirral. CH47 2AD
0151 632 5446 1 Market Street, Hoylake, Wirral. CH47 2AD
CO-OPTED COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Andy Wood [Re:Port Editor]
Martyn Kerry
Ailsa Rutherford
0151 334 2209 34 Langdale Road, Bebington, Wirral. CH63 3AW
email: a.wood847@btinternet.com
07715816768
8 Newbury Way, Moreton, Wirral. CH46 1PW
01352 756164 14 Tai Maes, Mold, Flintshire, CH7 1RW
CONTACTS TO WHOM CONTRIBUTIONS SHOULD BE SENT
Publicity/
Museum Times
Website
Ailsa Rutherford 01352 756164 14 Tai Maes, Mold, Flintshire
CH7 1RW. email ailsarutherford@aol.com
Sue Phillips 07745134160 8 Newbury Way, Moreton, Wirral, CH46 1PW
On production of a current BMS membership card, members are entitled to
free admission to the National Waterways Museum, Gloucester,
and the Stoke Bruerne Canal Museum.
The Boat Museum Society is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England Number 1028599.
Registered Charity Number 501593
Visit our website
www.boatmuseumsociety.org.uk
The National Waterways Museum,
Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, CH65 4FW, Telephone: 0151 355 5017
http://canalrivertrust.org.uk/national-waterways-museum
Cover: Spey and Gifford in Chester Northgate locks [Photo: Norman Stainthorp]
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RE:PORT
Number 204
March 2014
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
To be elected Chairman of The Boat Museum Society is an honour and a challenge, and to
follow people like Chris Kay, Steve Stamp, Ken Catford, Mike Turpin and Di Skilbeck is an
even bigger challenge. Their dedication and loyalty to the Society and the museum over very
many years will be almost impossible to follow, but I hope that with the support of the other
committee members I am able to live up to the very high standards that they have set.
What a year this has been. Mossdale and Ferret out of the water, Box Boat 337 is back
in the water and Shad has been refurbished. Major works on the buildings, locks and
grounds have now commenced. All of these things will help to secure the long term future
of the Museum but none of this would have been possible without the dedication, loyalty
and hard work of the group of people some 40 years ago, that pulled these buildings,
waterways, boats and locks out of ruin and dereliction. They were the founder members of
The North Western Museum of Inland Navigation (NWMIN) now The Boat Museum
Society (BMS), without them the Museum would not be here today.
The Society is still capable of being strong in its own right but must change its approach.
Since its creation BMS has been responsible for some very significant achievements, but past
achievements cannot be the reason to keep the society going. It has to have a purpose that meets
future objectives. Times have changed and the society has to change with them. The Canal and
River Trust has brought with it new challenges for the Society, and we must look forward and
not backwards if we are going to survive.
The Committee is very conscious of the fact that the Society needs a shake-up and a
new sense of purpose and direction, so I look forward to BMS rising to the challenges ahead to
build on our new Memorandum of Understanding with CRT, which in conjunction with the
Steering Group, recognizes the compatible roles and responsibilities of the two organisations
and creates the basis for a clearly defined working partnership.
December 2014 will see the 40th anniversary of the first working party at Ellesmere Port
and I would like to thank all members for the hard work , dedication and support that you have
given over the years. This is a good opportunity to encourage more people to join BMS to take
the Museum forward (see Ian Posnett’s article on Page 25). For the Society to attract new
members we have to provide a clear indication of what the Society plans to achieve in its own
right. Supporting the museum with specialist expertise is what we should be about but that is
only a small part of the benefits we can deliver.
Contributions for RE:PORT, which is published four times a year, are always welcome
Copy Date for RE:PORT 205 - Wed 21st May
All views expressed in RE:PORT are those of the contributors concerned and
should not be taken as being the policy of the Boat Museum Society, the National Waterways
Museum or the Canal & River Trust.
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Number 204
By working with and supporting the CRT Volunteer Coordinator we can facilitate the
training and coordinating of volunteers to act as guides, explainers. We can co-ordinate the
management and provision of outreach events and the manning of educational and
interpretive activities.
So when the Society now actively recruits new members, one of the main areas would
be to provide the trained volunteer manpower to deliver these specialised functions. The
Society has a valuable role to play in historic waterways research, providing talks to outside
groups and publishing Waterways Journal and Museum Times.
We have achieved a lot over the past year. At the Easter Gathering it was good to see
volunteers out in force, in the bitter cold, assisting in all areas including Front of House,
Restaurant, Porters Row, Bookstall, Island Warehouse, Archives, Power Hall, Car Park,
Guiding and of course the BAG team who were on hand to open and close the pontoon,
operate the locks and organise the moorings for over 50 boats.
In July the volunteers rose to the occasion and worked closely with the staff to ensure that
the buildings, site and grounds were in pristine condition for the AGM of the Canal and River
Trust and to welcome the new CEO Richard Parry.
My thanks go to my own site maintenance team for their hard work, loyalty, support and
above all their friendship since I became team leader.
Thanks to Di, Daphne, Sue & Martyn for looking after the Hairy Bikers and making sure
there visit was a success. As a result of their efforts Dave Myers has now become a supporter of
the Ferret project.
Ten members of the BAG team successfully passed their CCBM (Certificate in
Community Boat Management) assessments this year.
Gifford overseen by Di Skilbeck and the care group has been well maintained, and well
crewed by volunteers on her visits to Crick, Lymm and Audlem. Ilkeston, with an enthusiastic
team of volunteers, was escorted by Canis Major to the Whitchurch Festival under the leadership
of Steve Stamp and Dawn Tigwell
One of our younger volunteers Alex De Leie successfully passed the selection process to
become one of the three new trainees in the Heritage Boat Yard. We try to encourage and recruit
new younger members and special thanks go to Steve Stamp, Martyn Kerry and Ian Posnett for
their efforts in achieving this.
Thanks also go to our Treasurer Barbara Kay for front of house and fund raising, Lynn
Potts as Secretary, Barbara Catford as Membership Secretary, Andy Wood as Editor of Re-Port,
Sue Phillips our Webmaster and Stuart Gardiner who has very kindly deputised for Barbara
while she is away.
BMS has assisted the Museum in many events and thanks must go to all those who
helped in a wide variety of jobs, Cath Turpin for her work in the archives, arranging the
Society meetings and editing the Waterways Journal, to Barbara Kay, Anita Stamp and
now Ian Posnett for organising the raffles and fund raising, Ailsa Rutherford for editing the
Museum Times. Sue James for gardening, Bob Thomas for Porters Row, Jane Lane for the
Craft group, Ian Posnett for collections, Ann Gardiner for Crochet and Martyn Kerry for
BAG group.
BMS must never forget the past or where it came from but it must take on the
challenges of the future with the same the energy and determination of our founders 40
years ago. Finally I would like offer my personal thanks to Chris Kay, Steve Stamp, Ken
Catford & Mike Turpin for the unreserved support and mentoring they have given me since
I became Chairman.
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RE:PORT
Easter at the Port
THE EASTER WEEKEND is late this year, from 18th to 21st April,
owing to the Council of Nicaea (in AD 325) that set the date of Easter as
the Sunday following the paschal full moon, which is the full moon that
falls on or after the vernal equinox (in case you were wondering).
Be that as it may, the annual Boat Gathering at the Museum, promises to be as
memorable as ever. Throughout the weekend there will be the annual Sea Shanty
Festival, craft demonstrations and stalls. BMS expects to have its annual book stall, so
help to swell our funds by bringing along books that you have no further need for - in
good condition, of coures.
This year there will be two
new temporary exhibitions: the
HRH Prince of Wales on a visit to Burslem,
with Rob Pointon
Rob Pointon exhibition featuring
a wide and varied collection of
the artist’s work, including some
of Rob's Year of the Boat
paintings, together with other
work. And the Port Arts Festival
“Then and Now” exhibition
compares photographs of how
the Port was in its heyday with
more current photographs.
On Good Friday the Boat
Museum Society meeting will
feature short talks including Di Skilbeck talking about Box Boat 337 and its recent
restoration, and Cath Turpin recounting the history of the cottages in Porters Row - the
oldest houses in the town - which were built for dock workers.
Easter Saturday is the AGM of the Shropshire Union Flyboat Restoration Society
(Saturn). There will also be a fundraising music night with Chester Folk Festival
stalwarts “Full House” entertaining in the Tom Rolt Conference Centre. (Tickets for
this event are £5).
Easter Sunday, as has become traditional, will feature Boatmans' Games. In the
evening, Tom Kitching will tell us “The Spey Story” - its history and continuing
restoration. Spey is a Thomas Clayton tar boat, similar to Gifford, except that it was
built as a motor boat. It too used to carry fuel oil from Stanlow here at Ellesmere Port
up to the Midlands. Spey has been owned by enthusiasts, now into the second
generation, since the 1960s when it came out of service. A super talk.
Everyone is welcome throughout the weekend - as a visitor or as a volunteer - and
we will need plenty of you!
If you intend to come by boat, please request a booking form from the Museum
on 0151 355 5017. There is no charge for boat entry, but we would like to know who
is coming, so that appropriate moorings can be arranged.
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Representing NWM at Canal Events
THE BOATING SEASON is fast approaching and plans are being made to
represent the National Waterways Museum, as well as the other CRT Museums
and Attractions, at various waterway events around the canal system.
These festivals have been chosen as they help to promote the aims of the ‘Museums
without Walls’ concept whose objectives include ‘raising awareness and connecting people
with local and regional waterway history and the national value of the waterway network.’
Another is to ‘increase footfall to Museum and Attraction sites as well as providing a taster to
entice people and provide signposts which show them how to find more’ so these trips certainly
should cover these points. This is an ideal opportunity for youto put your boat training to good
use and get more experience by venturing further afield and enjoy the camaraderie that these
trips always create. This is not only for the water based volunteers, as there will be a need for
help before and at the festivals. Help with publicity before events and explaining the boats to the
public on the day are just two areas that need organising, so any help will be much appreciated.
The events that will hopefully enjoy a visit by various boats from the ‘collection’ this year are:
May 3-4
May 31
June 6-7
June 13-15
June 26-29
July 26-27
Norbury Canal Festival
Etruria
Chester Canal Festival
Middlewich FAB Festival
Lymm Transport Festival
Audlem Transport Festival
Sept 12-13
Sept 20-21
October
Ellesmere Boat Festival
Whitchurch Boat Rally
Acton Bridge Rally
If you fancy helping out on any of these trips
please contact either Martyn Kerry, Mike Turpin,
Steve Stamp or Jeff Fairweather.
Elizabeth Jane Howard 1923-2014
I WAS DISAPPOINTED to read that in none of the recent obituaries
(Times, Telegraph) of Elizabeth Jane Howard writes Norman Stainthorp
there was no mention of her pioneering voyage through Standedge Tunnel
on the converted lifeboat Ailsa Craig, along with Robert Aickman, Tom
Rolt and others.
She was brought up in the family home in Notting Hill, with six servants before
marrying at 19 her first husband, the naturalist, Peter Scott. He was a pioneer canal
enthusiast owning the early narrowboat conversion, Beatrice, and was a friend of
Robert Aickman, founder of the Inland Waterways Association.
EJH (generally known as ‘Jane’) entered into a relationship with Aickman during
the war while her husband was ‘away at sea’, leaving left Peter Scott after the war in
1946. Ackman then found her a job as Secretary to his newly founded IWA, and later,
a place on its Council.
EJH later confided to Sonia Rolt that Aickman did something ‘unspeakable’, but
unfortunately what it was remains unclear!
It seems unlikely that she took any further interest in canals in later life, busy as
she was having affairs with such literary notaries as Arthur Koestler, Laurie Lee, Cyril
Connelly, Cecil Day-Lewis and the art critic, Kenneth Tynan, plus two further
marriages, one briefly to James Douglas Henry (of whom she said little), and then later
for 18 years to the author, Kingsley Amis.
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RE:PORT
Not, it would appear, an ardent canal enthusiast. EJH was however a canal
pioneer, but had the rotting hull of the Ailsa Craig gone down in Standedge Tunnel,
EJH’s talents as an author would have been a grave loss to literature. A colourful life,
thus, confirming what my late friend and Boat Museum founder, Peter Froud, used to
say, “there’s a lot in canals”.
Robert Aickman (centre left) and Elizabeth Jane Howard (left) aboard Ailsa Craig
[Photo: Waterways Archive]
Boat People Never to be Forgotten
I ENJOYED THE ARTICLE about Sister Mary Ward in Re:port 202
writes Roger Wickson. I can tell you exactly who the mother and child are
in the photograph. The mother is Ada Littlemore with her daughter
Jenny.
Ada and Dick Littlemore were among the very last of the boat people to work
regularly with coal to Oxford. They worked for S E Barlow and delivered their last load
from Griff Colliery to Juxon Street Wharf for Morrell’s brewery on September 16th
1954 in the motor Hood and the butty Grenville.
The Littlemores were highly respected boat people. Mr Littlemore was a reserved
man but had considerable dignity and pride in his work. He and his wife kept themselves and their boats immaculate. They had relations who worked the Ovaltine boats
which were equally immaculate. Jenny was their youngest daughter, the last of six
children, and was born on the boat at Tusses Bridge near Sutton’s Stop at the very end
of the Second World War. When as a little boy I used to stay with my grandmother at
the boatman’s pub, now long gone, “The Three Pigeons” I was allowed from time to
time to ride on their boats with them to the next lock.
I keep in touch with Jenny to this day. When her parents were still working she
went to school and lived at the hostel for the children of boat people. Her parents left
the boats when she was ten. She must have been a model pupil for she is remarkably
literate and writes extremely well as anyone who has read her articles in Narrow Boat
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will know. Jenny and her mother Ada provided a great deal of
information to Sheila Stewart
for her fine book “Ramlin Rose”
which owes much to Ada’s reminiscences.
I also knew Joe and Rose
Skinner well as a little boy in the
40s. I never thought of him as a
[Photo: SAVA Trust]
‘rough diamond’, probably because I had known him since I
Rose Skinner shovelling coal from Friendship into a
was a little boy. But it is a matter
of interpretation of the words. barrow. Joe used to wheel it away as it was too heavy
for Rose.
Incidentally he had a very interesting pair of trousers. They did not have the usual fly buttons and certainly not a zip!
Instead, they had a flap at the front which was let down in times of need!
I was reintroduced to them in 1962 by another fine Oxford Canal boatman, Tom
Humphries, and we remained good friends until they died. I visited Rose not long after
Joe’s death. She was utterly bereft and lost, for they had never been apart in the whole
of their married life and, as Rose said, Joe was her best friend. Rose made me a fine set
of crochet work for the cabin of my boat which can be seen on display in the canal shop
at Audlem.
As a little boy I was somewhat in awe of Joe, but in fact he was a very gentle
person, a true gentleman in every sense of the word. There were other Oxford boat
people whom I was fortunate to know. It was a great privilege to do so and I hope that
they will never be forgotten.
HNBC Award for the Heritage Boatyard team
Dave Linney and Di Skilbeck
receiving the Ken Keay wooden boat
restoration award from Richard
Parry, Chief Executive of Canal &
River Trust on behalf of the Heritage
Boatyard Partnership team.
EACH YEAR the Historic Narrow Boat Club (HNBC)
presents the Ken Keay award to the wooden boat which has
been most improved during the year.
We are delighted to report that for 2013, Box Boat 337
received this prestigious award from Richard Parry, Chief
Executive of the Canal & River Trust on behalf of HNBC. The
aspect that pleased most people there was the emphasis on
keeping boat restoration skills alive into the coming generations
and the involvement of volunteers.
It recognises all the hard work done by the Heritage
Boatyard Partnership, particularly Dave Linney and his team of
trainees and volunteers. As a member of the HBY Partnership,
the Boat Museum Society would like to say to those directly
involved:Well done! We are proud of you.
HBY is a partnership of the National Waterways |Museum, Boat
Museum Society and National Historic Ships
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Number 204
RE:PORT
The Boats Other People Care For
Kerne with her original Oopen bridge
[Photo: North Western Steamship Co Ltd]
The Steam Tug Kerne is owned by the North Western Steamship Company Ltd
and operated by The Steam Tug Kerne Preservation Society Limited.
The Society was set up as a Charity in 2008 in order to promote the preservation
and maintenance of this historic vessel and in so doing, provide a means of education
about the development, operation and historic use of steam, particularly that of steam
vessels.
It is the aim of the Society to maintain the vessel in working condition and to
make her available for public viewing around the waters of the North West of England.
When Kerne is not attending a show, or out on a cruise, she can usually be found
berthed at the Maritime Museum in Liverpool, The National Waterways Museum at
Ellesmere Port and elsewhere in Mersey waters.
In recognition of her increasing historical importance, Kerne is now part of the
Historic Fleet as designated by National Historic Ships, which records that Kerne was
built by the Montrose Shipbuilding Company in 1912 to the order of Messrs GerdesHansen and Company of London, and was fitted with he engine and boiler in Dundee
the following year. It was intended that she was to be named Viking by her builders,
but while under construction, the Admiralty took her over and renamed her H M Tug
Terrier. She sailed for Chatham where she worked for 35 years, undertaking general
dockyard duties.
In 1936 the boiler was replaced with a standard Admiralty boiler with the
superstructure having to be removed to facilitate the change, and then welded in
position together with a section of welded deck.
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Number 204
In 1948 Terrier was sold to J P Knight Ltd. of London for use on the River
Thames. She still had her original counterbalanced folding funnel and open wheel
house. All of J P Knight's fleet of tugs had names beginning with the letter 'K'. In this
case Terrier was renamed Kerne which is Gaelic for 'foot soldier' or 'warrior'. On 13th
September 1949, Kerne was sold to the Straits Steamship Company Ltd of Liverpool,
a subsidiary of the Liverpool Lighterage Company.
During 1949 she was modified with a non-folding funnel of increased height, an
enclosed wheel house, a new mast, washports were cut in the after bulwarks and a
small whaleback compartment on the deck housed the WC. Kerne towed barges and
operated on the River Mersey, the Manchester Ship Canal and River Weaver systems
for the next 22 years. She was the last 'lighterage' tug and, in April 1971, she was
replaced by a motor tug and laid up for disposal. It was then that she was bought by the
North Western Steamship Co Ltd.
Black Country Living and Working
THE BLACK COUNTRY LIVING MUSEUM with which BMS has links
occupies 26 acres of former industrial land, partly reclaimed from a
former railway goods yard, disused lime kilns and former coal pits. It
opened in 1978, since when its collection and exhibits have grown
considerably. The museum now includes a 'village', made up of preserved
buildings from around the Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell
and Walsall and the City of Wolverhampton, which have been transported
to the site and rebuilt brick by brick.
The museum site originally contained 42 disused mine shafts, most of which had
been filled in, but two of them have been preserved, the Racecourse Colliery and Brook
Shaft. Lime working and
processing
was
also
carried out on the site
from medieval times.
Evidence of quarries and
underground remains, the
canal and some preserved
lime kilns are all parts of a
scheduled
ancient
monument which has
features
from
the
medieval period, the
Industrial Revolution and
20th Century.
There are also metal
working
shops, a foundry,
BCLM main village street [Photo: P L Chadwick
rolling
mill,
1930s
http://www.geograph.org.uk/profile/20846]
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Number 204
RE:PORT
fairground, and a
collection
of
trams,
buses,
motor cars and
motor cycles. But
for
canal
enthusiasts,
the
star attraction is
the boat yard and
the
boat
collection, which
includes Prosper,
Edna
Irene,
Admiral
The crew of the steam narrowboat President. [Photo: Chris Allen
Beatty,Warehouse
http://www.geograph.org.uk CC]
(Guest Keen &
Nettlefold 14), Ham, Amp (Great Western Railway 19), Stewarts and Lloyds 100,
Matty Butty, North Star II, Diamond, Bessie, Eustace, President, Kildare, Stour and
Birchills.
The thousands of boats that used to work the Midlands canals all needed constant
maintenance. There were many working boat yards, or docks where boats were built
and repaired, of which the one at the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley is
typical. The yards were not unlike modern scrap yards, as it was common practice to
break up wooden boats, salvaging only the ironwork for reuse.
Boat docks of the period built new wooden working boats, and repaired boats of
iron or composite construction. Some of the docks, like the BCLM's Castlefields Dock
could accommodate three boats at a time, which were drawn sideways out of the water
on to the slipway by winches.
Unlike the present day, when so much still useable material is discarded, nothing
on a boat dock was wasted; most of those at the Castlefields dock are made from
reclaimed boat timbers. The main buildings are the 1880s, brick-built blacksmith’s
forge with its large, general-purpose hearth with hand-operated bellows; the nail and
rivet store, a woodshed, paint store and stable.
The two ‘rolling sheds’ on wheels were moved up and down the length of the
boatyard on rails to provide shelter for the boat builders, and to allow work to continue
in all weathers (so even time was a valuable commodity, not to be wasted!).
The lifting bridge between the Ironworks and the Boat dock was built across the
railway transshipment basin at Lloyds Proving House near Factory Junction at Tipton.
Huge weights hanging on chains over the four pulleys balance the weight of the
roadway, and the deck is so well engineered that it can be raised and lowered using a
small hand winch.
The canal arm at the Museum is used as moorings for the Museum’s own
collection of narrow boats and a number of privately owned traditional narrow boats.
It is the home mooring of the steam powered ‘fly’ boat President which was built in
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RE:PORT
Number 204
John Constable Rises Again
DURING WORLD WAR I
the Stour barge John
Constable was scuttled for
fear that it would be used to
transport German troops in
the event of an invasion.
It was built round about
1880, possibly at Flatford. Stour
lighters operated on the River
Stour from 1705 until the early
part of 20th Century carrying a
The skeleton of the barge after it was removed from
variety of cargoes up and down
Great Cornard Lock [Photo: BBC]
the river. These lighters were very
important to the trade of the Stour
before roads were improved and the railways came, which eventually completely
superseded the canals.
One of the most important was the carriage of bricks from various brickworks at
Sudbury down to the estuary from onward transport to London and elsewhere. Coal
was a common return cargo. Uniquely, the lighters operated in pairs, being
permanently shackled bow to stern, with the rear lighter being used as a rudder for the
pair.
The vessels, which would typically be about 11 feet beam and 47 feet long, with
a 3 feet draft, had a single hold with a small cabin at the rear. Each lighter was capable
of carrying a load of 13 tons, making a total of 26 tons for the pair. They were towed
by a single horse, which was trained to leap on and off the foredeck as the towpath
changed sides. The crew consisted of a captain and a horseman. The latter was often a
small boy who sometimes rode the horse.
The journey from Sudbury to the estuary usually took about two days with an
overnight stop at Horkesley where a special bothy was provided. The lighters
continued to work until the 1914-18 war. However, two separately owned lighters
continued to work on the lower part of the river until about 1938 when they were
abandoned.
The John Constable has been restored at a cost of ¢ 130,000, with grants from the
Managing a Masterpiece (MAM) scheme and the Heritage Lottery Fund. Apprentices
who worked on the restoration, which was managed by the Pioneer Sailing Trust,
learnt traditional skills in the process. The vessel is in the water at the River Stour
Trust's centre in Great Cornard and has been taking a fare-paying passengers since
May 2013.
MAM aims to increase awareness and understanding of the Stour Valley by
residents and those with an interest in its landscape and heritage assets, by learning
more about them and how they are managed, and actively working to manage and
restore the key features.
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RE:PORT
Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor
On re-reading my article ‘Arthur (Mersey) of Airedale’ (Re:Port 202) I realise
that if the new engine was installed in October 1962 then the voyage from Bingley
must have been before this, maybe in September 1962, and not (as I suggested) in early
1963.
I forgot to add that the cover photo of Arthur exiting Five Rise Locks, with John
Hall at the tiller I think, was just that and not a painting. The photographer would have
been a staff photographer of the well-known Bradford postcard and photographic
company Walter Scott. I would be interested to know the date of the photo - possibly
about 1959, although it might have been posed, and therefore later, at a time when
Arthur did not normally go beyond Bingley.
I think this is one of the best and most atmospheric shots of the Five Rise Locks
- far better than modern day ones, which invariably feature modern narrow boats which
are quite out of scale with the canal and the locks. A good attempt was made to
replicate this photograph when L&L short boat Water Prince (ex Wharfe) posed in the
same position for a City of Bradford Tourism Department poster with L&L boatman
John Gordon at the helm - one of the poster series ‘Bradford is a Surprising Place’ in
the 1980s. I believe the photographic collection is now with the West Yorkshire
Archive.
David Lowe
In the search for photographs to use in illustrating Re:Port, your Editor has contacted
a number of organisations for copyright holders’ permission to use some of the images
from their websites. The Managing Director of the Tiverton Canal Company replied
as follows:
Dear Editor
We feel very honoured to be part of your magazine, let alone your consideration
to being on the front cover, thank you.
Please do pass on our very best wishes to everyone involved at the Museum, we
consider it such an important job you are “all” doing up there, “keeping heritage alive”
for future generations. It's also something that we are very passionate about ourselves,
being one of the last horse-drawn barges in the UK.
If I can be of any further assistance please don't hesitate to shout.
Philip Brind
Another positive reply came from Neil Arlidge of the Tuesday Night Club, who are
veteran adventurers on the inland waterways. The photo on the outer back cover is
from their cruise on the Shannon with the Irish waterways historian Brian Goggin.
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RE:PORT
Number 204
Book Review
Adventures of the Hebe by Desmond Stoker and Simon Stoker,
Amberley Publishing, £24.00 paperback 192 pages, £6.58 Kindle
edition. Illustrated with black & white photos and diagrams.
This book is about the travels of Desmond Stoker and his
father in the double-sculling skiff Hebe. They rowed, sailed and
man-hauled the boat along canals and rivers the length and
breadth of the country in trips of 200 miles or more. Desmond
recorded three of these trips in 1928, 1929 and 1930. These
journals have now been brought to a wider public by Desmond's
son Simon. The observations and photographs in the book
document parts of the canal system that have long since
disappeared.
What was originally intended to be a purely family record
of tales of innocent leisure and simple pleasures in the calm of
the inter-war period, the observations and photos in the book are an invaluable record
of parts of the canal system which are no longer in use or, in some cases have
disappeared altogether.
Named after the Greek goddess of youth, Hebe was a greatly loved and well
travelled little boat. For the Stokers' adventures she had been fitted with a sail and a
canvas cover, which enabled her to be rowed, sailed and not infrequently man-handled
along canals and rivers all over the country. Even though much of the canal system was
still accessible and still used by working boats in the late 1920s, holidaying on them
was the occupation of a few eccentrics and enthusiasts.
But the Simon Stoker's father and grandfather enjoyed long trips which lasted for
several weeks at a time. From Barton-under-Needwood to Burton-on-Trent, and from
Shugborough Hall and the junction of the Trent & Mersey and Staffs & Worcs Canals
to Upton on Severn the reader – especially the well-travelled enthusiast will enjoy these
fascinating voyages.
A Brief History of Express Canal Boats
AROUND 1830, when the canal passage boat services [on the Forth &
Clyde and Union Canals] were well established, a proprietor of such a
service in Scotland had an amazing experience. He was William Houston,
who became the acknowledged expert in what was a “leading edge”
technology of the day.
The source of his future prosperity occurred by accident, when his horse took
fright whilst towing an empty boat, and bolted. He decided to hang on, expecting the
resistance of the boat to quickly tire the horse. Imagine his alarm when the boat rose
up onto its bow wave and shot off along the canal at high speed. John Scott Russell, in
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his account given to the Edinburgh Royal Society, described how “Mr Houston had the
tact to perceive the mercantile advantage”.
He also described Houston’s astonishment when he observed “that the foaming
stern surge, which used to devastate the banks, had ceased”. It was this unexpected
drop in the boat’s resistance that allowed the horse to continue so far. At 10 mph, return
day trips over the 8 miles from Paisley to Glasgow became very popular. By 1835, his
accounts showed 323,290 passenger trips in one year. The “Illustrated History of
British Canals” by Charles Hadfield shows a tenfold increase in these five years with
the number of boat trips tripled to 12 a day each way. Hadfield quotes the typical speed
as 10 mph, regularly maintained, at fares no higher than those for the previous 4 m.p.h.
service. It was a wonder of the times.
So how did they do that? The difficulties encountered by others who endeavoured
to copy Houston’s success led to the appointment of the young scientific prodigy, John
Scott Russell, to investigate. At least 4 experimental boats were built and tested, and
their details recorded in “Mr Russell’s Researches in Hydrodynamics”, a paper read to
the Society in 1837, and published in 1840. By that time the competition from the
railways had already sounded the death knell of the technology. The enthusiasm for
suitable new boat designs faded, as it became clear that the railways would win.
However, this did not occur before the Scottish expertise had been exported to many
other countries. A I Bowman, in “Swifts & Queens”, an account of “passenger
transport on the Forth & Clyde canal”, described the boat Swallow, built in 1832.
It was a “65ft long light iron passage boat” modelled on a racing gig shape.
Renamed the Grahame-Houston, it was sent to England, where it was used for the time
trials at Paddington in 1833. Hadfield details the results of these trials, including a run
over 12 mph with 27 passengers, pulled by two horses. Meanwhile, four new design
boats had been made to replace it. A notice “To Canal Proprietors and Traders” dated
1833, was circulated to “enable Canal Proprietors to follow the latest improvements”.
It compares “Old boat Swallow” with the new design, built with broader bearings
behind”. This improved the clearly critical trim when riding the wave. It seems likely
that these boats formed the basis of the “Swift” class, named after, but not a replica of,
an earlier twin hull design. The first “Swift” was made by Thomas Grahame, who
experimentally fitted it with a steam driven paddle wheel. However, when this proved
ineffective, it was once again pulled by two horses.
The organisational difficulties associated with the swift boat services led to a
system which gave them priority over normal traffic. They carried a bow scythe or
knife to cut the traces of the opposing boat if necessary. [...] “Swifts & Queens” shows
a swift boat in action, with the postilion cracking his whip whilst riding the rear horse.
Even so regular services on the Forth & Clyde were operated at night, leading to the
sobriquet “Hoolets” (owlets), describing the noise of their warning horn. This was a
sleeper service, showing how smooth a ride they achieved. John Scott Russell was
again involved to design special focussed multi-burner lights to act as “headlights” to
reduce the hazards.
In England, the “swift boats” were called “fly boats”. In “English Canals” by
Gladwin and White they say that “fly boats and pottery boats” were the lightest
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designs, other than the “fly packets”. They give a detailed description of boats built for the
Shropshire Union Railway & Canal Co some time after 1847, with
“very fine lines to the fore-end and
a clean run aft”. This description
matches the recommendations given by Russell. They claimed they
could tow their maximum load of
22 tons at 10 mph even with a
single horse.
Although by no means all operators were fully successful, those
who could make it work did well.
However, on the Royal Canal in
Ireland, they eventually gave up
after trying with three horses and
suffering from bad erosion of the
A soliton created on the Scott Russell Aqueduct on banks. Where the boats rode on the
the Union Canal near Heriot-Watt University
wave, erosion does not seem to
have been a difficulty, with the
absence of the stern surge giving a smooth quiet ride.
Russell’s researches soon led him to consider the nature of the wave on which the
swift boats rode. He famously observed that when a boat on which he was travelling
stopped, a wave arose and rushed forward leaving the boat behind. He disembarked,
but found that he could not follow on foot, so pursued it on horseback. He noted that
this unusual solitary wave was about 30ft long, 12-18” high and moved rapidly but
smoothly, visible for well over a mile.
As he subsequently showed, the speed of this special wave is almost entirely
determined by the depth of the canal. He called it the “great wave of translation”, and
it is now known to follow the equations since determined for a solitary wave or
“soliton”.
When the boat speed is less than the wave speed, the bow wave and stern wave
are separate, and as the speed is increased, so these waves grow larger. However, if the
boat can be pulled up sharply on to the bow wave at the speed of the soliton, the
resistance to motion falls and the stern wave is absorbed. Indeed, Russell described
how this state could also be achieved by first creating a large stern wave, then
slackening the line to allow it to pass forward under the boat. The time to pull hard is
the moment it reaches the centre of the hull. The stern surge is then eliminated, and the
water behind the boat subsides smoothly.
(An edited version of a paper presented at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh)
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Thoughts of a Waterways History Heretic
Part 2 – Searching Literature
Joseph Boughey
IN THE FIRST PIECE in this series, I
stressed the need for inspiration in
choosing a subject for research. One of
those inspirations may well be found
during a “reading” of the “literature”.
The term “literature review” expresses
one essential element in academic research:
determining what has already been written, so
that the originality of your research, and its
position in existing knowledge, can be established. “Literature search” is a part of this
process, but the term “literature” may be confusing in this connection. “Literature”
used to mean all that has been written (in academic research, all that has been written
and authenticated in academic contexts, notably journals). The textbooks on research
that set much store by this may mislead when it comes to waterways history.
“Literature”, as some textbooks acknowledge, means more than what has been
written and published in paper form; for instance, some journals (maybe all, at some
future point) now exist only in electronic form. Much has been written in forms that
are hard to evaluate, or to reference: websites, weblogs, contributions to email fora and
newsgroups, even Facebook groups and sites. The same maxim applies now as when
Internet-accessible writings began: there is much utter rubbish, alongside misleading,
fallacious, deluded, (often) malicious and poisonous materials to be found “published”
in cyberspace. However, there is also much thoughtful and illuminating material, and
discussions that might never find their way into a mainstream journal or book. The
problem is how to evaluate such material as sources of information and analysis –
something that I will leave to a later piece.
A moment of dogma: it would be unusual for any serious search through waterways “literature” not to consider, if not begin with, the entries in The Canals of the
British Isles series edited by Charles Hadfield. Even if it is concluded that nothing in
these volumes sheds any light, they should be considered….
Beyond these, it has to be conceded that there is no established waterways history
field in the academic sense; no schools of analysis that are reflected in a developing
literature. Many might say that this is entirely a good thing; although I am not so sure
about that, there is much scope for those whose prime qualification lies in enthusiasm
alone.
You may find that there is simply nothing written about your chosen subject,
especially if it is obscure. Picking subjects at random, I doubt if much has been written
about the later history of dredging hoppers, or biographies of most people working in
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boat-building yards. A search of the literature is necessary to establish this, and, if so,
to show that your enquiry is original.
Conversely, it may be that your query is entirely answered by the literature, and
there your personal research will end. This may be the case if you are simply seeking
a piece of information, such as the ownership of a specific boat at a particular period.
It may be that you will decide to write about this, to highlight the significance of that
information. In more complex enquiries, it may well be that some parts of your enquiry
will be answered in the literature, but other parts will not, and your writing may seek
to synthesise these.
From “Museum Times”
Ferret in the Heritage Boatyard
Ferret, a motor, composite (iron sides
with a timber bottom) narrow boat, was
built by Yarwoods at Northwich,
Cheshire, as part of the fleet of
narrowboats owned and run by Fellows,
Morton and Clayton Ltd. She was one of
the second batch of twelve boats ordered
in 1925.
Now that she is on the bank, the
trainees have been assessing what work
is required to bring her back into full
operation under the careful and expert
Ferret’s hold with bottom boards removed along guidance of Dave Linney and surveyor
with part of the engine room.
Mike Carter. The reports are not yet
complete but here is a taster of some of the work that is needed, some of which has
already been started.
The boat’s bottom boards are sodden and generally seeped so the boat will be
completely re-bottomed and the keelson will also be replaced. Work has already started
on removing some of the bottom boards.
The hull itself appears to show signs of wasting above chine level. However, to
fully ascertain the extent of work required areas will be needle gunned and further
investigation will take place. At this early stage it does appear that the repair to the
steelwork on the hull is going to be quite a complex job in order to retain the wooden
bottom.
The condition of the counter round, sole plate, uxter plates and rudder tube are all
severely corroded and require replacement. The rear deck, breast wood and cants are
all severely decayed, to the point where both dollies (mooring studs) are loose. It is no
longer water tight and is generally falling to pieces and requires completely rebuilding.
Removal of the back deck will though make repairs to the counter far simpler and will
be done in conjunction with this task.
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The back cabin has been skinned with sheet steel. However due to leaking fixings
over time, such as mushroom vent, slide surround etc. some of the internal boarding
has rotted, to the point it has lost all structural integrity of the timber. The floor and
floor bearers have also rotted away in several places. The back cabin needs a total
rebuild and will now be put back in a correct way constructionally.
Already Dawn has started to measure every internal and external dimension of the
back cabin to ensure that it will be rebuilt correctly and, just as importantly, the
information will also be recorded in the archive so that next time the job is done all the
references will be available.
The engine room is showing signs of rivets pulling and the current way of
thinking would be to replace, however repairs are being considered, to keep originality.
Again the ancillary equipment from the engine room has been removed and the front
cabin wall removed.
There is obviously a lot of work to be done over the coming months and there is
no quick fix. It will however provide the trainees, alongside staff and volunteers, with
valuable training and experience in narrowboat restoration. Watch this space for
further progress reports.
Staff & Volunteers Meeting – 8th January
John Inch reported that visitor numbers for December were 769, which was 11%
up on 2012. However, year to date, we are still running 13% down on last year at
23,000 compared to 27,582 in 2012. As mentioned before, much of the shortfall can
be attributed to the uncertainty over the start of the building works and not taking
bookings for school visits. In terms of revenue, admissions are 12% down, retail 6%
down, but the cafe is 1% up.
Chris Kay and Paul had both been involved in visit of coach tour operators in
December organised by Marketing Cheshire. Colleagues from Anderton joined us to
make a joint pitch – half a day at EP, half a day at Anderton. It was also suggested that
trips to EP could also be combined with Cheshire Oaks.
Boat Activity Group
The Museum would like to say a big thank you to all the volunteers who
participated in the rota to check the boats over Christmas and the New Year.
High winds and heavy rain did mean that a few boats needed to be pumped out,
and there were a few problems with mooring ropes, but these were all dealt
with expertly and efficiently.
Santa Cruises
We entertained 980 children, mums, dads, grannies and grandpas. For many, their
visit to the Museum has become a family tradition and, amongst the final group on
Christmas Eve, there was a family for whom it was their ninth visit, another their
seventh, and another their fourth! Question is, how do we top it in 2014?
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The Oconomowoc Marine Railway and Lock
IT WAS THE abundant natural resources in the Oconomowoc area in
Wisconsin, USA, that attracted its first recorded settlers, who were
members of the Potowatomi and Winnebago native American tribes.
Extensive woodlands and clear lakes provided the tribes with wild game,
fish, and the raw materials to make their tools and homes. It was they who
named the area “Coo-no-mo-wauk” meaning “Where the waters meet”.
A trading post was founded in 1827 and white settlers followed, beginning in
1830. Oconomowoc was incorporated as a town in 1844. With a growing population,
it changed from being a town to city status in 1875.
Situated at the heart
of the Lake Country, the
town of Oconomowoc
itself sits on three lakes,
Lake Fowler, Lac La Belle
and Lake Oconomowoc.
The town centre is situated
on the south side of Lake
Fowler
The
Oconomowoc
Lake Club, organized in
1890 by Chicago and
Milwaukee businessmen,
was founded, in part, as an
improvement association,
The launch Mobile on the marine railway.
in order that certain lake
[Photo: www.americancanals.org
levels and inter-lake traffic
might be maintained and encouraged.
As the Oconomowoc Lakes developed as a summer resort in the late 1800s, a
“marine railway” was built across Main Street (Lake Street) in Oconomowoc town, to
move small steamboats between Lake Fowler and Lac La Belle. It was perfectly
straight, so the truck for carrying boats was a rigid framework with two set of four
wheels, not bogies.
A lock was then proposed to control the level of the Lake where it flowed out to
the Oconomowoc River. The Lake Club installed the Danforth Lock in 1885, named
after Philip Danforth one of the early white settlers, thereby solving the problems of
lake levels, and also helped with mosquito and malaria control. A US Mail boat, which
was able to enter the Lake through the lock from Oconomowoc, stopped at piers
around the Lake to deliver mail twice a day, as well as groceries from the town.
The lock was about ten feet wide and had wooden gates. The lock-keeper had a
watch tower on top of a brick building with a pitched roof, which did not appear to
house living quarters. The fall between Lake Fowler and Lac La Belle was probably
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no more than four feet.
Today the lock is cemented
shut, but there is a dam with
a sluice that is operated
regularly to manage water
levels on the two lakes.
Oconomowoc became
known as "the Newport of
the West"and was a summer
home and tourist destination
for Milwaukee, Chicago,
and St. Louis families of
prominence from the 1870s
through to the 1930s, who
The Danforth Lock
built sprawling mansions
[Photo: www.americancanals.org]
along the shores of Lac La
Belle. They arrived by train every week. According to local legend, there were 97
millionaires living in the Oconomowoc area during this era of opulence. The lavish
living began to wane in the 1930s and drew to a close as a result of World War II.
The Horse that Hated the Moon
JACK ALLEN came from a big boating
family. The Allens and the Deakins, uncles,
aunts, parents, grandparents and great
grandparents, worked on the Bridgewater
Canal and the River Weaver. Jack, who was
a good talker with an excellent memory, died
on 17th July 1999. These are his own words:
“This is a funny story - you take it or leave it but this fellow here [right] didn’t like the moon. Our
Tommy was half Shire, belonged to my father, and if
ever we were working all night, and the moon
happened to be shining, especially in the canal,
Tommy would go in after it! It’s true!
“The last time he went in, as I can remember,
was the end of 1938, something like that, and we was
working all night. It was my job to walk behind the
horse and we were near where Kellogg's is [in
Manchester on the Bridgewater Canal] and - this was
boat life - there used to be a big market garden, and
I used to take a corn bag and help myself as the boats
was travelling along. So, soon as I got through
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Taylor's bridge my dad gave me the corn bag. Even in the pitch black I knew where
everything was.
“When I got back out of the market garden my mum says to me, “I’ve made a
brew”. This is about 2 o'clock in the morning and the bloody moon’s out isn’t it. So I
gets on the boat and has my brew and I sat in the cabin.
My dad says, “Come on matey”.
I says, “What’s up?”
“He’s seen the bloody moon”, he says.
I said, “Oh he’ll be alright...” Sploosh!"
“Now you imagine from Kellogg's to the red bridges before the tank [Barton
Aqueduct]. There’s a getting-out place there with steps. You used to have to take the
boards out, and I had to swim him from Kellogg's to there to get him out. The bugger,
he swum and he walked and swum and walked. There were places where I tried to
jump him out but he wouldn’t. Must have been nearly a mile!
“And that was the fella that hated the moon!”
The Heroine of the Waterways
BARBARA CASTLE was responsible for the
Transport Act 1968, brought in by the Labour
government of Harold Wilson. It was a wide
ranging act which covered all kinds of
transport including canals and other inland
navigations.
As the Minister for Transport, Barbara Castle
happened to be a keen boater herself, who spent many
weekends and a lot of her spare time with her husnand
Ted and friends cruising on the Rochdale Canal,
something of which civil servants, or even her
colleagues at the Ministry were unaware. So it was
quite a shock to the Minister when it was strongly
suggested by some people in the Ministry that the
majority of canals should be filled in and made into
roads. She was naturally completely opposed to the idea, but she could not simply say
that, as she used the canals herself, these plans should be thrown out.
However, she determined to find out all that she could about the network of canals
throughout the country from various experts. They gave her the perfect excuse for
throwing out the suggestion; the canals had become an integral part of England's land
drainage system. “Fill them in”, she was told, “and millions of pounds would have to
be spent on thousands of miles of new drainage pipes. If not, thousand of acres of good
farmland would return to bog”. So it was that a priceless piece of English industrial
history was saved to become a hugely important national resource for leisure, exercise
and wildlife.
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With the future of the waterways secure, all the details had to be decided and
incorporated into the Transport Act. It was deemed impossible for every single
waterway to be maintained to the same standard, and therefore they were divided into
three groups. The first group, “Commercial Waterways”, including the Aire & Calder,
the Caledonian, the Weaver and the Gloucester & Sharpness among others. The second
group, “Cruising Waterways”, included most of the Birmingham Canal Navigations,
the Grand Union and the Macclesfield and Peak Forest canals. The third group,
“Remainder Waterways”, were those for which no potential commercial or leisure use
could be seen.
The then British Waterways was not required to maintain Remainder Waterways
or to keep them in a navigable condition. As a result, many of them faced abandonment
or being transferred to local authorities. In addition, many of these remainder
waterways were crossed by new roads and motorways, and the Act did not require local
authorities to make provision for boat navigation. disused canal could cease to be even
a watercourse. A firm of solicitors retained by the IWA said, “It would be straining the
language to describe the Leominster Canal as a waterway or as a canal. Yet the
so-called Lichfield Canal, comprising the Ogley Branch of the Wyrley and Essington
Canal, is similarly waterless and yet is under active restoration”.
If Barbara Castle had not been a boater and canal user herself, would all our canals
have disappeared and been made into roads? Certainly there would have been much
opposition to the proposals by the IWA and other organisations. Would any Bill to
close the canals have got through Parliament? We will never know the answer to that,
but if Dr Beeching's programme to close so much of the rail system down got through,
then it quite possibly would have done so.
Last Traffic on the Trent & Mersey
Based on a photograph by Harry Arnold MBE of Waterway Images, taken on 25th
June 1962, this painting depicts narrow boats of the British Waterways North Western
fleet loading coal at Sideways Colliery in Stoke-on-Trent for Seddons Salt at Middlewich. This was to be the last long-distance regular traffic on the Trent & Mersey
Canal, finishing on 11th November 1967, when the boat Tench of Willow Wren Canal
Transport Services delivered the last load of 20 tons.
The loaded boats in the painting are Roach & Howard and waiting to load are
Cypress & Aberystwyth. We like to think that this picture truly depicts narrow boats as
they were towards the end of carrying, not the usual cosy romantic roses and castles
image.
A Limited Edition of 250 numbered prints was produced to raise funds for the
restoration and future maintenance of the famous Josher Mendip,which worked on this
traffic, and was skippered for all but one year of its working life by the equally famous
boatman Charlie Atkins – Chocolate Charlie. Mendip is now part of the National
Waterways Museum collection at Ellesmere Port.
All prints are signed by artist Dusty Miller.
Fifty of the prints form a Special Limited Edition (1 to 50) and are also signed by
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well-known actor and waterway enthusiast David Suchet OBE - who sponsors Shad,
which also worked on this traffic and is in the NWM collection - and waterway
photographer Harry Arnold MBE.
All Dusty’s and Harry’s time has been donated free to this project and, apart from
some printing and sundry expenses, all profits go towards Mendip, via The Boat
Museum Society.
The prints have a white border and caption on a finished paper size of approximately 22in x 18 in. Image size of approximately 18in x 13in.
Books by Michael Handford
MICHAEL HANDFORD a Life Member of BMS is
also the leading historian of the Stroudwater
Navigation and the Stroudwater Canal.
The first of his two books about these waterways in
Gloucestershire is “The Stroudwater Navigation Through
Time”, ISBN 978-1-84868-842-1, which tells how the
Cotswold Canal Trust is working to restore the Navigation
so that boats can once again reach Brinscombe, and contrasts
old images of the canal with many new photographs.
Rescued from dereliction, the landscape of the canal is
evolving, with new bridges, repaired locks and many re-
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watered sections.
Michael’s second book, “The Stroudwater Canal, A History”, ISBN 978-1-44561941-9, relates that it was one of the oldest successful canal schemes, and predated the
Bridgewater by a generation.
Remarkably, it has been in the continuous ownership of the Company of
Proprietors of the Stroudwater Navigation - the oldest canal company in the world - to
the present day.
The history of the canal has not been lacking in drama either. The book tells how
and why one of the locks was deliberately built at the wrong level (it is now called
Blunder Lock) and relates the “Battle of Carter’s Close”, where the locals would infill
the canal at night as the contractors dug is out by day.
Both books are available from all good bookshops or direct from Amberley
Publishing, tel: +44 (0) 1453 847800 www.amberley-books.com.
Recruit a Friend for BMS
IF YOU KNOW someone who is interested in the history of inland
waterways and the preservation and restoration of traditional boats - or
who simply loves cruising - why not encourage them to become a member
of the Boat Museum Society? writes Ian Posnett. After all, the National
Waterways Museum grew from the inspiration of a group of friends.
In 1971 a group of waterway enthusiasts - Tony Lewery, Peter Froud, Dr David
Owen, Harry Arnold and Edward Paget-Tomlinson were instrumental in setting up the
North Western Museum of Inland Navigation (NWMIN). They were very concerned
that the old working craft of the canals and rivers would completely disappear, as the
nature of the waterway system changed from freight transport to leisure use.
After a lot of hard work restoring the neglected canal port, NWMIN (later
renamed the Boat Museum Society) opened
the first public exhibition, staffed entirely
by volunteers, in the summer of 1976. The
principal aim of the Society, now as then, is
the preservation of the historic boats,
knowledge, the way of life of the waterways
and the skills to restore and maintain the
boats. The Heritage Boatyard has been
developed in partnership with The
Waterways Trust (now the Canal & River Trust), the Boat Museum Society, National
Historic Ships and West Cheshire College, to conserve the historic boat fleet at what
is now the National Waterways Museum (NWM) and to teach young people boatbuilding skills.
The Society continues to actively support the NWM, which is now operated by
the Canal & River Trust, which also runs waterways museums at Gloucester and Stoke
Bruerne. The Society is based at the NWM but our members live all over the UK and
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abroad.
For those members who live within reasonable reach of Ellesmere Port, there are
many practical ways of contributing to the work of the Museum. These include helping
to care for Gifford and Worcester, the two historic boats owned by the Society;
demonstrating waterways related crafts;helping with restoration projects; working in
the museum archives; talking to visitors about the boats; and guiding parties of visitors
around the Museum.
The Society publishes the annual “Waterways Journal”, a useful source of
research material, which currently costs £6.99 at BMS meetings, the shop at the
NWM, and from canalside shops elsewhere, or £9.50 inc p&p by mail order. Of course,
the Society also publishes “Re:Port” quarterly, which is included in the cost of
membership.
Full Membership costs £16.00 annually, Family Membership (2 adults and 2
children under 12) £25.00, Students and juniors (12 to 17 years) £10.00, over 60s or
unwaged £10.00, Life Membership £350.00 and Family Life Membership £550.00.
A Family Connection
THE CLARK FAMILY'S HISTORY is bound up with the building of the
Union Canal in Scotland for five generations. The connection began with
William Clark, a 19th Century carter from Linlithgow, whose family firm
was contracted to move earth and materials for the building of the Union
Canal between 1818 and 1822.
Banksmen on the Union Canal about 1900. The man on the extreme right is John Tait.
[Photo: Scottish Canals]
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William's son Alexander had three sons and three daughters. His son, Peter
became a railwayman and worked at Ratho Station before becoming a banksman.
With the coming of the railways, less traffic used the canals. Some of the Clarks
went back to work on the railways. Gradually the Union Canal fell into disuse. Finally,
in 1933, the link between the Forth & Clyde and the Union Canals at Falkirk was
severed.
Another of William's sons, also called William, began his working life as an
apprentice shoemaker, but later he too became a railway worker. His brother
Alexander was a quarryman, and the third brother, Peter, worked on the railway. Their
sister Jennet married John Tait and, after the family moved to Wilkie’s Basin near
Ratho, all five men became canal banksmen.
John Tait, a canal banksmen's 'gaffer', in charge of a team of men, married Jennet
Clark. Tait was responsible for their local stretch of canal. The job of a banksman was
to maintain the condition and good order of a length of the canal. The banksmen had
to dredge the canal and keep it clear of weeds and debris for the traffic that travelled in
and out of Edinburgh, bringing coal and exporting manure.
Bill Hall, Mary Clark's great-grandson, remembers as a young boy seeing boats
going along the Forth & Clyde Canal in Bonnybridge, and watching the road bridge
open to allow boats through. Bonnybridge, which had been a village, developed greatly
during the industrial revolution. Significant industries that were established there
included paper milling, sawmilling, chemical manufacturing, brick making and whisky
distilling. Most important was the establishment of several iron foundries, the output
from which was transported by way of the Forth & Clyde Canal to local markets, and
to Glasgow for export.
The graves of the Clark family are to be found in the churchyard of St Mary's kirk
in Ratho on the edge of Edinburgh.
The Forth & Clyde and Union Canals were closed in the 1960s but were reopened
and connected by the Falkirk Wheel to form the Millennium Link in 2001.
Committee Matters
Lynn Potts
NOVEMBER 2013
Discussions with CRT re volunteering and how BMS fits in are ongoing. A draft of the
Annual Accounts have been given to the auditor for examining. The Committee have
reviewed our financial allocations and certain adjustments have been made. Mossdale
craning out due shortly. It was reported Health & Safety culture in the Heritage
Boatyard continues to improve. The length of talks at the BMS Friday’s meetings has
been shortened to allow more time for socialising; this is to make the meetings more
attractive.
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RE:PORT
Number 204
DECEMBER 2013
Jeff Fairweather took over as Chairman. He stressed that this is an important period for
BMS to face and we need to focus on our aims. The Annual Accounts have been
examined and found to be a true and fair assessment. The Think Tank has reported
back and a Memorandum of Understanding between BMS & CRT will be drafted out
and agreement sought. There has been a flurry of activity re Mossdale and craning out
will happen shortly.
JANUARY 2014
Mossdale has been craned out successfully and thanks were given to all who helped.
Re Birchills, a draft of the transfer document has been sent to David Heap to consult
with the other Trustee: a reply is awaited. Ian Posnett is to take over liaison with David.
Re the Memorandum of Understanding, agreement from CRT is awaited; preliminary
indications show few issues and basic acceptance is evident. A team of volunteers to
assist CRT with the Static Large Objects is being put together.
Errata
For the benefit of future researchers, there are two corrections to
Re:Port No. 203 (December 2013):
P18: The canal boat Raymond’ served with the Samuel Barlow fleet,
not the separate S.E. Barlow Fleet as stated.
P30: (inside rear cover). The c.1900 view from Lower Mersey Street is printed
back-to-front. The Clay Shed should be on the left, and Porter’s Row on the right.
Membership Matters
Barbara Catford
We would like to welcome the following new members:
David and Rosemary Aspinall, Paul Bedwell, David Ditchfield, Angela
Hughes, Alan Jones, Richard Martin and John Smallshaw
- 28 -
Number 204
RE:PORT
Have you joined the Boat Museum Society 200 Club yet?
Members of the club ensure a significant and steady income for boat restoration
projects. Each month 50% of the total subscribed is paid in prize money and 50% goes
into the Worcester fund.
By joining the 200 Club, members who live too far away from the Museum to be
able to come and help, or those who have other commitments, have the opportunity to
make a regular contribution to the Society.
You can buy as many numbers as you like at £1 each, the only proviso being that
you are a member of the Society. The more numbers that go into the draw each month,
the bigger the prizes.
The 200 Club draw is usually made at the monthly Society meetings. You can join
at a meeting, or by completing the form below and sending it with your membership
fee to Graham Adshead, whose address is at the bottom of the page.
Winners
November 2013
Pat Steward (5), Michael Crompton (95), Sue James (44)
December 2013
Ruth Brown (63), Mr Haslam (92), Bob Derricott (39)
January 2014
Michael Crompton (20), Daphne Luff (38), Liz Fairweather (57)
Application Form - The Boat Museum Society 200 Club
Name: …………………………………………………………………………………………..
Office Use
Address: .….…….……………………………………………….….…….…………………..
Post Code: ……………………………..
Telephone: ..…………………………………….
I apply for membership of the Boat Museum Society 200 Club and agree to pay the sum of £1.00 per month
per number. Subscriptions are payable in advance for the months up to and including June or December. I
am over 18 years of age and a paid-up member of the Boat Museum Society.
Signed:
Date:
Please send the completed form with your payment to:
Graham Adshead, 44 Seymour Drive, Overpool, South Wirral, CH66 1LU.
Cheques should be made payable to the ‘Boat Museum Society’.
- 29 -
RE:PORT
Number 204
Dates for your Diary
24th-28th Mar
10th-13th Apr
18th-21st Apr
28th Apr
3rd-5th May
23rd May1st Jun
31st May-1st Jun
13th-15th Jun
13th-15th Jun
NWM STEM Festival. The Musuem's first science, technology,
engineering and maths (STEM) festival. Schools working with each
other and their communities, as well as sharing skills and learning with
industry partners. For details call 0151 355 5017
NWM Boaty Theatre Company productions of 'Fate' and 'Forget Me
Not', 7.00 each evening.
NWM Easter boat gathering and Sea Shanty festival. Shanty concerts
traditional crafts, lectures, book stalls, lock demonstrations, battle of the
tugs, boaters games and a tour of the Heritage Boatyard.
NWM “Rock the Dock”, 2.00 pm. Free concert with local rock bands
Buckle Tongue, Fiction Lies, Lineout, The Jigsaws, Broken 3 Ways and
more. Tickets available from the Museum from 1st March.
IWA Canalway Cavalcade, Little Venice, Regent's Canal, London.
Boat rally, trade show and a wide range of activities and entertainment.
NWM Pirate Cruises. Schools half-term. For information and times
Tel: 0151 355 5017.
Audlem RNLI Festival of Transport. A rrecord number of vintage
canal boats are expected at the Audlem Warf next to Audlem Mill and
the “Shroppie Fly”.
Middlewich Folk & Boat Festival, Trent & Mersey Canal. 24th Anniversary of the Festival. Live music, Morris Dancing displays, Celidh
night, stalls and workshops.
Mersey River Festival. Tall Ships, races and other nautical events and
live music at the Pier Head in Liverpool.
Canal du Vassé, Annecy,
France [Creative Commons]
BMS meetings are at 7.30 pm in the Rolt Centre at the
National Waterways Museum.
IWA Chester & District meetings are at 7.45 pm in the Rolt Centre, NWM.
CCHT meetings start at 8.00 pm at the “Lock Keeper”, Canal Side,
Frodsham Street, Chester.
The steps leading up to Brownsfield Lock on the Rochdale Canal. Behind is the Grade II*
listed Brownsfield Mill. [Photo: David Dixon, Geograph, CC]
Ellesmere Basin, Llangollen Canal [Photo: Stuart Logan, Geograph, CC]
Brian Goggin’s MV Knocknagow in Ardrum Lock No 5 on the Shannon Erne Waterway.
[Photo: Tuesday Night Club]