Oakdale

[kris88]

I saw oakdale today, what an unusual and interesting boat. It looks like it was made in the late 1800's, but was made In the 1950's. The skipper is an interesting chap as well.

 

Regards kris

[The Bearwood Boster]

Picture ?

[kris88]

Google

[AMModels]

 

theres a lot when you google Oakdale....

[kris88]

Try googling "oakdale mersy flat."When I'm not on a phone. If your still struggling I'll find one.

[AMModels]

I know Kriss, was just pulling your leg.

 

http://www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/register/2024/oakdale

[kris88]

That's okay then, very interesting boat.

[Pluto]

I did some work on her after she sank at Burscough in 1975. Someone had started a conversion, with a hole for a waste pipe too near the water!

[kris88]

Here's another photo for anybody who can't use google.

 

Interesting construction , is it steel frames then wooden planks. Where it's moored at the moment I think it's on the verge of sinking every time the tide comes in.

 

Regards kris

[The Bearwood Boster]

Kriss,that's a cracking photo.Thank you

Trina

Ps can use google but phone not 100% reliable when cruising !

[zenataomm]

Good looking boat.

Interesting propeller arrangement.

[kris88]

In the photo I posted, you'll notice the bilge pump running. When I was there the other day as soon as the tide started coming in the skipper started the pump. Which makes me think it's like a sieve. Shame because it really is a very interesting boat.

Regards kris

[Alenafour]

Here's another photo for anybody who can't use google.

 

Interesting construction , is it steel frames then wooden planks. Where it's moored at the moment I think it's on the verge of sinking every time the tide comes in.

 

Regards kris

Here's another;

 

 

(try not to be so rude Kris)

 

Photo Historic Ships Register

[John V]

Good looking boat.

Interesting propeller arrangement.

 

 

A lot of Thames sailing barges have similar when they have had an auxiliary added

[Derek R.]

It may well be at its last resting place. I'm sure as a vessel to live aboard it is well loved, and may be quite characterful within and may even last quite a few more years. The owner seems to make it functional in appearance and not an eyesore that some have become in the past. But making something that large made of wood that has been sat on a soggy bottom for however long, would be a daunting task to move and repair. But who knows, the world is full of surprises.

 

Seems to be moored here:

http://tinyurl.com/oasy6s8Dated May 2011.

Just across the river from Millom. Yet another satellite view shows it absent.

http://tinyurl.com/p9grpmdNot sure of the date of that image, so it must have moved within the last few years.

[kris88]

I think it will be it's last resting place, which is a shame. The skipper is happy enough, it's in a beatiful location as you can see in the photos.

He's been replacing some planks this summer he was saying.

[swift1894]

I think the Oakdale used to be moored in Canning Half Tide Dock in Liverpool, next to the Maritime Museum. The owner tried to get her up to Barrow in Furness, as I understood it, to get her repaired but had to beach her when she started to leak badly.

I was really surprised/ dismayed that Liverpool council couldn't save the last of the wooden Mersey flat type boats and keep it in Liverpool. Having said that I'm not sure of the exact circumstances. Maybe the owner didn't want her to stay where she was. All I know is that it seemed a shame that an example of this Mersey workhorse wasn't kept in the docks for future generations to see.

[Pluto]

Oakdale is a 'modern' towed barge rather than a Mersey flat. The construction and shape of these two types is very different. By the time Oakdale was built, there was a very definite Yorkshire influence on the shape of the bow, and bow and stern framing. Mossdale at Ellesmere Port is the only flat now surviving, and she was a towed boat rather than sailing. Her shape and framing is, however, similar to that of a sailing flat. Edward Paget-Tomlinson's book on Mersey Flats is probably the best source of information.

[kris88]

Did he write a book just about mersy flats. I've got a copy of his excellent "Britains canal & river craft"

 

Regards kris

[Pluto]

Sorry! It was Mike Stammers who wrote Mersey Flats and Flatmen in 1993, ISBN 0861380991, though Edward did produce drawings for the book.

[kris88]

Thanks for that, I'll have a look

[Bekaybe]

Oakdale is a Mersey Flat. She was built by Abel's as a Mersey Flat. She was registered in Liverpool as a Mersey Flat. She is even the cover picture on Mike Stammers' book on Mersey Flats and Flatmen. IIRC, five sets of frames were made in the 1930s. Two sets were used before the war for Fred Abel and Heathdale. Two sets were used for Oakdale and Ruth Bate after the war. I don't think the last set was ever used.

 

Naturally, Oakdale's hull shape differs considerably from the sailing Flats of the 18th and 19th Centuries. Working boats evolve to maximise their efficiency for their intended role. Oakdale was built to work the LLC up to North Shore Mills and also the River Mersey. She is the only survivor of the final evolution of the Mersey Flat.

 

Regarding the need to pump her out, a 1 inch Jabsco is all that's required. That's not bad at all for a 64 year old wooden boat of that size.

[kris88]

Oakdale is a Mersey Flat. She was built by Abel's as a Mersey Flat. She was registered in Liverpool as a Mersey Flat. She is even the cover picture on Mike Stammers' book on Mersey Flats and Flatmen. IIRC, five sets of frames were made in the 1930s. Two sets were used before the war for Fred Abel and Heathdale. Two sets were used for Oakdale and Ruth Bate after the war. I don't think the last set was ever used.

 

Naturally, Oakdale's hull shape differs considerably from the sailing Flats of the 18th and 19th Centuries. Working boats evolve to maximise their efficiency for their intended role. Oakdale was built to work the LLC up to North Shore Mills and also the River Mersey. She is the only survivor of the final evolution of the Mersey Flat.

 

Regarding the need to pump her out, a 1 inch Jabsco is all that's required. That's not bad at all for a 64 year old wooden boat of that size.

 

You seem to know a lot about oak dale bekaybe,

I didn't mean to be rude about the pumping out, just happened to notice the pump as tide came in.

I posted about Oakdale because I was really pleased to see such a nice boat and I was intrigued to what type of boat it is.

 

Regards kris

[Pluto]

This is a view which you couldn't replicate today:

[Bekaybe]

That's a fascinating picture Pluto. I have similar pics in my collection. Taken from the wheelhouse of the Edmund Gardner in about 1982 I think. The good old Wincham, sadly no longer with us. Mr Temple and Mr Brown must be turning in their graves. Good times were had with those fine fellows in the Landfall. In the background those trawlers must be the Dutiful and Boy Ross. Dutiful was involved in drug smuggling, according to legend, and the Boy Ross (Jimmy Mann?) arms smuggling during the troubles, again a rumour. Location is the Ellerman Berth in Princess Dock, next to the Everhards offices. Even the chimneys of the Clarence Dock power station in the background!, and the B&I crane!. Whatever became of David Gillmore I wonder. He was the man ultimately responsible for saving Oakdale.