davidwheeler

These two came up the River Rhone and the River Saone, with both rivers running high, late one autumn day in 2002. They had come from the South to collect the grain harvest from the area around Dijon. The Jalyda made fast under the grain shoot, while the Pelion went on up river, under the railway bridge, to St Jean de Losne, and turned. Both would load and return South to Marseille. Each of them getting on in years, the Pelion 51, the Jalyda, 48. The Pelion one of the last of the 'Canadiens', built by the Arsenal de Cherbourg in 1951 as part of the planned restructure of the French inland fleet following the destruction and displacement caused by the Second World War. As a part of a careful assessment by the post-War French Government, some 25 x 700 ton vessels and 45 x 900 ton vessels were ordered from American and Canadian shipyards. These were ordered from these countries because French yards did not at that time have the capacity to build all the elements of its new fleet The first 22 of the 900 tonners were built in Canada. Prefabricated complete, the bow section contained the crew's quarters, the stern the captain's and the machinery, with six separate midship sections, all temporarily assembled for testing, then disassembled for shipping across the Atlantic, and finally all welded together to completion. Another 60 were built in France to the same design and of these Pelion was one. I believe and hope that she still survives, an important element of the post-War rebuilding of Europe. Other sizes and types were produced under the same plan to restructure and modernise the French inland fleet, and drag it from wooden hulls and unempowered to steel and motorised. The Jalyda was not part of the State plan, but was motivated by the same need to replace War-damaged or destroyed tankers. This vessel was built as the Vercors, by the Ateliers et Chantiers Bariol at Arles, on the Rhone in 1954. This vessel was part of the tanker fleet of Azur-Desmarais Freres, the Star Fleet. In its day one of the, if not the, largest fuel distributors in France. Three such tankers operated on the Rhone. The one survivor, renamed Jalyda, converted to general cargoes, once the tanker fleet was made redundant. I believe that the Jalyda, renamed Polaris, caught fire on the river in 2012 and has since been scrapped. More than barges, really, they were inland ships. Handsome vessels, both of them. Although both old at the time they made this trip up the two rivers, by no means that old. The average age of the French inland fleet is I understand about 48 years, operated and owned mostly by individuals, themselves a good deal older than that. The larger photos are internet ones. I cannot trace ownership of them and hope they do not mind my using them to illustrate some of the best of French inland shipbuilding.

Hotchkiss Hydraulic Propeller and the Hunt for Torfrida CANCELLED due to operational irregularities.

By the 1980s, things began to change. I visited regularly during the late 1950s and through the 1960s. Then a bit of a pause until the early 1980s. To that time, the site seemed to remain relatively undisturbed, save for the arrival of a few new wooden hulls and the last of the FCBs. Access to the site was not easy and not obvious. During those early years I never met anyone there, nor any sign that people had been there although clearly they had. But they left no footprint. Not so by early 1980. Many of the hulls had been daubed with white paint, crude and obscene words and outlines of genitalia. That was that. For me,finish. I learned that later that decade arsonists got seriously to work and destroyed many of the best of the ships. Only Harriett seemed to escape, perhaps because it was too far to walk. Not until the 1990s, when I got to know Paul Barnett, did my interest rekindle. But the site now is a mere ghost of what it was. Here to end my contribution, a couple of photos from 1996. The Harriett has at least some legal protection as well as the physical protection provided by the Friends of Purton. The poor old Severn Collier, never the most beautiful example of a wooden barge, and not a particular success as such, was still recognisable. What she is like now, I do not know. As has been written before during this story, the Friends of Purton website gives masses of information, not only of the history of the ships and barges, but also of Paul Barnett's struggle to identify them and to protect them. His book is full of interesting facts, comments and pictures, not only of Purton, but the other sites as well.

What I am trying to convey is an impression of the Severn bankside at Purton, where it lay close to the Canal, in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The first thing is that the land was grazed by cattle so the ground was close cropped and quite smooth, rather like a well maintained lawn, not trimmed too closely as indeed they recommend these days. On top of this lawn were plonked large wooden hulls of lots of different shapes and sizes, reflecting the original purpose of the vessel. They weren't placed neatly, as in a municipal car park, they were all over the place. Some broadside to the hedge between bank and canal, some pointing directly at it. Some sunk down into the earth, so that one could step from the grass outside the vessel, onto the grass inside it. Others high up above, with their bottom planks just resting on the ground. That was part of the mystery of it, these things were quite out of their context. You do not expect a whacking great ship to be sitting in your garden, let alone dozens of them. Granted if one had thought about it, the reason would have become obvious but one didn't and there was no explanation, no information as to how these things got there, how anyone managed to get them so far above the river, and why. They were just there. Just beyond the hedge. You pushed through and there in front of you was a great big wooden hull. Magic it was. Unbelievable. Unreal. Here are a few more photos, not much good, but perhaps you can see a bit what I mean. The top one, looking through the hedge, was a very shapely vessel although you can't see that, a former schooner, 'Shamrock'. Middle left is the 'J & A R', a former trow, in the foreground the towed barge 'Barry', and in the background one of the concrete barges, '67' or '77'. Middle right, the Voltaic, in 1965. Bottom, I can't remember, but a double ended towing barge, wooden but with a iron or steel rudder.

This is, I hope, a rather better version of the photo reproduced earlier. To the left, the complete hull of the former Perth-built schooner, the Sarah MacDonald, dating from 1867. Latterly, renamed Voltaic. To the right, intact save for her name cut from the stern, is the Edith, a former ketch rigged trow. You can compare her boxey lines with that of the former schooner. This is 1969, when arguably Purton was at its best as the collection of wooden vessels without comparison anywhere else in the British Isles for its diversity and interest. The Voltaic, sixteen years on the banks at Purton, the Edith just 12. But by 1986 these two vessels had been destroyed by arson as were others on the site.

Well, if you do, as you write that you might, make a visit to the Purton site and just happen across the plaques for Newark, and Glenby, and F.C.B. 76, and decide they merit a photo or two of what the areas are like now, and then decide to stick them on as part of this story, which they are so far as I am concerned, because they really were and are the end of my physical contact with Purton and the canals, that would be more than I could hope for. Just as a matter of fact, all three are right at the top NE end, nearest to the houses, the road and the village. I don't think the Friends of Purton erected any information plaques SW of Harriet. They have been confined I think to the wooden vessel remains and the FCBs.

Stroudwater 1's photo, quite apart from being a beautiful photo in its own right, I find quite impressive. It does look as though most of the 18 barges, all strung out in a long line, have been completely covered by the Severn mud. I remember that concrete barge 51, just a little way east of the swing bridge, was high and dry in 1965. By 1969 covered by mud apart from tops of bow and stern, and within 10 years completely covered over, with only its retaining steel warps, secured to a tree on the bankside, to show where it remained below the surface. Very powerful river, the Severn. But then the men who put the barges there knew that, and knew its ways.

This is I think the Severn Conveyor, built as the Cleprod 1 in 1930 by Charles Hill of Bristol for Ellesmere Port Oil Storage, taken over by Harkers in 1948, and sold by them in 1950. Registered in Gloucester. Converted to hopper barge, as far as I can remember and beached in early 1970s, the first in the line of 17 or so redundant barges between the old railway swing bridge and the Old Docks. They were beached to protect the Canal bank. In the early 1970s you could walk along the row albeit with some difficulty. I remember doing it, but I believe that access now is forbidden. Not a hopper barge, a barge. I remember seeing her in Gloucester Docks , with the Nancy H, a converted tank barge, by one of the grain suckers. It might have been Sessions Ltd.

Mr Heritage, can you tell us more about them?

Umm. This was a poisson d'avril, as we say here. The Arley is a workmanlike tug. It does or did a workmanlike job. I thought it deserved a bit of respect. The BW number 89309 looks to me to have an age to it. Yarwoods did build a pusher tug, the Northwich, in 1961, with a superficial resemblance. That was built for use on the Ship Canal and the Weaver. If The Arley is the Northwich, there have been significant alterations. Does anybody know?

Well, thank you very much for those. The Oldenburg I know well from my days on Lundy work parties. Sad indeed about the Jubilee Trust. I am going to risk it. I like mud hoppers. And I liked the Stroudwater. One day in the late 1950s, there was a mud hopper party at the Junction. These days they would perhaps call it a rave. No less than seven hoppers, a barge, a flat, 2 BW narrowboats and dredger No 4. And us. There were no drones in those days to take aerial photos so I did the best I could. What ever you think of it technically, I doubt such a sight will be seen again.

Well then, wouldn't it be interesting to add a photo of this mud hopper, to continue the story. I doubt mud hoppers get much exposure on websites. can someone give this one a chance? Stroudwater1? You've already put three lovely photos on these pages.

We are, if we may say so, saddened by the apparent indifferent, not to say even disparaging, attitude shown so far on this site to this fine example of british shipbuilding. Assuming it is British. As will have been seen by the many who have accessed our new website, we have progressive and innovative plans for the vessel. Subject of course to relevant consents and permits. And funding. Her design perfectly lends itself to the revolutionary new Oozlees double boiler triple-condensing low pressure steam ecoengine with particulate sieve, so talked about in the maritime press. With the new toxic non-degradable dazzle paint livery designed by a leading Continental restaurateur (fast food), she will surely attract attention. The River Weaver and indeed the Ship Canal, woefully underused these days, will benefit from increased usage and, most important, usefully revenue from the renovated and updated tug with its proposed flotilla of four 'floating carriages' ( 1 business class, 3 economy), one restaurant workflat (unpowered) , and a brake boat fitted with twin anchors and a bow thruster (portable). Given that, as we understand it, Manchester Liners have recently ceased importing via the Canal that well-known brand of breakfast cereal from Illinois, added revenue for the canal must surely be welcome. We intend using local yards to build the carriages, not Far Eastern standard designs such as we see so often these days on the canal system. And what of those canal enthusiasts who would so enjoy drifting silently (almost) through those pretty Ship Canalside villages with their quaint swing bridges and their gardens so proudly filled with flowering shrubs. However if you don't like the look of the ship we won't do it. Any of it. Forget it. Here is a shot of the rear end. See what you are missing.

This is the tug 'Arley' at Northwich. Anyone know when and where built?

Coming soon to this channel, the Hotchkiss Hydraulic Propeller and the Hunt for Torfrida....watch this space. Or more likely, a new one.

I cannot get the hang of this site at all. I have completely lost the plot. So I've finished.

What brilliant photos. And a ship canal as well. Wherever it is I would have liked to have been there. And to have taken such photos.

In case it helps gain a balanced view of the merits or otherwise of the Cone I attach, with luck, a copy of an editorial by the staff of the Motor Boat magazine. Given the state of propulsion methods available at the time, 1927. For what it is worth, and I accept that is little since I am not an engineer, the assessment in the article reflects rather the feelings I have about the system. In shallow water it worked quite well in our boat, and in the 1950s and 60s there was plenty of shallow water on the canal system. And it moved her reasonably easily, albeit slowly, in deeper water, but for that we longed for a propeller. But perhaps that is enough of Cones. Tomorrow I will touch on the Hotchkiss Hydraulic Propeller which was a real disaster for Mr Hotchkiss. Unless you have had enough of him as well.

Oh dear. I was grossly oversimplifying the Cone action. My apologies Is this better? - " If a hollow cone with closed ends, and with one side partially cut away, is held with its axis horizontal and with the cut edges below the surface of a moving fluid, the axis of the cone being at right angles to the direction of flow, an eddy forms, which causes the fluid to flow into the cone at the end nearer the apex and to be discharged at the end nearer the base. The direction of both the inlet and outlet are tangential to the direction of rotation of the fluid and in the same direction. This movement which may be termed an expanding helical flow, is capable of rotating an impeller arranged with its axis coincident with that of the cone. If the impeller is rotated mechanically the same type of flow is set up, the direction depending on the direction of rotation. A powerful reaction is then obtained, which acts on the sides of the cone so that there is a positive pressure on one side and a negative pressure on the other. A form of centrifugal pump is thereby produced , differing from the ordinary type in that it receives fluid at an initial velocity and imparts an additional velocity to a large mass of water with the minimum of frictional loss. " I hope this now makes the principle of the system entirely clear. My thanks to Engineering Aug 5 1927 and to Dorset CRO.

Basically the Cone system consists of a four-bladed paddle wheel set inside a cone-shaped shell. This shell is fixed to the bottom of the boat to make a water-tight seal over a rectangular section cut out of the hull. Water is drawn into the cone through this cut-out section by the action of the paddles, spun round by them and thrust out again through the same cut-out section. Most installations consisted of two Coned paddle wheels, driven by gearing from the engine. The Cone shape causes the outward thrust to be greater than the intake. That is water, is chucked out faster than it comes in, creating a vacuum and thus drawing more water in. Tomorrow I will have a go with the Hotchkiss Hydraulic Propeller, the earlier invention, which will show clearly that they were really just internal paddle wheels (as against external ones as on the Waverley) encased in a water tight shell. Otherwise of course the boat would sink. That may seem obvious but that was the function of the Cone: to keep the water drawn in by the paddles firmly within the Cone before being ejected out. The seal between the cone and the bottom planks was vital. Ours began to leak in the declining months of our poor boat. Does this help? It is difficult to envisage how the Cone works unless you have sat on one for hours, as indeed I have. I can find more illustrations if it will help.

I do not know how much interest there is in these old systems of propulsion which blossomed from the late 1890s, although the story behind them is in itself interesting. I will try one more. This is from the Canals and Waterways Journal of 1919 and it shows the strive for innovation resulting from research carried out during WW1. This is the Kitchen Patent Reversing Rudders system. It was designed specifically with canal and river transport in mind, 'given the narrow winding courses which motor propelled craft have to negotiate'. " The principle involved is extremely simple as will be easily grasped upon reference to the perspective view in Fig 1 ( see below). The essential parts of the rudder consist of two curved deflectors formed of circular parts of a cylinder, partly enclosing the propeller. Both deflectors are pivoted at the top and bottom on common centres. One of the deflectors is operated by a solid shaft, "A", and the other by a hollow shaft, "B", concentric with the solid shaft. By suitable mechanisms the deflectors or rudders are made to turn together in the same direction or equally in opposite directions. Some of the possible positions are shown in Figs 2 to 8". There we are. Quite straight forward. The illustration shows the system installed in a 'fast Admiralty launch, 50 feet, 150 bhp, with very satisfactory results'. You can see the wheel mechanism for control of the system just to the right of the vessel's wheel. I hope that that is all quite clear. If not I have another three pages of explanation...

At the risk of becoming entirely boring on this subject I would just like to try to give some idea of the extent of Cone use. It gives one food for thought, doesn't it, that in the 1930s one man of very uncertain temperament and entirely on his own, managed in one single year to sell his product for installation in the following, some designed entirely by him: - 110 dwt cargo vessel - motor canoes on Thames and Wye - salvage launch for Sudan Government Railways -weed cutting boat for Egyptian Government - stream clearance vessel for Somerset Catchment Board -inspection launch for Athy Drainage Board -inspection launch for Sudan Government -towing launch for Saigon Port Authority -houseboat for South Africa -canal barges for Italy -river barges for River Ebro, Spain. - alligator pursuit vessel, Guayayquil, Ecuador -oyster fishing boat, Florida -missionary launch, Madagascar -foreign power gunboat - cabin cruiser for River Amazon. - and others besides... He went on to produce a number of vehicle ferries for use in Africa and India. All sorts of different designs for various purposes. Here for example is a launch which I hope you will agree would make a very pleasant motor yacht to grace any river or broad waterway. It was in fact a Calcutta built launch for the Lighthouse Department , Indian Ministry of Transport. A 36/1 W Cone system was specified in view of the shallowness of some of the waters in which it would have to operate. I quite fancy it, especially the officer's quarters at the front end. Just one of many and diverse designs incorporating the system. But perhaps enough for now.

Here is another from my files. This time a direct competitor to the Hotchkiss Hydraulic Propeller, the predecessor to the Cones. This is the Rees Roturbo system. There were several other similar systems in the 1920s and if I can find them I will add them. Interesting, aren't they?

In case it is of interest I have dug out from my files two articles specifically relating to Hotchkiss Cones and canal narrowboats. These reports in the Motor Boat magazine would have been prepared by Donald Hotchkiss himself - he had been a sub editor there. The dates are 1935 and 1936, at the peak of Cone sales. There was a report in the Trade Notes section of the same magazine in 1956 which reads thus: ' Installation of two Type 30/12 W reversing units is taking place at Braunston, Rugby, in a 72 -ft by 7-ft towing barge, with two Coventry Victor 9-11 hp Diesel engines. By fitting the engines over the cone propellers, it has been possible to reduce the normal length of engine room by several feet, thus increasing the cargo capacity of the barge.' Unfortunately there is no illustration. There is a photo of a butty which appeared in the Leicester Mercury in 1955. But this does not I think refer to a Hotchkiss installation. It seems to me to be a Gill Jet system. 'Princess' was taken over by Barlows 1957, I understand.

I may have given the impression that all commercial traffic on the Exeter Ship Canal disappeared with the opening of the M5 viaduct. Commercial traffic to the port of Exeter certainly did stop then. But in the 2010s, I think, commercial vessels were seen again on the Canal. These were the product of Coastal Workboats. Their main base is I think in Stornoway, but small ferries and workboats for the fishing industry have been built in Exeter and launched onto the Canal, and from there have gone on to their destinations. Two Malta ferries, Topcat One and Topcat Two, went down the Canal, into the Exe estuary, down to the sea and round the cast to Southampton, to be loaded on board a ship for transport to Malta. 19m x 6.6m, carrying 150 passengers maximum, powered by Watermota-supplied Doosan diesel engines driving Teignbridge fixed pitch props. Fuel efficient, low wash ferries with bow access and bow-on docking. You can cross the Grand Port at Malta in them. I did. The other photo is of a landing craft-type workboat which went up the coast to Scotland. I hope this is still ongoing business. Perhaps someone local to the area can tell us. I am bit far away.