CRT against freight to Leeds

[fanshaft]

18 hours ago, Tam & Di said:

Thanks for that David. I think you probably know, but in the 80s we did look at a couple of sites in the London area where we could re-open wharves suited for inland craft with grant aid then available, but in the end it was all too problematic. We also ran into problems with the London Dock Labour Board, and although we won our legal case we still got blacked at Tilbury anyway. We then bought a couple of small coasters and moved into sea-dredged aggregates for ARC Marine which was Estuarial and onto the tidal Thames, predominantly for works associated with the channel tunnel. All in the past for us now, but it's always good to hear of new work coming in.

 

Tam

Thanks Tam,

That is most interesting.  Your 'blacking' story reminds me that when I turned up in Liverpool Docks in October 1974 with 'Wye' to load grain for BOCM Selby this was viewed with some suspicion by the local barge union officers, especially when we returned with a load of wheat from Whitley Bridge to the Manchester mill.  Matters came to a head when the fleet increased to three (with 'Irwell' and 'Weaver')  and we were to start running from the new Seaforth Grain Terminal in Liverpool to Manchester.  We were all TWGU members, and with Derek Bent being a 'local' with a barging background we were 'allowed' to operate but only via the inland L&L/Bridgewater route (which was the intention). Then in November 1979 I was back in Manchester  with 'Charles William' (a 100 tonne keel brought across the L&L - a story in itself) to work for BOCM whose transport manager, Hugh Porter,  wanted to move small consignments of grain which would otherwise go by road, we were instantly blacked by the barge men and the dockers (even though I and mate were still both members of the TGWU) as we 'would be taking work away from the existing barges', even though the grain was going by road as the local barges were too big.   They summoned me to a meeting and with evident great amusement and satisfaction said they would  let us do two loads of talc from Manchester to Anderton but any more would have to be 'new work' - in the sure knowledge there was no new work to be had and they had beaten us.  I worked with Ken Moody (BW Manager Anderton depot) on various possibilities and quickly  obtained a contract to carry wheat from Seaforth to Anderton (later Frodsham) for Nelstrops of Stockport. This, being new work, had to be permitted, and the contract remains in operation, albeit to Runcorn.  We were never permitted to work 'Charles William'  for BOCM on Merseyside much to Hugh Porter's disappointment.  Hugh was a great advocate of water freight; he controlled his own barge fleet based at Selby, and used Bulk Cargo Handling Services, and Liverpool Grain Storage and Lighterage (mainly) in the Mersey area - which is why we were seen as interlopers! 

Regards

 

David L

 

Edited August 8, 2020 by fanshaft

[Tam & Di]

We moved into trading on the Thames almost by accident. We'd set up a job carrying grain from Tilbury to Allied Mills at Weybridge and had no resistance from the dockers with that. The London Dock Labour scheme applied to work done within the port, but the upstream limits were Teddington lock, so we were trading into and out of the port rather than within it. Our crew similarly joined the T&GWU, with son Jason as shop steward.

We were then asked by a shipping agent to move some general cargo ex Tilbury, also upstream and out of the port, to a historic commercial wharf, and bought a 300dwt Dutch motor barge especially for the work. The first couple of freights went OK but then the dockers blacked the ship in Tilbury and refused to load it. They claimed we were doing 'dock work' - they were happy to load us to go into and out of the port seawards to Colchester, but not inland. We took them to Court and won our case, but when we then went back to load they simply ignored the decision and blacked us again. We'd already spent three years fighting the case and couldn't afford to continue, but luckily we then got a contract with ARC Marine for carriage of sea-dredged aggregates that meant we were only going into and out of the port seawards, so it ceased to be an issue. We eventually had three small coasal ships doing this, plus occasional short sea trips to Holland.

We always had great sympathy for the dockers and the fact that their work was rapidly disappearing, but they did themselves no favours. They didn't even have men or vessels to do the upstream work we'd set up themselves.

 

Still, who knows where things are going - maybe horse drawn narrowboats are the future. ?‍♂️

 

Tam