IWA Rally Liverpool 1968

[Heartland]

The Stanley Locks Branch were part of the event for 1968 which included a steam traction engine, a fairground organ and narrow boats. It seems Rose Skinner attended on Friendship and Malcolm Braine was there with ex Fellows, Morton & Clayton Dragon.

 

It must have been a long and interesting journey for the narrow boats which presumably went via the Leigh Branch and Manchester 

 

 

Edited April 20, 2022 by Heartland

[PeterScott]

3 hours ago, Heartland said:

... long and interesting journey for the narrow boats which presumably went via the Leigh Branch and Manchester 

 

Also fun for ... "A dozen Rally entrants braved the allegedly hazardous passage from Ellesmere Port down the Manchester Ship Canal and out of the Manchester Ship Canal and out of the Mersey into Liverpool Docks. This is approaching Liverpool Pier Head. Left hand figure is broadcasting a live commentary to Radio Merseyside, one of many media which offered wide publicity coverage. The vessel is I.W.A. Council Member Stan Clover's sixty year old tug/icebreaker Sharpness, whose narrow beam, round-bilged hull rolled pleasantly in the swell." IWA Bulletin 85 report of the rally.

 

 

 

"Ultimate event in the boats' Tug of War Contest. Wide-beam Leeds and Liverpool Canal short boat Edith tests her engine's capabilities against the combined power of narrow beam tugs James Loader and Sharpness." (same article)

 

 

"While obviously pleasure cruisers predominated, there was a fine turn out of working boats. Here, Lynx, Dragon and Puppis lie breasted up in one of the Stanley Dock Branch pounds, with the way to the Mersey beyond the railway arches." (same article)

 

 

"A solid pack of boats and spectators, bringing colour and excitement to Liverpool's rugged waterway. In a dismal summer, the sun shone frequently during our National Rally, providing the City with a sight unique in its history." (same article)

 

 

 

[dave moore]

I was there with Tony Phillips who owned Tay in those days. We were tied next to Joe and Rose Skinner above Stanley Locks and I well remember Joe’s cries

” Rose....put the kettle orn, Rose....”

If only I’d found time to talk with them, as a teen I was distracted by a young lady who offered certain promises....

A year earlier at Leicester, I recall watching someone add a distinctly poor landscape to Friendshp’s cabin sides. Little did I know then the path into boat painting I was to follow......

[Pluto]

For the 1968 rally, the boats congregated at the Mersey Motor Boat Club's premises at Lydiate before progressing down into Liverpool. Three years earlier, there had been a narrow boat rally at Wigan, as part of the 1965 National Rally at Blackburn. Was this the most influential of such rallies? Shortly after, local MP, Barbara Castle, was in charge of the Transport Act which ensured the canal system was saved for leisure boating. There was also the 1972 rally at Lymn, where I was working with Charlie Atkins giving public trips on Lapwing. My boat was at the other side of the breach, but I did meet boaters, such as Rose and Joe. Rose had a distinctive laugh, and when I was tied up in Runcorn, was in The Grapes on Halton Road when I heard a very similar laugh. It turned out to be a former Simpson Davies boatwoman who was the pub's cleaner, and had regularly moored outside the pub into the 1960s.

[David Schweizer]

9 hours ago, dave moore said:

I was there with Tony Phillips who owned Tay in those days. We were tied next to Joe and Rose Skinner above Stanley Locks and I well remember Joe’s cries

” Rose....put the kettle orn, Rose....”

If only I’d found time to talk with them, as a teen I was distracted by a young lady who offered certain promises....

A year earlier at Leicester, I recall watching someone add a distinctly poor landscape to Friendshp’s cabin sides. Little did I know then the path into boat painting I was to follow......

 

We were at Leicester in 1967 on Pisces and were moored close to Friendship. With regard to the painter, you presumably mean this chap, who I understood at the time, was an Art Teacher from a local School. Along with several others, we spent an enjoyable evening in a back street pub with Joe and Rose, and can remember Rose becoming concerned with the amount of beer being bought for Joe.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 21, 2022 by David Schweizer

[syd]

12 hours ago, David Schweizer said:

 

We were at Leicester in 1967 on Pisces and were moored close to Friendship. With regard to the painter, you presumably mean this chap, who I understood at the time, was an Art Teacher from a local School. Along with several others, we spent an enjoyable evening in a back street pub with Joe and Rose, and can remember Rose becoming concerned with the amount of beer being bought for Joe.

 

 

 

 

I didn't know Brucie had a boat.