River Scene in 1934, but where?

[Heartland]

This image shows a tanker barge and other craft which the CRT mentions might be the Shearwater Canal.

 

Where was, or is the Shearwater Canal?  Is it fact or fantasy ?

 

Is it the River Trent and what was the works?

 

 

 

James W Cook was said to be the owner of the barges - so it might be the Colne, in Essex.

 

Edited April 17 by Heartland

[magnetman]

Are they Selby motorbarges? 

[mrsmelly]

1 hour ago, magnetman said:

Are they Selby motorbarges? 

They do look like Humber Keels. The landings on the right look very much like those at various places on the Trent but could be a number of places. I have a couple of fotos of my old Dad on the barge he worked on from 1934 somewhere, I can never find the fotos when I want them, he used to run out of Goole to Nottingham and Hull until WW2 took him to sea. We have very few fotos as people didn't foto every day stuff then like they do now.

Edited April 17 by mrsmelly

[magpie patrick]

Have they got "Shearwater " from scrawled handwriting on the back of the photo? If so could it be Stainforth? Or a place starting with S and around 10 letters long?

[Chris Lowe]

1 hour ago, magpie patrick said:

Have they got "Shearwater " from scrawled handwriting on the back of the photo? If so could it be Stainforth? Or a place starting with S and around 10 letters long?

Certainly plausible, I've never heard of the Shearwater Canal

[peterboat]

Does look like the Ouse to be honest. Maybe Selby ?

[MtB]

There is an area in Woking, Surrey called Shearwater, and the Basingstoke runs right through it. Main claim to fame is Paul Weller grew up there.

 

The Basy there is however, only about 30ft wide! 

 

 

[Chris M Jones]

Could it be the brickworks at Burton Stather on the River Trent?

 

James W Cook of Hull did operate barges carrying petroleum products on the Trent. One of them was built at Hessle in 1935 named SHEARWATER C.

[magpie patrick]

11 hours ago, Chris M Jones said:

Could it be the brickworks at Burton Stather on the River Trent?

 

James W Cook of Hull did operate barges carrying petroleum products on the Trent. One of them was built at Hessle in 1935 named SHEARWATER C.

 So someone wrote Shearwater C on the back of a photo and this has been interpreted as Shearwater Canal perhaps? 

 

12 hours ago, MtB said:

There is an area in Woking, Surrey called Shearwater, and the Basingstoke runs right through it. Main claim to fame is Paul Weller grew up there.

 

The Basy there is however, only about 30ft wide! 

 

 

 There is a Shearwater near me in Frome, it is a lake about as wide as that in the picture - however it's the water supply for Longleat (or at least it was) and it's doubtful anything bigger than a sailing dinghy has ever set sail on it! 

[Dav and Pen]

13 hours ago, Chris M Jones said:

Could it be the brickworks at Burton Stather on the River Trent?

 

James W Cook of Hull did operate barges carrying petroleum products on the Trent. One of them was built at Hessle in 1935 named SHEARWATER C.

The chimneys and building certainly look like a brickworks.

[noddyboater]

2 hours ago, Dav and Pen said:

The chimneys and building certainly look like a brickworks.

Could it be the wharf above West Stockwith lock?  Although I'm not sure if the works there had so many tall chimneys.

[Chris M Jones]

Noddyboater - your suggestion that it might be the wharf at Stockwith Chemical Works upriver from West Stockwith Lock does look more like the location. It had a number of chimneys and piers which fit in with the photo. The site does look a bit derelict and the works was demolished by the late 1940’s.

 

Also the barges running light downstream fits in as well as they would have normally run upstream loaded and returned back to Hull light.

[mykaskin]

On 18/04/2024 at 16:30, noddyboater said:

Could it be the wharf above West Stockwith lock?  Although I'm not sure if the works there had so many tall chimneys.

 

Looks very likely, and looking at an old map, shows loads of Chimneys, the River also matches when viewed from the road on Google Maps.

 

[Heartland]

Thanks folks, it does look like Stockwith