Etruria museum volunteers restore Potteries canal boats

[Josher]

Should keep them busy ...

 

3 June 2011 Last updated at 15:19 BBC

 

 

British Waterways says it donated the boats to ensure the preservation of working canal craft

 

Two historic working canal boats have been handed over to a Stoke-on-Trent museum for restoration. Around 30 volunteers at Etruria Industrial Museum will now restore the narrowboats over the next two years. Commissioned by British Waterways in the 1950s, the boats worked as a pair - motorboat Lindsay towed the unpowered Keppel. Together they carried china clay to the Potteries and ferried finished wares back to the docks in Runcorn, Cheshire.

 

Julie Arnold, one of the volunteers, said: "I think it's great for the museum. It'll really let the museum tell the story of what used to go on in Stoke." The boats will be on show as the museum hosts its annual Etruria Canal Festival this weekend.

 

... and from This is Staffordshire

 

Museum helpers to restore historic city canal boats

 

TWO historic boats have been handed oven to volunteers at Etruria Industrial Museum to restore. The narrowboats, named Lindsay and Keppel, used to ferry clay china and other materials from Weston Point Docks at Runcorn to Stoke-on-Trent; then return with the completed pottery or transport coal from Sideways Colliery to Middlewich.

 

The boats will now be restored by volunteers and used as an educational resource at the museum. Volunteer Andrew Watts, aged 59, of Stoke, said: "Lindsay is a motorboat, which used to pull Keppel, which was a towed 'butty' boat. That way, twice as much could be transported. They were built in the 1950s. They did their job on the canal until lorries, which were much quicker, took over. They were then used by British Waterways for maintenance until the end of their lives. They will now be restored by volunteers. We've got a chance of finishing them in two years. If we paid full price to have them restored professionally, it would cost £30,000. Using volunteer labour and doing everything in-house will be a lot cheaper, but it will take longer. We will use them to store coal for the boiler, which will be a considerable saving for the museum and we'll take school groups out and show them how they work. Whenever we have boats at the museum, they are popular."

 

Hundreds of years ago, china was transported to and from Josiah Wedgwood's factory at Etruria by horse, but it was estimated 50 per cent of completed wares would be smashed on the road to Liverpool. Later, a horse would be used to pull a boat up the canal, transporting wares much more safely. Following the invention of motorised engines, a motor boat could take even more stock, pulling a butty boat behind it. Finally, the motorways and advancements in motor engines meant it was much faster to transport pottery by road; spelling the end of the influence of the canals on pottery and coal industries.

 

Tony Hales, chairman of British Waterways, said: "This is the logical home for the boats, now they have been decommissioned. We want people who are going to look after our historic boats." Former Lord Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent Denver Tolley is a long-time supporter of Etruria Industrial Museum and a narrowboat-owner. The 68-year-old, from Longton, said: "It's a coup for Etruria, normally this sort of thing goes to the boat museum at Ellesmere Port."

 

Julie Arnold, co-ordinator of the Inland Waterways Association, said: "It's another piece of heritage that really brings the museum to life, showing how cargo arrived. It's a great way for people to understand about the canal heritage."

[Speedwheel]

Is the musuem now safe from closure then?

[Josher]

Is the musuem now safe from closure then?

 

Not exactly ...

 

Race against time to save facilities This is Staffordshire Thursday, March 31, 2011

 

The clock is ticking for services and facilities which were given a temporary reprieve from closure. Stoke-on-Trent City Council decided to take Meir Community and Education Centre (CEC), Etruria Industrial Museum, Ford Green Hall and Stanley Head Outdoor Education Centre out of its budget.

 

But the authority said it no longer wants to run the sites and agreed to keep them open for six months in the hope of finding community groups or trusts to take them over. The council is said to have received interest from groups for some of the sites but if none of them come up with a viable plan, they will be closed.

[Laurence Hogg]

What a load of S _**E, The boats were well looked after under BW ownership and should have stayed so under Jim Taylor's guard. Now they are being restored in a museum in danger of closure after being "handed over" by BW. I wonder what part David Bass & Tony Stammers played in this? These boats are the final word in the evolution of the conventional narrow boat only the "River class" followed them with truly unconventional motors. Surely BW wants to keep some of its heritage?? I feel BW have gone for a "quick fix" here and given the boats to a unstable operation - very clever.

 

"It's another piece of heritage that really brings the museum to life, showing how cargo arrived. It's a great way for people to understand about the canal heritage."

Ok so why has no one commented on the boats designs and why they were built the way they were?

These boats were the product of the DIWE research facility at Bulls Bridge, quite simply the aim was to produce a design which could carry a max tonnage on a badly maintained channel efficently. The research team developed a hydroconic curve which at 4mph was the most efficent for the hull and tonnage, this then forced water down the sides of the boat and into the stern which in the case of Lindsay the huxter plate is convex thus providing more water round the prop. They were also the first "modern" boats built to 6ft 10" (actually slightly less), this allowed them to pass through locks with bulging walls which would have needed otherwise rebuilsing. They were general traffic boats and did not just work pottery traffics, they were often on the SU main line when working rather than the T&M.

 

and from Tony Hales: "This is the logical home for the boats, now they have been decommissioned. We want people who are going to look after our historic boats" - so what happens if the project fails? If they were still on the BW lease they would be safe, in this situation they could just be sold off to the highest bidder - well done Chairman Hales!

Edited June 3, 2011 by Laurence Hogg