Earnest Thomas

[The Pipe]

As a family we used to hire his boats from Gailey later from Hatherton, my earlist memories of canal boating are on his boats Raven, Thrush and Lark I remember Lark was up for sale at some time in the 90's maybe even the 80's and I saw one of his smaller boat on the T&M again in the 90's are there any still about?

Does anybody still have there holiday photo's?

Lark had a very nice forend very rounded.

I have one of his Fowler's sat in my shed that needs a rebuild and a hull to drop it in maybe some time it will happen.

[Laurence Hogg]

First it is Ernest Thomas not Earnest although as he became a waterway millionaire out of shifting coal to power stations it might be more in keeping. Some of the boats have survived most were converted from former working craft including Severners, a tug and normal wooden day boats. We hold a set of pictures in the LHP collection of all of the fleet including the trip boats "Maverick" and "Cheyanne". Two of the tugs have survived "Enterprise" and "Birchills" sadly only one of his day boats remains "Birchills" at the Black country museum. MAny other boats passed through ET's hands including "President" and other well known FMC motors. His dock survives almost intact at Birchills, still working and of course the hire bases at Hatherton and Gailey are still active under new owners.

ET's fame led the BBC to make a programme called "Up the cut" about the ET operation at Birchills, what has happened to this film is anyones guess but it must hold some of the most valuable footage of BCN tugs in operation that could exist.

 

A press shot showing ET (2nd from right) in a interview on board one of the boats.

Edited September 28, 2011 by Laurence Hogg

[The Pipe]

My spelling....

The hire fleet was always dealt with by Mrs. Thomas if I remember right Ernest was never seen at the hire base. Did they not also have a cement company as well?

I remember a trip boat at Hatherton and it had a Gardner engine, but I cannot remember her name.

The last time we had one of his/her hire boats out I was about 14 years old so my viewpoint is that of a child.

I think all his hire boats came out of old working boats as they were shallow drafted as well I assume he must have chopped a plank off the side.

And wasn't Heron there private boat with the park benches on the stern deck.

We still have a hire brochure some place and also an old British Waterways one as well which I should dig out and scan.

My family was never one to take many pictures so most is just down to what I can remember.

[Laurence Hogg]

My spelling....

The hire fleet was always dealt with by Mrs. Thomas if I remember right Ernest was never seen at the hire base. Did they not also have a cement company as well?

I remember a trip boat at Hatherton and it had a Gardner engine, but I cannot remember her name.

The last time we had one of his/her hire boats out I was about 14 years old so my viewpoint is that of a child.

I think all his hire boats came out of old working boats as they were shallow drafted as well I assume he must have chopped a plank off the side.

And wasn't Heron there private boat with the park benches on the stern deck.

We still have a hire brochure some place and also an old British Waterways one as well which I should dig out and scan.

My family was never one to take many pictures so most is just down to what I can remember.

The trip boat was the "MAVERICK" it was sold when Ray Thomas went bust and I last saw it at Calcutt. The boat in the picture of ET may be Heron as it isnt one of the tugs and I do think this was their own boat for atime. They did remove one plank from most of the craft when converting them and you are right about the concrete, they made concrete moulded mini day boats as flower tubs for the water gardens at Hatherton. some are still there.

Edited September 29, 2011 by Laurence Hogg

[The Pipe]

We never hired Heron and looking at the photo she looks to have louver windows and I cannot remember them on any of the boats we hired also I cannot ever remember a chain bunk which looks to be hung on the right.

Sea toilets. No shower no heating, hand pump for your water and chucked the cutlery out with the washing up water.

[carlt]

Gordon, who I last saw working at Caggy's, restored an Ernie Thomas hire boat.

 

Lark rings a bell but I'm probably wrong.

[The Pipe]

It could be Lark because I remember he being advertised as for sale. I did come across a wooden boat some years back and I assumed it was one of Thomas's but was told it was built by Ken Keys as a private boat, cannot remember its name.

Ray I assume, replaced some if not all of the wooden boats with some steel boats those that I've seen stand out as Thomas's boats very distinctive.

Edited September 29, 2011 by Jim Evans

[carlt]

I did come across a wooden boat some years back and I assumed it was one of Thomas's but was told it was built by Ken Keys as a private boat, cannot remember its name.

Ken Keay did build a handful of private leisure boats, though most of his were chop downs.

 

Lionheart was one (now broken up, I think) and I can't, off the top of my head, remember the others' names.

[Laurence Hogg]

Ken Keay did build a handful of private leisure boats, though most of his were chop downs.

 

Lionheart was one (now broken up, I think) and I can't, off the top of my head, remember the others' names.

The "Hilton" & the "H F Truman" were built new, he converted the "Chalfont", tug "Joan 2" and "Stourport", I can't remember "Lionheart". He started work on ex FMC Azalea but that was never finished. Selwyn Jordan started work on "Silver jubilee" but again it was abandoned (still there today). There was also the converted stern of a wooden josher but I cannot remember its name either.

[lydfordcastle]

We never hired Heron and looking at the photo she looks to have louver windows and I cannot remember them on any of the boats we hired also I cannot ever remember a chain bunk which looks to be hung on the right.

Sea toilets. No shower no heating, hand pump for your water and chucked the cutlery out with the washing up water.

 

We hired Heron during the summer of 1967 and took her up to Chester and back. I Remember the two park benches and the sea toilet very well but don't remember any louvre windows. I also recollect a very large stack of narrow gauge rails and sleepers dumped in the 'gardens' at Hatherton and Mrs Thomas told us that Ernie was going to lay them soon and run a train around the gardens. Did he ever get round to it?

[fanshaft]

We hold a set of pictures in the LHP collection of all of the fleet including the trip boats "Maverick" and "Cheyanne". Two of the tugs have survived "Enterprise" and "Birchills"

 

Laurence, do you have any photos of E T tug 'Apollo' (ex M&C/FMC)purchased in May 1946, which I bought off Malcolm Braine in 1970, and is now a trip boat? One day I will rebuild Apollo back into an E T tug! You will know better than I, but I believe Apollo was latterly used as a spare tug after shortening in 1951. The only photo I have shows just the forend, tied up next to 'Enterprise'. (Apologies if I have asked you before).

 

Best regards

 

David L

[pete harrison]

There was also the converted stern of a wooden josher but I cannot remember its name either.

 

Would it be LADY HELEN, renamed LADY KIMLEY by 1978 ?

[The Pipe]

We hired Heron during the summer of 1967 and took her up to Chester and back. I Remember the two park benches and the sea toilet very well but don't remember any louvre windows. I also recollect a very large stack of narrow gauge rails and sleepers dumped in the 'gardens' at Hatherton and Mrs Thomas told us that Ernie was going to lay them soon and run a train around the gardens. Did he ever get round to it?

Looking at the photo again it is not louvre windows but the T&G boards.

I don't know how Heron went I think she still only had a 2 pot Fowler in her.

I remember the track as well my father was a model engineer building 7,1/4" guage locomotives I remember him talking to Mrs. Thomas about it.

That could be about 1967 or maybe earlier.

[Laurence Hogg]

Would it be LADY HELEN, renamed LADY KIMLEY by 1978 ?

The converted Josher stern was owned by a local Walsall family neither Paul McKintosh or myself can remember the name but it had bus windows, and the owners daughter worked at the lab I worked in at the time. The "Lady Helen" was a hire boat operated by Selwyn Jordan if it was a woodedn boat it was replaced with a metal hulled boat of the same name around 1978 as I hired it later. The boat in which ET is photographed is ex M&C "Jubilee" which ET operated as his own private boat which lived in the wet dock adjoing his house. Freddie Moore acted as captain and also as ET's chauffer.

 

Edited to say: If you look at the picture on page 36 of the current "Narrowboat", this is took at Keays dock. To the left of "Vulcan" is "Silver Jubilee", alongside that is the Josher stern conversion, out furthest is "LAdy Helen", on the dock furthest away is "Chalfont" and the nearest is "Azalea" with the railings on the stern. - what a snapshot in time!! Vulcan was there for conversion as it had been sold to Mr Wilkinson.

Edited September 30, 2011 by Laurence Hogg

[pete harrison]

The "Lady Helen" was a hire boat operated by Selwyn Jordan if it was a woodedn boat it was replaced with a metal hulled boat of the same name around 1978 as I hired it later.

 

I have LADY HELEN being renamed LYDIA KIMLEY (I typo'd this as LADY KIMLEY in my last post) by August 1978 which fits in with Mr Jordan's steel boat of the same name being "around 1978". LYDIA KIMLEY was owned by Mrs. L. Jay, Walsall, who I believe was the mother of Paul Jay - the steerer of USK in the early 1980's.

 

The boat in which ET is photographed is ex M&C "Jubilee" which ET operated as his own private boat which lived in the wet dock adjoing his house.

 

Confusingly Mr. Thomas renamed JUBILEE as MERCURY. At the same time he also operated the former F.M.C. Ltd. steamer COLONEL as a hire cruiser, also named MERCURY ! (I have a photograph taken at Calf Heath where both MERCURY's are in the same view)