Frodsham Wharf traffic ended?

[tarboat]

I saw this photo today

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/38136824@N08/8672281781/

 

and it shows the wharf at Frodsham bereft of grain boats and the unloading crane gone. Has the traffic ended for good? It would be very sad if this last traffic on the Weaver has disappeared.

[TimYoung]

I believe that the traffic has moved to Weston Point Docks, just around the corner.

 

Tim

[Timleech]

Runcorn docks, actually.

 

It is sad, the end of a very long history of shipping to & from Frodsham, hundreds of years.

 

Tim

Edited April 23, 2013 by Timleech

[Stormbringer]

Yes, very sad...

I'll miss seeing Loach and the other boats when passing there.

[Chloe]

Very sad day. It looks like the Weaver has become a forgotton transport route! I wonder, is it because the toll is too high for commercial vessels?

Edited April 23, 2013 by Chloe

[Heartland]

I saw boats at this wharf in September 2010, but have not been near there recently, it was an interesting collection of buildings on the Weaver, and I suppose on the route of the original navigation. This area is also of interest where the changing coastline has led to the town of Frodsham moving away from the navigable parts of the Mersey.

 

Ray Shill

[Timleech]

This was one scene there a couple of years ago:-

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/32865578@N02/5247148961/

 

Tim

[magpie patrick]

Very sad day. It looks like the Weaver has become a forgotton transport route! I wonder, is it because the toll is too high for commercial vessels?

 

There weren't any tolls to that particular wharf as there is no navigation authority between the ship canal and Frodsham Lock! When the Weaver Navigation was created there was no ship canal and the navigation company's jurisdiction stopped at the lock, later the ship canal's jurisdiction stooped at the ship canal leaving a gap.

 

The reasons freight stops or changes to another handling facilities re complex and often nothing to do with the suitability of the navigation. I don't know the reasons in this case but it can be as simple as a change in the freight handling company, the freight forwarder or the failure of one piece of equipment and a refusal to reinvest.

[furnessvale]

Very sad day. It looks like the Weaver has become a forgotton transport route! I wonder, is it because the toll is too high for commercial vessels?

Far more to do with road haulage being so cheap. Just wait until the new 25m long, 60tonnes weight HGVs arrive, courtesy of Europe. Then traffics like the Trent gravels and much rail freight will be migrating to road.

 

George ex nb Alton retired

[Mike C]

There weren't any tolls to that particular wharf as there is no navigation authority between the ship canal and Frodsham Lock! When the Weaver Navigation was created there was no ship canal and the navigation company's jurisdiction stopped at the lock, later the ship canal's jurisdiction stooped at the ship canal leaving a gap.

 

The reasons freight stops or changes to another handling facilities re complex and often nothing to do with the suitability of the navigation. I don't know the reasons in this case but it can be as simple as a change in the freight handling company, the freight forwarder or the failure of one piece of equipment and a refusal to reinvest.

The toll scenario you describe isn’t exactly correct in practice, but you are correct in part.

 

The reasons the traffic has been switched to Runcorn Docks from Frodsham are too convoluted to explain here, however the traffic is not lost to road.

 

FYI – The freight is Viaduct Shipping’s http://www.viaductshipping.co.uk traffic and this one operation alone saves the equivalent in road miles of one lorry travelling twice around the globe each year and takes 1800 lorry journeys off local roads.

 

Edited as inc wrong quote -

Edited April 25, 2013 by Mike C

[magpie patrick]

Far more to do with road haulage being so cheap. Just wait until the new 25m long, 60tonnes weight HGVs arrive, courtesy of Europe. Then traffics like the Trent gravels and much rail freight will be migrating to road.

 

George ex nb Alton retired

 

Not in this case, nor in many others. Road haulage's fundamental advantage is it is ubiquitous, so if the port of arrival changes to one on the east coast then trade from Liverpool to Runcorn is lost. Rail is gaining a lot of freight because congestion makes road transport less reliable.

 

As Sweden has now banned it's 60 tonne lorries from international traffic (something that the Finn's have got upset about) I can't see the EU forcing them on us any time soon. Germany are also opposed to mega-lorries for much the same reason we are, and the German government don't tend to get things foisted on them by the EU.

[fanshaft]

Runcorn docks, actually.

 

It is sad, the end of a very long history of shipping to & from Frodsham, hundreds of years.

 

Tim

It is sad, yes, This traffic started

on 24th February 1981 (To Anderton) and 22nd June (to Frodsham) initially using my 100 tonne Humber Keel ‘Charles William’. She was joined by Duker ‘Parbella’ on 24th May 1982 which towed dumb barge ‘Sarah Abbott’ from 18th August 1982 (some trips were also made to Anderton in 1982). Larger Mersey vessels such as 'Spurn Light' also assisted as necessary, with ‘Panary’ eventually taking over, later to be joined by ‘James Jackson Grundy’ and ‘Loach’ – the latter three vessels now in service on this contract.

I applaud Viaduct Shipping and their customer (and Peel Ports) for having the enterprise to find an alternative wharf which will be easier to access and offers various other advantages.

 

regards

 

David L

[Timleech]

Use of the quay at Frodsham dates back to the 17th century, when it was used for the export of cheese.

See:-

http://www.arleyhallarchives.co.uk/cheese.htm

 

though the map on this page has been chopped short, here is some more detail:-

 

http://www.themeister.co.uk/hindley_images/frodsham_cheese_shipment_1753.jpg

 

Tim

Edited April 30, 2013 by Timleech

[Pluto]

The mill is not shown on the 1721 survey of the river, but does appear on these. The first is from around 1820.

 

This is from 1797.

 

Back in the late 1960s, I was given the remains of a 1934 Morris 10/4 which had been parked next to the lock when the area had flooded. I never managed to get it going!