Ethel

[Heartland]

I have been asked if anybody knows the fate of the Mersey Flat, Ethel, which was at Ellesmere Port, but fell in to disrepair when there.

 

Ray Shill

[bizzard]

Don't know about that but I had an auntie Ethel that lived in a flat on Canvey island.

[Timleech]

I have been asked if anybody knows the fate of the Mersey Flat, Ethel, which was at Ellesmere Port, but fell in to disrepair when there.

 

Ray Shill

 

Not a Mersey Flat, it was a Calder & Hebble boat (or Keel)

 

http://www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/register/633/ethel

 

Tim

[Pluto]

I have been asked if anybody knows the fate of the Mersey Flat, Ethel, which was at Ellesmere Port, but fell in to disrepair when there.

 

Ray Shill

I have photos of Ethel which I took in 1975 when she had just been taken out of traffic and you can see the planks around the spikes beginning to rot then. At around 25 years old, she was at the end of her useful life unless subject to a major rebuild, and there wasn't the interest in traditional wooden inland boatbuilding crafts then, so finance was a problem. Wooden boats built just post war often used poor quality wood, which is one reason why they have not survived well.

[nebulae]

Last time I was at Ellsmere Port,bits of Ethel were propped up next to the lock. Only the bow and stern sections left,Presumeably,the rest whent on a bonfire.

[carlt]

Last time I was at Ellsmere Port,bits of Ethel were propped up next to the lock.

Yes there are pictures of the bits in Tim's NHS link.

 

 

http://www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/register/633/ethel

[Heartland]

I think the comments about Ethel being broken up raises the question as to what can be saved and what may not be preserved. Mike Clarke has observed that the type of wood used in construction was not the best, yet how many other craft have been lost through neglect at our canal museums?

 

Ray Shill

[Pluto]

There were bad decisions made at Ellesmere Port, but then how do you conserve an icebreaker such as this. It is the L&LC icebreaker which was moved to Ellesmere Port about ten years after this photo was taken, by which time it had been sunk for around twenty years. Taking it to the museum gave the opportunity for a fully measure drawing to be made, which is really all that could be achieved with this craft. Tony Conder did try to address the problem of what to preserve over ten years ago when he compiled a list of inland craft suitable for preservation, and giving them some sort of priority. I, and several other canal historians helped him, but I don't recall a great deal of interest among most enthusiasts at the time.

[Heartland]

_{I see that Ethel was a West Country class according to the publication that dealt with Ethel and Angela Jane. Its preservation at Ellesmere Port was view as an important part of the boats future history, unlike Angela Jane that was devasted by fire and broken up.}

 

_{Was the tern "West Country" used to apply to craft that used the Calder & Hebble.}

 

_{On a related issue the Calder and Hebble was from the 1968 Transport act designated a Commercial Waterway from Dewsbury to Wakefield, but from Dewsbury westwards to Sowerby Bridge a Cruiseway.}

 

_{Ray Shill}

[Pluto]

'West Country' was often used to describe smaller keels which were less than 15 feet 6 inches in width. It is always a little difficult to be precise because of the various sizes built, as needed for specific waterways.