Moira Colliery Company Boats

[AliIsoMar]

Hi

Just wondering if anyone one knows what happened to the boats Alma and Baladava.

Both of these boats were registered on the 20th may 1879...owned by Moira Colliery co...Route Taken: Hinckley/Coventry and Moira..... Cargo Carried Coal.

The steerer of both these boats was a Henry Bird he was also named as the steerer of Yelverton and Arrogant boats also belonging to Moira Canal Co. Yelverton was broken up sometime after 1882 by w.w. cooper i believe.

Arrogant was broken up on the 13th Jan 1920. The record i have for this info says that Alma and Baladava were ???? at dock 8th Jan 1920 not likely to work again.

Thanks in advance

Edited April 26, 2015 by GoodGurl
edited mass spaces

[AliIsoMar]

Thanks for the edit GoodGirl i was trying to sort it out but failed

[pete harrison]

Hi

Just wondering if anyone one knows what happened to the boats Alma and Baladava.

Both of these boats were registered on the 20th may 1879...owned by Moira Colliery co...Route Taken: Hinckley/Coventry and Moira..... Cargo Carried Coal.

The steerer of both these boats was a Henry Bird he was also named as the steerer of Yelverton and Arrogant boats also belonging to Moira Canal Co. Yelverton was broken up sometime after 1882 by w.w. cooper i believe.

Arrogant was broken up on the 13th Jan 1920. The record i have for this info says that Alma and Baladava were ???? at dock 8th Jan 1920 not likely to work again.

Thanks in advance

It looks to me as though you have had some access to the Hinckley health register of boats, but you are interpreting things differently to me.

 

ALMA - like you I have "now at ............. colliery - reported in book 08 January 1920 - not likely to work again".

 

Moira Colliery Company did not have a boat name BALADAVA - try BALACLAVA instead. As you state BALACLAVA was first health registered at Hinckley on 20 May 1879, but was re-registered under the same number on 17 June 1902 and 13 September 1921 in both cases under the boat name of LADYSMITH. I have a note stating that LADYSMITH was sold to A. Coles 01 December 1928.

 

ARROGANT - Moira Colliery Company had two health registrations at Hinckley of boats named ARROGANT and I suspect they are both the same boat - the first on 20 May 1879 and the second on 06 October 1885. Both of these health registrations are annotated as broken up 13 January 1920.

 

YELVERTON was health registered on 17 May 1882 to the Moira Colliery Company, but was registered to them again on 06 October 1885 under a new number at Hinckley. YELVERTON is one of several boats being annotated as broken up 13 January 1920.

 

The date January 1920 appears several times in the Hinckley health register listing boats being broken up, assumed broken up or no trace. I suspect that late in 1919 the Hinckley Sanitary Inspector had requested a clerical exercise to tidy up the register and mark off all registrations that should have been cancelled, so the date of January 1920 means that the boat had 'gone' prior to this date - and this could be by several years.

 

 

One thing is for absolute certain is that all of the Moira Colliery Company narrow boat fleet were constructed of wood, and all are long gone.

[AliIsoMar]

Thanks Pete, My info from the Hinckley health register of boats came from an email i had from Moira Furnace. It was all they could find on Bird family. Thanks for clearing things up for me. Regards Sam

[archie57]

My father was familiar with these boats, having seen them emptying in Coventry, going back to perhaps the 1920's or even before, and said he had heard them referred to as "watercress boats" because they all were poorly maintained and leaked badly!