Old wooden ice braker at ironbridge

[Jrtm]

Saw an really tidy old wooden icebraker at ironbridge, shows a pic of it on brum and woster cut but it has no name plate was narrow beam. Any one any ideas on its history?

 

Now 4 unconverted wooden icebreakers o know of

 

1. Ross

2. The one on the bank at bclm

3. The one at the port

4. One at ironbridge

[pete harrison]

I am pretty sure ROSS is riveted iron, and there are several at Ellesmere Port

[carlt]

One on the bank at Tess Wharf Braunston.

 

Assuming Martin hasn't converted it yet.

[Jrtm]

I am pretty sure ROSS is riveted iron, and there are several at Ellesmere Port

Oh thought was wood. Tar for info.

Anyways any info on one at ironbridge?

Edited October 29, 2016 by billybobbooth

[pete harrison]

Anyways any info on one at ironbridge?

Nope, Ice Boats fall way outside my field of research

[Laurence Hogg]

Possibly the one from Newport or Wappenshall junction.

[Derek R.]

Beside SPRY at Blists Hill, Ironbridge.

 

[Pluto]

The one at Armley still survives, though not as recognisable as it was in 1977. There are also remains of one on the Lancaster Canal section just below Johnsons Hillock, though it is difficult to identify as only the top of some frames are visible.

[Barry]

Beside SPRY at Blists Hill, Ironbridge.

 

Ice boat Blists Hill (Medium).JPG

 

That's very interesting! And a beautiful shape.

 

It has a butty type helm so I wonder if it was towed from the canal sides using the rings at the sides. There is also a linked ring from the bottom of the front post.

 

I'm pretty sure it is a wooden boat

 

 

 

 

Edited to add

 

A quick google produced this

 

"The third boat to be given a new home is the Ice Breaker Middlewich, which would have been pulled by as many as 20 horses, with strong, brave men on board rocking the boat until the ice smashed. It was built more than 100 years ago and is made of timber, with an iron-plated hull to protect her from the ice."

 

From here

Edited October 30, 2016 by Barry

[Aurelia]

Visiting the Bridgewater Canal in the winter of 1767, Sir Joseph Banks observed a 'broad-stemmed boat' drawn by a single mule thrusting her way through ice 'near an inch thick'. On board, seven or eight men 'swayed her with great force [and] struck any large pieces of ice with clubs they held in their hands'. Swaying the boat created a sizeable wave which ran ahead of the party, cracking if not shattering the ice in its path before the vessel's advance. Banks recounts the sight in his 'Journal of an Excursion of Wales, etc. 1767-68.' The manuscript is in Cambridge University Library but sadly it does not appear to exist in printed form.

[Derek R.]

It's been shown before, but can't remember who to credit just now.

 

[Jrtm]

Yes the one at ironbridge museum is all wood with full tin round the hull. Didnt see spry though.

Its now in a new shed thats been build to house it and a steel tub barge they use to use there