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Canal carriers working in the brickfields.


Ursamajor4148

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Well I did say it was sunk when we bought it, didn't I.   :captain:    It never did get to look super smart, but we did cruise most everywhere a 12'6" wide boat could reach from there, other than the Thames downstream of Regents Canal Dock.

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Hi Tam

Thanks for the info of George Beauchamp he was  born 1903 at 30 Fisher Row Oxford came from a long line of boatmen off the Oxford Canal before that the family were barge men on the Thames at Abingdon. George married Mary Cartwright 1930 Birmingham when they had the FMC Glasgow. Mary's fathers family came from Droitwich and they worked the salt boats Her mothers family were from Tipton the Yarnalls "my Lot"

Lorna

  • Greenie 1
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  • 2 weeks later...

I have found this thread fascinating as I try to find out where Sculptor was stored (dumped perhaps?) after her service as a fire boat during the war. Pete Harrison, of this Parish, has kindly provided information that Sculptor (and I believe also Scorpio and Sagitta and may be some others) were at Stockley Dock for a few years before being resurrected and taken to the Norbury area.  Happily all three boats are still extant.

 

I really would like to find out where Stockley Dock is - and you'd think that would be quite easy but it seems not unless someone on here has good local knowledge.

 

What I have ascertained so far is:

 

  • Dawley Dock was also known as Stockley Dock (source for that is CanalPlan - Site of Dawley Dock, Infilled, Also known as: Stockley Dock Grand Union Canal Walk, Hayes, London Borough of Hillingdon, Greater London, England, United Kingdom - Information - Site of Dawley Dock is a minor waterways place on the Grand Union Canal (Grand Junction Canal - Main Line - Gayton to Brentford) between Cowley Peachey Junction (Junction with Grand Union Slough Branch) (1 mile and 1½ furlongs to the west) and Bull's Bridge Junction (Junction with Grand Union Paddington Branch. Opposite is a dry dock.) (2 miles and ¾ furlongs to the east). The nearest place in the direction of Cowley Peachey Junction is Site of Rutter's Dock (Infilled); 1¼ furlongs away.The nearest place in the direction of Bull's Bridge Junction is Iron Bridge Road North Bridge No 194A; ¾ furlongs away). So that puts it just to the west of Iron Bridge Road I think.

I also think (but stand to be corrected) that it is the dock in the attached screenshots taken from the Museum of Scotland website (what a great resource) just opposite Varnish Works.  There are two maps attached - one from 1914 and one from 1936 which show the development of that dock if nothing else.

 

Can anyone confirm that what I think is Dawley (or Stockley Dock) is that Dock - it's just named Dock on the map.  I am also attaching a small, hand drawn (I think) map that shows Dawley Dock and Stockley Dock as separate entities but in much the same place but quite small. There's no 'source' of the hand drawn map that I can find.

 

Edited to add a scan of a map of the area with the docks taken from the GUCC Co book - Making Transport History. 

 

Grateful for any opinions.

 

 

 

Screenshot 2019-02-09 at 12.02.19.png

Screenshot 2019-02-09 at 12.11.30.png

image006.jpg

Docks.jpg

Edited by Leo No2
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Thanks Mark - the last image is most interesting. I have come to the conclusion (at the moment) that Alan H Faulkner in his book ‘The Grand Junction Canal’ is probably correct where he says on page 201 that Stockley Dock was a separate entity (and therefore separate to Dawley Dock) and have asked CanalPlan for the source of their data that suggests that the one Dock was known as Dawley Dock and Stockley Dock.  It’s a fascinating area of the co7ntry.

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Rather annoyingly this shot just misses that dock. The arm (rhs) being shown is I think Coopers.  ;)   I can just about trace the cottages on the above maps. I could be wrong tho?

 

On reflection I think that is the dock on the rhs as you can see Coopers on LHS too and geog matches..

 

 

Capture2.JPG

Edited by mark99
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I wrote an article on the Middlesex brick industry in NarrowBoat magazine Autumn 2017 which included a map clearly showing Stockley Dock page 20

 

It was situated on the southern offside bank and was also known under various names: Pocock's Dock, Starveall Dock or Stockley Dock and finally Broad's Dock.

 

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To throw another snippet in, George Beauchamp told us that FMC's experimental wideboat "Pioneer" was sunk in the Yeading Arm. This was the New West End Brick Co's dock just beyond the Willow Tree Arm on the Paddington Arm

 

I believe that each arm was dug by the owners of the gravel/brick clay deposits at that site, so the craft would mostly be those belonging to that company. I understood Pioneer to have been built with the same purpose as GUCCC's Progress to work London-Birmingham, but I guess when (as with Progress) that proved impractical it might have been used in the London brick trade.

 

Tam

Edited by Tam & Di
correction
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The map I posted on Facebook taken from an old GUCC map shows Stockley Dock as being to the south of the main line and must have been quite short unless it went under the railway.  The GUCCC stored a lot of the star class boats there after they were effectively superseded by the town class which were more popular with the boatmen due to their bigger cabins.

ACA44685-66B7-486F-9C4C-68544100E5DB.jpeg

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Chris, Mark, Tam, Paul - thank you all for your views and expertise.  Alan Faulkner’s map shows it to the north but I suppose that’s what history is all about.  Chris - most interesting that the dock had so many different names and you’ll be pleased to know I managed to put my hand on the Autumn 2017 edition of Narrowboat very quickly!  As Paul says there were a number of Star class boats left there after the war, Callisto (a fire boat), Sculptor (a fire boat), Pices (I think was a fire boat), Scorpio, Sagitta, Puppis and I am sure there were probably more. Makes it all the more surprising to me that all of them survived.

 

Thank tou you for encouraging me to keep looking and for helping.  Very much appreciated.

Edited by Leo No2
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Pocock's Dock and Stockley Dock have become conflated here at some point. Pocock's land and arm in the Manor of Colham known as the West Drayton Field are where they are clearly marked and agreed in this thread. In 1884 Pocock sold his interest in West Drayton Field to Clement Burgess Broad of Paddington, hence its subsequent name as Broad's Dock. However Broad and Co. also owned land and an arm in the adjoining Manor of Hillingdon on the other side of the canal in Stockley, known as Stockley Dock. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol4/pp75-82#fnn86

 

Tam

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47 minutes ago, Leo No2 said:

Chris, Mark, Tam, Paul - thank you all for your views and expertise.  Alan Faulkner’s map shows it to the north but I suppose that’s what history is all about.  Chris - most interesting that the dock had so many different names and you’ll be pleased to know I managed to put my hand on the Autumn 2017 edition of Narrowboat very quickly!  As Paul says there were a number of Star class boats left there after the war, Callisto (a fire boat), Sculptor (a fire boat), Pices (I think was a fire boat), Scorpio, Sagitta, Puppis and I am sure there were probably more. Makes it all the more surprising to me that all of them survived.

 

Thank tou you for encouraging me to keep looking and for helping.  Very much appreciated.

I don’t think  there is any great surprise that boats stored at Stockley Dock survived.  It must have been reasonably secure as the GUCCC seemed to store dozens of boats there - it was simply the overflow mooring for non-operational boats from Bulls Bridge.  My boat Capricorn was amongst them but at some point they were all moved to Harefield Flash (note in what is now Harefield Marina rather than the further gravel pit where BW later scuttled the ex-rubbish boats including many Josher butties.) In the HNBC article from which I took the map, John Hemelryk says he remembers Stockley Dock to be later filled with scuttled wide boats and it’s rumoured that the Royalty butties ended their lives there.

 

Paul

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In the GJCC 1893 Chain Survey Book, Broad & Co. did have a landing on the towpath side but was not used at that date. Their main brickworks then was in Starveall Dock on the offside which became known as Stockley Dock and terminated at Stockley Brickworks in West Drayton. This is shown on OS maps.

 

In a GUC plan showing docks and basins in the London District, what was Starveall Dock is clearly marked as Stockley Dock.

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On 10/02/2019 at 15:30, Paul H said:

The map I posted on Facebook taken from an old GUCC map shows Stockley Dock as being to the south of the main line and must have been quite short unless it went under the railway.  The GUCCC stored a lot of the star class boats there after they were effectively superseded by the town class which were more popular with the boatmen due to their bigger cabins.

 

According to the maps above there was at least one dock _the one called Pockocks_ that went under the railway.

Edited by mark99
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So it <Pockcocks nee Stockly> Dock looked like this ref first image. Circa 1900.

 

Bad aeriel shot post war but  in 1945 looked (with eye of faith) similar - ref second image. Quite extensive. Stockley lake sits near there today.

 

 

 

Capture2.JPG

Capture1.JPG

Edited by mark99
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The second image with the current roads overplayed is very 'revealing'.  Lorna (of this parish) had relatives who lived in Lavender Rise (why to I always think that it is the Lavender Hill Mob?) - As Chris M Jones said it had a number of different names (to different people at different time perhaps). I believe there may be a number of wide boats buried somewhere in the dock - buried when it was partially filled in. The railway junction that's on the site now takes you in to London Heathrow and I believe is an important junction in Crossrail so it retains its transport importance.

 

Here's today's view:

 

Screenshot 2019-02-11 at 18.21.40.png

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Pocock and subsequently Broad & Co. leased their lands from the Church Commissioners and the british-history.ac.uk link I gave earlier used Church Commissioners documentation as reference for putting Stockley Dock on the other side of the canal. From this they do appear to have got their wires crossed.

 

Tam

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I have no great interest in what went in the past,  just normal curiosity I guess but I have loved this thread because the area under discussion encompasses many places I have lived at and in which many of my family also lived. Seeing the various roads that still exist was fascinating, we lived in Hayes and at one time our first home was in Willow tree Lane, I fished the GU at various places and at Stockley, also I had an uncle who worked for Sabey's so a lot of personal memories stirred 

Phil

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11 minutes ago, ChimneyChain said:

Taken from Stockley Road, the bridge in the photo is next to the foresters arm pub. 

The road behind the houses is lavender rise.

Darren 

511866A3-5F64-4B54-BFB4-8C787559AA14.jpeg

BCF97447-D9DE-48F0-977A-3130F30227A8.jpeg

6FFE8DE7-41FB-4157-A79F-7E9397EC8FE8.jpeg

Just lost for words - that's amazing - thank you so much for sharing.

 

Kathryn

Edited by Leo No2
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