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Our Day Out to Goole

A busy weekend at the end of May.
On the Friday BMS meeting a few of us shared interesting photos of 'Brindley Gates', boating in France and Belgium and other topics. Sunday was horseboating day. Sandwiched between the two, was the annual BMS outing to the Yorkshire Waterways Museum at Goole.

A gloriously hot day – and it didn't take us as long to get there as we thought it would. The displays were interesting. Although the section on narrow boats and 'roses and castles' seemed rather out of place in this world of wide waterways. There was also one of the fibreglass containers, designed to be lifted in and out of a narrow boat hold, on display outside. In rather better condition than the one at the Waterways Museum at Gloucester
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Images from left to right:
1) The fibreglass container c1950s. 2) The tug Wheldale with the false bows, or 'jebus'.
3) Roll up rivet counters! Close-up of the 'jebus'

The most interesting and relevant displays were those relating to the 'Tom Pudding' system of transporting coal from the local coalfields to power stations. The compartment boat tug 'Wheldale', built by E.C.Jones of Brentford for British Waterways in 1959 was resplendent in its fresh painted  blue and yellow colour scheme. Some of the more agile amongst us were able to investigate the capacious engine room and the Blackstone Lister engine as well as the crew's quarters. Just as they were when the boat was in work.

A boat trip round the docks took us close to the remaining Tom Pudding hoists, now long out of use.

The Tom Pudding hoist in Goole docks, with three of the pans, one of which was at the Boat Museum for some years. Now in a much more appropriate place. As seen from the trip boat.

On the way home we stopped at Knottingley where Harkers had their boatyard. There is still a chemical works on the site of the Yorkshire Tar Distillers refinery as well as a long established glassworks and boatyard there.

A good day out – a pity, though that more members weren't able to join us. Next year we will visit somewhere nearer to home!

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Audlem Transport Festival

This year there have been so many events clashing that our resources have been really stretched. The Braunston Working Boat Gathering coincided with the Chester IWA Tom Rolt Celebration Rally attended by Shad & Gifford, whilst Middlewich Boat and Folk, also supported by Shad & Gifford was the same weekend as the Audlem Transport Festival.

Mike and Cath Turpin took their motor Radiant to Audlem, after detouring to tow SU fly boat Saturn from the Lion Salt works at Marston on the T&M to Middlewich.

The people at Audlem had advertised that there would be ex-working boats there, as there had been last year, so we thought we would have a change and fly the NWM and BMS flag at Audlem. With most of the local ex-working boats at Middlewich, it was only Radiant and Fred Heritage's Lynx which made it. We were made really welcome, had a good mooring outside Audlem Mill and made a number of new friends.

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