For more Museum
Boats, see Dredger & Sabrina 5,
Narrow Boats, Tug
Progress and Progress at Work
 This page gives some basic information about each of the
historic craft on view at the National Waterways Museum, and links
lead to other pages giving more details and pictures.
Steam Dredger SND No 4
SND
No 4 was built in Holland in 1925 and was used on the Gloucester
& Sharpness Canal and docks until 1981. When dredging, the bucket
ladder was lowered to the required depth, and the buckets tipped
the mud into a hopper barge moored alongside. It is maintained as
a working exhibit by the Friends of the Museum. (More)
Tug Severn Progress
Severn
Progress was built in 1931 by Charles Hill & Sons of Bristol
for the Severn & Canal Carrying Company based in Gloucester.
She was mainly used for towing barges and canal boats on the River
Severn between Gloucester, Worcester and Stourport until this commercial
traffic died out in the late 1960s. After several years helping
with maintenance work on the Kennet & Avon Canal, Progress
is now looked after by the Friends of the Museum, who use her for
tug handling courses and occasional towing jobs. (More) Top
Barge Sabrina 5
Sabrina
5 was one of six unpowered barges built in 1944 by Charles Hill
& Sons of Bristol for the Ministry of War Transport. They were
mainly used for carrying 130 to 150 tons of imports from Avonmouth
to Worcester or Stourport via the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal
and the River Severn. The barge fleet was formally disbanded in
1969, and after several years of idleness, Sabrina 5 was
restored to join the Museum's collection in 1988. (More)
Top
Narrow Boat Northwich
Northwich
was built at Saltley, Birmingham, in 1898 for the well-known carriers
Fellows Morton & Clayton. Originally pulled by a horse and later
towed by a motor boat, Northwich was mainly used for carrying
a wide range of general cargoes on the canals between London and
Birmingham. After the nationalised carrying fleet was disbanded
in 1964, Northwich spent many years at Stoke Bruerne, first
in the weighing machine and then as a floating exhibit, and eventually
came to Gloucester in time for the opening of the Museum in 1988.
(More) Top
Narrow Boat Oak
Oak
was built by Charles Hill & Sons of Bristol in 1934 for the
Severn & Canal Carrying Company and is powered by a 10hp Petter
hot bulb semi-diesel engine. Oak worked between Gloucester
and the Birmingham area carrying inland a wide variety of cargoes
that had been brought to Gloucester by barge from Avonmouth and
other lower Severn ports. As inland carrying declined circa 1960,
Oak became a maintenance boat on the Trent & Mersey Canal
and then became derelict until being restored in time for the opening
of the Museum in 1988. (More) Top
Narrow Boat Wye
Wye
was built for British Transport Waterways in 1958 by the Thames
Launch Works at Teddington, being one of the last batch of unpowered
narrow boats made for commercial canal carrying. Wye carried
cargoes between London and Birmingham until inland commercial carrying
ceased in 1963, then spent many years on maintenance work, and eventually
joined the Museum's collection in 1992. (More)
Top
Concrete Narrow Boat
The
Museum's concrete narrow boat was built in 1918 by A.H. Guest of
Stourbridge as an experiment to overcome the wartime shortages of
steel and fabrication skills needed for conventional boats. It was
found, however, that the concrete was easily damaged and the boat
was so heavy that it could not carry an economical load. In the
mid 1930s, the boat was incorporated into bank protection works
not far from where it was built, from where it was rescued to join
the Museum's collection in 1988. (More) |