President in 1986 | |
History | |
---|---|
Name | President |
Owner | Fellows Morton & Clayton |
Operator | Fellows Morton & Clayton |
Port of registry | Birmingham 1212 |
Builder | Fellows Morton & Clayton |
Cost | £600 (equivalent to £79,000in 2023) [1] |
Launched | 1909 |
Name | President |
Owner | Nicholas Bostock and Malcolm Braine |
Acquired | 1973 |
Refit | 1973-78 |
Name | President |
Owner | Black Country Living Museum |
Acquired | 1983 |
Homeport | Lord Ward's Arm Dudley Canal |
General characteristics | |
Type | Narrowboat [2] |
Length | 71.54 ft (21.81 m) [2] |
Beam | 6.98 ft (2.13 m) |
Draught | 3.21 ft (0.98 m) [2] |
Installed power | Steam |
President is a historic, steam-powered narrowboat, built in 1909 by Fellows Morton & Clayton (FMC) at their dock at Saltley, Birmingham, England. It is now owned by the Black Country Living Museum, where it is based. [3] President is registered by National Historic Ships as part of the National Historic Fleet. [2]
The 71 feet (22 m) long [4] President was constructed in 1909 at FMC's company dock in Saltley, [5] and cost £600 [6] (equivalent to £79,000in 2023). [1] She was registered on 23 June that year. [6] Her riveted, wrought iron hull is shaped in the 'Josher' style, named for FMC director Joshua Fellows. [6]
In 1925, the Ruston, Proctor and Company steam boiler and engine were replaced by a 15 hp Bolinder crude oil engine. [6]
Ernest Thomas, a director of FMC, and a Walsall-based coal carrier, acquired the boat in 1946. [6] She was sold to George and Matthews of Wolverhampton in 1948, [6] but that year the UK's canals were nationalised and she finished her working days as part of British Waterways' northern maintenance fleet, on the Trent and Mersey, Macclesfield and Shropshire Union canals, from a base at Northwich. [6]
President was bought by Nicholas Bostock and Malcolm Braine in 1973, as a derelict hull. [6] They restored the hull and constructed a replica cabin and boiler room. [6] A 1928 Muir and Findley "Scotch" return boiler, similar to that originally used, but operating at 100 PSI was acquired and fitted, [6] as was a twin cylinder steam engine, originally used in a Thames launch. [6] The boat returned to service in 1978. [6]
President was purchased by the Black Country Living Museum in January 1983. [5] The boiler was replaced by a Cochran dryback return flue boiler in 1990. [6] A major refit took place from 2001–2003, including the provision of a new steam engine, pipework and cabin, plus major hull repairs. [6]
President, in FMC livery, normally operates with a butty boat, Kildare . [6] In 1992 she paired with Kildare on a 257 mile journey through Cheshire and Staffordshire to raise money for orphaned children in Romania. [7]
On 3 June 2012, President took part in the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant in London, representing the Lord-Lieutenant of Staffordshire, [8] having spent three weeks making the journey from Etruria Industrial Museum, Stoke-on-Trent, [8] at an average speed of 3 mph. [4]
Her boiler failed an inspection in 2018 and is beyond economical repair. [2]
Barge often refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but on inland waterways, most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels. The term barge has a rich history, and therefore there are many other types of barges.
A narrowboat is a particular type of canal boat, built to fit the narrow locks of the United Kingdom. The UK's canal system provided a nationwide transport network during the Industrial Revolution, but with the advent of the railways, commercial canal traffic gradually diminished and the last regular long-distance transportation of goods by canal had virtually disappeared by 1970. However, some commercial traffic continued. From the 1970s onward narrowboats were gradually being converted into permanent residences or as holiday lettings. Currently, about 8580 narrowboats are registered as 'permanent homes' on Britain's waterway system and represent a growing alternative community living on semi-permanent moorings or continuously cruising.
The Trent and Mersey Canal is a 93+1⁄2-mile (150 km) canal in Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire in north-central England. It is a "narrow canal" for the vast majority of its length, but at the extremities to the east of Burton upon Trent and north of Middlewich, it is a wide canal.
James Brindley was an English engineer. He was born in Tunstead, Derbyshire, and lived much of his life in Leek, Staffordshire, becoming one of the most notable engineers of the 18th Century.
A steamboat is a boat that is propelled primarily by steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S or PS ; however, these designations are most often used for steamships.
The canal network of the United Kingdom played a vital role in the Industrial Revolution. The UK was the first country to develop a nationwide canal network which, at its peak, expanded to nearly 4,000 miles in length. The canals allowed raw materials to be transported to a place of manufacture, and finished goods to be transported to consumers, more quickly and cheaply than by a land based route. The canal network was extensive and included feats of civil engineering such as the Anderton Boat Lift, the Manchester Ship Canal, the Worsley Navigable Levels and the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct.
The Black Country Living Museum is an open-air museum of rebuilt historic buildings in Dudley, West Midlands, England. It is located in the centre of the Black Country, 10 miles west of Birmingham. The museum occupies 10.5 hectares of former industrial land partly reclaimed from a former railway goods yard, disused lime kilns, canal arm and former coal pits.
The canals of the United Kingdom are a major part of the network of inland waterways in the United Kingdom. They have a varied history, from use for irrigation and transport, through becoming the focus of the Industrial Revolution, to today's role of recreational boating. Despite a period of abandonment, today the canal system in the United Kingdom is again increasing in use, with abandoned and derelict canals being reopened, and the construction of some new routes. Canals in England and Wales are maintained by navigation authorities. The biggest navigation authorities are the Canal & River Trust and the Environment Agency, but other canals are managed by companies, local authorities or charitable trusts.
St Pancras Cruising Club (SPCC) is a members' association of boat owners located between Camden Town and Islington on the Regent's Canal in Central London. Most boats in the basin are narrowboats, the most common form of craft on the British canals..
Lone Star is a wooden hull, steam-powered stern-wheeled towboat in LeClaire, Iowa, United States. She is dry docked and on display at the Buffalo Bill Museum in LeClaire. Built in 1868, she is the oldest of three surviving steam-powered towboats, and the only one with a wooden hull. She was declared a National Historic Landmark on 20 December 1989.
The Horseboating Society is a national society, with the primary aim being the preservation and promotion of Horseboating on the canals of Great Britain. The Society was founded on 19 January 2001 at the Ellesmere Port Boat Museum, and it is the only organisation in the UK solely dedicated to horseboating.
The National Community Boats Association (NCBA) is a waterway society, registered charity No. 1108993 and limited company No. 5331820, in the United Kingdom.
Sundowner is a motor yacht formerly owned by Charles Lightoller, former second officer of the RMS Titanic.
Fellows Morton & Clayton Ltd was, for much of the early 20th century, the largest and best-known canal transportation company in England. The company was in existence from 1889 to 1947.
Amazon is a 102-foot (31 m) long screw schooner and former steam yacht built in 1885 at the private Arrow Yard of Tankerville Chamberlayne in Southampton.
The Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant was a parade on 3 June 2012 of 670 boats on the Tideway of the River Thames in London as part of the celebrations of the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. The Queen, Prince Philip and other members of the Royal Family were aboard vessels that took part in the parade. The parade was organised by the Thames Diamond Jubilee Foundation, and funded by private donations and sponsorship. The pageant master was Adrian Evans.
Kildare is an un-powered butty boat constructed with wrought iron sides and an elm bottom. She was built for Fellows Morton & Clayton around 1913 by Braithwaite & Kirk of West Bromwich to be towed behind a powered craft like President. She is complete with a fully fitted boatman's living cabin and traditional covering cloths over the main hold area.
Peacock is a British narrowboat. She was built as a flyboat for Fellows Morton & Clayton (FMC) at Saltley, Birmingham in 1915, as fleet number 102. FMC had been using a fleet of steam fly boats since 1889, but in 1912 introduced motor boats such as Peacock into their fleet. 'Fly' boats work day and night non-stop, and with an all-male crew the cabins were more spartan than those of long distance family crewed boats.
The Stour is an all-wooden motor narrow boat powered by a Bolinder 11 kW diesel engine. It was built as a tar tanker in 1937 by Fellows Morton & Clayton at their Uxbridge dockyard for fuel oil carriers Thomas Clayton Ltd of Oldbury.
Steam Pinnace 199 is a steam pinnace of the Royal Navy, built in 1909 by J. Reid of Portsmouth. She is now owned by the National Museum of the Royal Navy, and is based at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.