Two pictures taken from roughly the same spot - right on the border between Brigg and Scawby Brook. Above is the New River Ancholme today, while below we see how things looked in the early 1970s. Earnshaws is another link between then and now. The 1970s picture is from the Ken Fisher Archive.
Nice picture of your Dad's, Nige.
ReplyDeleteTypical Humber Keels - early ones were under sail, while later ones had comparative small, ofter single cylinder Lister engines - which used leather gaskets.
The Humber Keel Museum at Goole is well worth a visit - 'Sobriety Project'.
Until the circa the late '60's the keels were the bulk carriers on and around the Humber.
Before containerisation, Hull docks had a unique way of off-loading ships......cargo ships were kept off the quay-side by long poles and this enabled the Humber Keels to surround the vessel on all sides.
The ship's cranes (derricks) off-loaded the cargo straight in their hulls....and off they went to their various riverside destination.
There were certain precautions that the ship's crews had to take - ie not going to the toilet (the head), while off-loading as there was a danger of the deposit landing on, or near the barge crews!
One particular Chinese ship was a known trouble-maker in this regard and the bargees would jam the hull's head sluices closed with wedges b4 they started work.
Whether there was a massive pressure strain, or the wedges were not secure, but on one occasion, a sluice opened and one barge crew member was covered from head to toe on sewage.
This caused industrial action in the late 60's as the dripping victim with a cone of excrement on his head was marched by dockers to the manager's office.
'What shall I do?' enquired the victim desparately...
'Stay like that.....We need you as evidence!', came the reply...