Gloucester Docks &
the Sharpness Canal

Recent Research Dec 2005

     The following two stories were researched for a BBC Radio Gloucestershire programme featuring historical events that occurred between 26th and 30th December in any year - a period when journalists are inclined to say “nothing ever happens”.
 

Steamer Aground off Sharpness
     There was much excitement at Sharpness on the 27th Dec 1936 when it was seen that the steamer Argentina had gone aground off the North Pier. She had come up the river, assisted by two Bristol tugs, carrying almost 7000 tons of maize and wheat from Rosario, near Buenos Aries. While making the usual turn to head into the last of the flood tide, the bow tow rope parted and the strong tide pushed her back on to rocks. On the following morning, an attempt was made to tow her off using seven tugs from Bristol - Islegarth, Plumgarth, Reagarth, Corgarth, West Winch, Bristolian and Merrimac. The Sharpness tug Resolute was also in attendance (far left in picture). Unfortunately this mammoth effort was not successful, and realising that the vessel had sustained considerable damage, the master who was also the owner, abandoned her to the insurers as a constructive loss.

Return of a Familiar Sight
     The Argentina was well known to Sharpness folk as she had spent five years laid up in the dock when formerly called Dundrennan. She had arrived with a cargo of grain in December 1929, and with no prospect of further work due to the depression, she was tied up on the west side of the dock near the Low Level Bridge. She was there so long that local people called her the Dunrunnin because they thought she'd never run any more. One incident that broke the idleness was a fire in the paint and oil store, but this was soon extinguished by the Dock Company’s fire brigade. Eventually she was bought by a Greek owner and left Sharpness, but now she was back again - and aground.

Discharging the Cargo
     The only hope of moving the ship was to discharge some of the cargo. However, it was not possible to get barges close alongside for any length of time due to the jagged rocks around the ship. So men were brought across from the Princess Royal colliery in the Forest of Dean to blow up the rocks at low tide, and others broke up the stone and levelled it to form a platform on which barges could lie alongside while the tide was out. This allowed some of the cargo to be off loaded into barges and taken into Sharpness. Meanwhile, large baulks of timber were buried in the foreshore with ropes attached that were run out to the ship to secure her in case she floated on a high tide.

Recovering the Ship
     When about half of the cargo had been discharged, tugs made another attempt to pull the ship off the rocks on the 10th February, and this time they were successful. The Argentina was towed into Sharpness dock and the remainder of her cargo was discharged. However, inspection of her hull showed that it was too badly damaged to be worth repairing, and so she was towed to Cashmore’s at Newport to be broken up.

Sources: Memories of Jack Evans; RAIL 864/34, 56, 57.     Top

Bowler Hat Found
     Then on Saturday night it became known that a young boy had found a bowler hat floating in the Victoria Dock and had sold it to his brother who was wearing it on a visit to the Alhambra Music Hall. The brother was called out of the performance, and another dock policeman immediately recognised the hat as having belonged to the missing man. The boy pointed out the spot where he had found the hat in the corner near the Albert Flour Mills, and on Sunday morning, after a boat was moved out of the way, Flavill’s body was recovered. The body was conveyed to the Albion Hotel where an inquest was held on Monday.

Inquest
     The coroner said it was common for sailors to be drowned in the docks while returning to their ships late at night and the worse for drink, but he was concerned as to how an officer who knew every step of the docks had entered the water and why his disappearance had not been reported sooner. William Schollar reported finding the body with the help of the drags. Thirteen year old George Davis described how he had recovered the hat using a hook-shaft that he had been allowed to borrow from a nearby boat in exchange for collecting half an ounce of tobacco from a shop in Southgate St. James Davis, father of the boy, explained that he had not initially connected the hat with the missing man as it was not a high hat as normally worn by a policeman. It was only when he heard on Saturday night that Flavill had been wearing a bowler that he realised what his son had found.

Delay in Reporting
     Dock policeman Solomon Fudge said he had been on duty with Flavill on Monday night and had seen him talking with a gentleman by the Albion Hotel at 2.15 am, but had missed him at 5.40 am when he should have opened the dock gates beside Llanthony Bridge. When asked why he had not reported the matter, Fudge said Flavill had talked about taking holiday, and he denied that he had assumed Flavill had gone drinking. A juryman asked if Flavill was disliked by some people for doing his duty, and Fudge replied “I don’t think so”. This question may have been inspired by a feeling that Flavill was inclined to be over-zealous. Two years earlier, Flavill had forcibly arrested an accountant on a charge of stealing copper and not allowed him to contact a solicitor. When the matter came to court, the owner of the copper said that the accountant was only doing what he had been asked, the magistrates dismissed the case and Flavill’s behaviour was severely criticised.

More Evidence Needed
     After other witnesses at the inquest had given evidence, the coroner thought that the death of Flavill was still fraught with suspicion, and he adjourned the inquiry in order to find the gentleman, said to be a Mr Jenkins, seen talking with Flavill shortly before he was drowned. When the inquest reconvened Anthony Frederick Jenkins of Brunswick Square admitted that he had accompanied Flavill and a city policeman to the Squirrel Inn in Southgate St around midnight on the night he died. Flavill drank at least two pints of warm beer with some gin in it. It was said that one of the Custom patrols who was on duty that night had seen Flavill the worse for drink just after 2.00 am, but when the Coroner asked for the officer it was found that he was on duty at Sharpness.

Conclusion
     In summing up, the Coroner criticised the policemen for not reporting their missing colleague sooner and said it was desirable to have chains around the dock walls so that a person falling into the water had a chance of saving himself. The jury returned a verdict of “Found drowned”. Following the Coroner’s comment, the Canal Company agreed to fix chains or vertical ladders at the most dangerous spots and to provide two additional lamps and three or four more life buoys.

Sources: GJ 8, 15 Jan 1870; GJ 2 Feb 1867; RAIL 864/1.