 Thomas
Fletcher and Freight Mover
Diesel-powered
bucket dredger Thomas Fletcher started work on the Gloucester
& Sharpness Canal in 1981, replacing the steam dredger SND
No 4 that is now an exhibit at the National Waterways Museum.
The name commemorates the resident engineer responsible for the
completion of the canal in the 1820s. It was last used in 2000.
(Sold for £12,300)
Tug Freight
Mover was built by James Cook at Wivenhoe in 1968 and worked
on the Thames and the Humber before coming to Sharpness in 1982
to help big ships turn in the dock. In later years, she was used
to help move the Thomas Fletcher. (Withdrawn from sale)
 Speedwell
Tug Speedwell was built by
Richard Dunston at Thorne in 1968 to replace several ageing canal
tugs at a time when barge traffic was declining rapidly. She is
named after an earlier steam tug. Intended for harbour work at Sharpness,
she later transferred to towing mud hoppers from the dredger to
the disposal site. (Sold for £26,200)
Hoppers
Included in
the sale are seven hoppers used for carrying mud from the dredger
to the disposal site.
 Margo
Newman
Workboat Margo
Newman was bought from the forces after the war. She replaced
a boat of the same name that had been used to tow barges between
Lincomb Lock and Stourport to save the main river tugs having to
pass through the lock. The replacement boat had a variety of roles,
particularly in association with maintenance work. (Sold for £11,000)
Floating Suction Plant
Included
in the sale is the suction plant used in the Worcester area for
extracting mud from a hopper and pumping it ashore at a disposal
site. (Sold for £1,600)
 Zodiac
Narrow boat Zodiac is one of
four Middle Northwich motor boats, built by Yarwoods in 1936, that
were transferred from the DIWE SE Division carrying fleet to the
SW Division maintenance fleet in 1949. At Gloucester they were initially
given B numbers, and these lasted until the 1970s when the original
names were put back on the boats, but not necessarily on the right
boats! In c1990, the one named Zodiac was fitted with fuel
tanks for bunkering the dredger and the tugs - and given a new cabin
and counter. (Information from Pete Harrison) (Withdrawn from sale)
 Jubilee
Workboat
Jubilee was built in 1935 by Charles Hill & Sons, Bristol,
for the Severn Commission and later taken over by British Waterways.
She has been used for towing their dredger, working on locks, carrying
supplies and transporting men to jobs at isolated parts of the river.
Originally steam powered, she is now fitted with twin diesel engines.
(Withdrawn from sale)
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