Yorkshire & Humber Keels

Yorkshire and the Humber Keels.

The network of waterways in Yorkshire and most of the rivers running down to the Humber ports favoured massively built round bilged barges whose bows were so bluff as to be almost flat fronted. Fitted with leeboards and driven by a big single square-rigged sail they were known as 'Humber Keels'.

Many details of their construction suggest that these fat regional wooden workboats were actually close relatives of the Viking long ships that invaded this coastline a thousand years ago. Unfortunately there are no complete examples left, but there are a number of later iron-built cousins afloat, including the Comrade, which is kept in commission in full sailing trim. The Amy Howson is also kept in full working order by the same preservation society, and although of a similar hull shape she is rigged 'fore and aft' and therefore classed as a 'Humber Sloop'. These little ships, as well as the many big steel working barges in the area clearly show their old sailing keel ancestry. Up country in the smaller canals of West Yorkshire a fleet of smaller canal keels used to exist, both horse hauled and motorised, but they too are stepping back into history.

One startling innovation on the Aire and Calder Navigation was the development in the 1860s of the 'Tom Pudding' trains. These were long lines of big floating boxes, or skips, each carrying about 40 tons of coal. When joined closely together and towed by a tug they formed one long flexible barge but on arrival at Goole docks the train was disconnected and each container was lifted out of the water individually and tipped into a waiting coasting collier. Although this original system was finally discontinued in the 1980s (and only five old containers remain afloat) the concept is still in efficient operation with bigger containers, moved by modern push tugs in rigid lines of three to Ferrybridge power station. Each one-man tug now pushes about 500 tons.

Wooden motor keel William Hennell loading 40 tons of
power station coat at Hartley Bank staithe in 1971.

Even that wasn't really new, for the earliest boats on the Bridgewater canal working deep into the Duke of Bridgewater's mine at Worsley in 1760, were loaded with baskets of coal, dragged from the coal face to the boats inside the mine, and unloaded in Manchester with the aid of a water powered hoist. Today the only complete example of this old style of boat is to be seen at the Ellesmere Port Boat Museum in Cheshire.

Tom puddings loaded with coal for export  wait  for their ship alongside
hydraulic hoist  No. 5  in Goole Docks, 1971.

Pusher tug with three loaded pans at Stanley Ferry,
en route to Ferrybridge Power Station.