 The
restored Shropshire Union boat Saturn and her guiding committee
continue to do their educational and campaigning work around the North
West, the fifth year of operation since her restoration, and May this
year saw a nice concentrated week’s worth of school work at the top end
of the Llangollen canal. We had school visits arranged at Trevor and
Chirk as well as in Llangollen town itself, with lots of cooperation
from British Waterways and the operators of the wharf.
But first we had to get there. Saturn was not
really the problem, it was the Canal Junction tug that moved her that
was a bit deep for this bit of canal. The Greenman draws about
two foot nine inches of water - a bit more pottering along - but she is
a graceful boat and quite round bilged which helps a great deal in
shallow water. We rumbled over the bottom in lots of places, but with
three extra crew members right up on the foredeck for the notorious
shallow section above Trevor to keep the stern up we had a satisfyingly
trouble free trip. We came to dead halt once but the flow of water
coming down from the Dee floated us off within a couple of minutes.
Right - Saturn at Llangollen Wharf
This trip was a highspot for Saturn in two
separate ways. It was the first she has made to Llangollen since she was
a hotel boat butty behind Jupiter back in 1987 which seemed
significant to us. But it also gave us a wonderful opportunity to try
for some serious publicity by attempting to take her right up to
Llantisilio. This is where the water supply comes in from the River Dee
at the Horseshoe Falls a length of very shallow canal that is normally
forbidden to any craft except the horse drawn passenger boats that
operate from Llangollen wharf. So with trepidation, and with gloomy
forecasts of disaster from Carl, the long-time manager of the horse
boats, we set off uphill on Friday afternoon. We were using Geordie, one
of the trip boat horses with one of his regular drivers to pull the
boat, with Carl on the towpath giving precise and invaluable advice to
Sue Yates who was steering Saturn with intense concentration. We
made good progress against the current and the mood lifted as each
shallow or narrow was passed. By the time we got to the Chain Bridge
Hotel Carl was nearly smiling and I expected him to unhitch the horse
there and call it a successful trip. But no, we managed to get the line
under the messy steel footbridge outside the pub and Geordie carried on
pulling towards the Falls. A hundred yards or so short of the valve
house there has been a serious rockfall which even the most optimistic
of us could see was going to be a major problem but this amazing narrow
boat slid past with only the slightest graunching under the water. With
a slight bump we were there -- tied up against the wall of the valve
house, the furthest west Saturn would ever have been in her life,
and the highest bit of the Shropshire Union network. That is some
highspot! As they used to say of certain Thames barges, “she’d go
anywhere after a heavy dew”. And Carl was properly happy, and rightly
proud.
Right -
Geordie taking the strain
Below - Passing behind the Chain
Bridge Hotel
After some congratulatory photographs we then had the
problem of getting her back to Llangollen, backwards. The actual pulling
wasn’t too hard as we were now floating down with the current but our
steering had to be just as precise to protect the rudder. If the blade
of the rudder were to catch the bottom at an angle the momentum of the
boat would immediately twist it round and split the stock in one
expensive second. So we were very careful, using lots of people with
shafts to hold it out and ropes to hold it in as we travelled
downstream, with one person pulling and another holding back. In only
slightly more time than we took to get there we returned to moor
Saturn in the corner of the marina to commence her schools work the
following week, a very satisfying little escapade followed by a little
celebratory beer. Well then, where next? Up the Severn to Bridgenorth,
or up the Dee to Bangor where the earliest Mersey flats were built?
Unfortunately we can’t even get down the Dee branch at Chester at
present due to silting and a damaged river lock.
The above article is an abridged and amended version
of a piece first published in the June 2010 Saturn Project newsletter.
For more details follow the link
www.saturnflyboat.org.uk.
Right -
Reaching Llantisilio
Tony Lewery
The Brow, Ellesmere
August 2010 Bottom - The
slow drag back.
All images right courtesy of Bob
Jervis. |
