  A
recent trip with the Canal Junction tug Greenman was to the Ellesmere
Port Boat Museum to tow their ancient horse-drawn icebreaker Marbury
for an outing up the Shropshire Union Canal, to a canal society rally at
Ellesmere town proper. The trip was interesting and without major problems,
and this unusual craft caused a considerable amount of interest as we worked
up the canal. Those that recognised it for what it was were encouraging and
pleased to see her on the move (for the first time in a few years) “Expecting a hard winter down south are they?” shouted one
houseboat dweller. “Big lifeboat for a small tug isn’t it?” said another.
But they were comments from those in the know. Far more common were the
simple questions—what is it? what’s it for? where’s it’s engine? How quickly
the everyday needs of a working canal become obscure ancient history in an
age of leisure and pleasure boats…
 In
the 1940s there were dozens, perhaps hundreds of icebreakers scattered all
over the canal system. In summer they were sunk out of the way, keeping
watertight and awaiting their few weeks of essential work in the winter,
rocking and smashing their way through the ice ahead of the carrying boats,
keeping the traffic moving, keeping the canal open and earning its living.
For that concentrated time the icebreaker was queen, and as much money,
manpower and horsepower was hung on it as necessary to keep the channel open
for trade. For the rest of the year it lay in waiting, costing maintenance
money and effort, but doing nothing. As traffic dwindled the importance of
icebreakers became less crucial. By the 1960s a fair number still remained
in existence but their age and lack of maintenance meant they were
disintegrating fast, particularly the wooden ones. Some were rescued and
converted to pleasure boats and several of those still cruise the canals in
the care of loving owners. Most, however, rotted away in the reeds.
 Marbury
was lucky. She was kept on general maintenance work around the Ellesmere
depot for longer than most and thus survived better than most. Her
historical importance was recognised early by members of the young
Shropshire Union Canal Society and in 1964 she was bought and rescued from
the Prees branch of the Llangollen canal and taken to Market Drayton were
she lay under the roof of the warehouse for some years. Eventually
Marbury was transferred to the new museum at Ellesmere Port where she
underwent major restoration and rebuilding, and where she has remained as an
important exhibit ever since. Thanks to that rebuilding she is still
canalworthy enough to be able to travel and meet and amaze a new generation
of waterway users on her home waters.
 The
basic idea of this trip was to continue the publicity campaign for Saturn,
the 1906 S.U. fly boat now under restoration at Sandbach. Because she is now
on the bank and dismantled the Saturn committee decided that the project
could be best promoted by touring and displaying one of the other few
surviving Shropshire Union boats instead, as well as publicising the
Waterways Trust collection at Ellesmere Port. It certainly generated
interest. Marbury was in the prime display position at the end of the
Ellesmere arm, close to the old warehouse, and was a highlight of the whole
canal festival. Several locals remembered her from forty years ago and were
clearly touched and pleased that she still survives. It certainly made the
effort of getting her there seem worthwhile. One British Waterways man
remembered her particularly well. One of his earliest jobs when he started
work was to load Marbury’s deck with a lot of steel piles and ferry
them across the canal from the yard. Half way across he stepped on to the
gunwhale, the round bilged icebreaker rolled seriously and all the piles
slid off into the canal. It took two days to get them all out again, and
that’s the last time he remembers it being used. Hmm, surprise. |
