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Earlier this year Brian (husband) & I took our two grandsons to the B.C.L.M. they had a super day painting and rolling eggs, going on the funfair, watching the glass ecther, eating chips and cakes but the one item that took their interest in a big way was the iceboat "ROSS". We knew it was such a boat but there was no information there to tell us about it so when we got home I decided to do a bit of research...... I communicated with Bill Brookes who has owned "Ross" for the past 33 years. He has written the following details:
Brenda|
The "Ross" is a horse-drawn, iron iceboat built in 1847 for the Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN) Company. She is the only surviving BCN iceboat in working condition. In bad weather canals freeze and stop the traffic. This was serious problem for the BCN Company and the canal carriers and required a seroius solution. The BCN Company had many iceboats. Many of them were built of wood, but very few of these wood boats survive and none are in working condition. In the 1830's and 1840's six iron iceboats were constructed for the company; remarkably, five of these survive. The "Ross" is the only one not to have been motorised. My hunch is that the wooden boats, which were generally lighter and with finer lines, were preferred when the ice was moderately thick. The iron boats were more effective when the conditions were severe. The "Ross" was always used on the higher and more exposed northern section of the BCN (No 4 District). In the twentieth century it was particuraly important to keep this part of the canal open for the coal traffic that ran continuously between the pits on Cannock Chase and the power stations in Walsall and Wolverhampton.
The "Ross" can be seen at the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley moored in the canal arm by the village. She is occasionally used in horsedrawn demonstrations. The "Ross" is named after Sir James Clark Ross (1800 - 1862) who spent his life exploring the polar regions and led an expedition to the Antarctic in 1839-43 where he discovered the Ross Sea and the Mountains Erebus and Terror. Technical DetailsLenght 37'5" Beam 6'9" Draught 2'0" Carvel construction of half inch wrought iron plates riveted to wrought iron frames and joined with internal butt straps. Round bottomed with qiute fine lines underwater. Built 1847 and owned by BCN Company until nationalisstion in 1948. Then owned by British Waterways(BW) until 1971. After a working life of 124 years they sold her to Alan Picken. |
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