Tale of Two Georges by Martin O'Keeffe
Part Two
Martin follows his introduction to James Pollock Sons & Co and his Bolinder engines with the need for a tug to pull boats through Gosty Hill Tunnel.
In early 1913 Stewarts and Lloyds and Noah Hingley approached the BCN with their concerns about the delays to their traffic through Gosty Hill Tunnel, the only other route would lead them through the long and equally narrow Lapal Tunnel and onto the Worcester and Birmingham Canal. There was planned to be an increase of traffic from Hingley's Coombes Wood colliery to 160 boats per week as it was coming into production at the time.
Following on from these representations the BCN committee investigated the possibility of introducing a tug and the cost was estimated to be £500 for one and £800 for two. Subsequently an arrangement was made with carriers, but charges were calculated at 1/- for a boat containing 25tons or more, 9d for less than 25 tons and 6d for an empty boat to be tugged through the tunnel. In October of that year an approach was made by the BCN to various engine suppliers. Thornycroft could supply a 46hp engine and wooden tug for £946, Perman could supply an iron boat and a 26hp Kromhout engine for £900 whilst Rennie Forrest could supply a wooden boat with a 26hp Kromhout engine for £650. Jamesv Pollock Sons & Co advised that they could supply two 15hp Bolinder engines with propellers and stern gear for £492 and could also prepared a design for the tug for the sum of 25 guineas, the tug being constructed at the BCN workshops at Ocker Hill.
Pollocks also offered to supervise the installation of the engine. The total cost of one tug would be £800. Pending the completion of the tug a boat would be hired to work the traffic through the tunnel. At a meeting of the BCN committee in December, following discussions with the marine department of the London & North Western Railway, Commander Holland advised the purchase of one 20hp Bolinder engine at a cost of £412 rather than the two 15hp engines.
The LNWR under the terms of the 1846 agreement guaranteeing the BCN dividend at 4% had to give approval for all capital expenditure. In addition it owned a fleet of stean ships used on the various Irish Sea routes that it operated and thus was well equipped to advise on matters relating to the design of vessels.
In June 1913 they approved the consent to purchase two tugs, total cost £1800 and a order was placed with Pollock's. The design they prepared was for a 45' long double ended tug with a breadth of 7' and a draught of 4' 1 1/2", it was given the ship number 614 in pollock's records.
In the first instance an agreement was made with Mr Millin (the Lessee of Rotton Park Reservoir) for the hire of a tug. However this was not found to be suitable. On 9th February 1914 a steam driven barge was hired from Fellows Morton Clayton Ltd at a cost of £3/11/0 a week and it was soon reported to be working the traffic to the approval of Stewarts and Lloyds and Noah Hingley.
On the 11th May 1914 the new tug 'George' was put into service and was working satisfactorily. By July it was felt that a second tug be supplied and authority was given for a similar tug to be built at a cost of £750 (£412 for the engine and £330 for the tug). The price of the engine was increased in August due to war insurance. However the boat was not to be built because of uncertainty following the start of the war.
In October 1915 due to problems encountered by Lord Dudley and other firms with the Dudley Tunnel leggers, the traffic through the tunnel would be worked by running down and pumping up water at Parkhead locks to create a curent through the tunnel to assist the legging. A trial was also made with the Gosty Hill tug but the men could not endure the smoke and fumes.
......to be continued in the next edition.
