Medway Tales
I will try to summarise the talk given to the Society by Mr. Wilf Lower on Friday 10th February, 2012.
The River Medway has always been at the centre of life for the Medway Towns whether bringing in local trade or cargos to be transferred to industries further up river, the Royal Dockyard, fishing or leisure, all have a place in the history of the towns. Many skilled crafts were brought to the towns over the years whether it was boatbuilding, established in the Tudor times, sail making, rope making, tool making, engineering, brick and cement making all have a place in the local history.
There are people today who are trying to keep many of the skills and traditions alive and Tales of Medway referred to some of them. Besides those that were mentioned there are others and this summary only refers to some of those that were spoken about.
The Edith May, a Thames Barge, currently moored at Lower Halstow following its restoration by three generations of the same family, Eric, Geoff and Edward Gransden, was a project to save the vessel from the scrap yard. Now restored it may soon be seen cruising the river on one of it trips. Each member of the family was able to bring their own skills and determination in this restoration project.
At Upnor you may see The Alice, built in 1954 as a dumb lighter. Owen Emerson saw the possibility of this being converted into a sailing barge. His dockyard apprenticeship gave him both the vision and the necessary skills to accomplish this by cutting away the front section and reshaping it into a sailing barge. The Alice now sails on the river.
The Medway Queen has had a chequered career, having been a pleasure paddle steamer prior to the Second World War she was commissioned by the admiralty at the outbreak of hostilities. From minesweeper duties in the Thames and Medway she made several trips to Dunkirk to rescue soldiers from the beaches before she returned to her minesweeping duties. After the war she returned to her pleasure duties taking passengers from the Medway Towns to Sheerness, Southend, Herne Bay and Clacton. With the decline in this type of pleasure and cheap package holidays she was eventually laid up before being sold as a floating restaurant on the Isle of Wight. This project failed and she was left to rot until a local group heard of her plight. She was returned to Chatham and attempts were made at restoration and return her to her previous glory. Bad weather, including being under water, lack of interest and lack of money led to further decline in her state until a new set of enthusiasts set out to restore her. She was moved to Drumhead Creek and work and fund raising started. Eventually, after several attempts the Lottery Fund made a substantial grant. Much of the hull of the boat went to Bristol where work was carried out. She will return to Drumhead Creek where other work will be carried out including fitting of the cabins and engines which have been worked on whilst she has been away. A great deal of the work being done by these enthusiasts is as a result of local training and the desire to see this boat once again plying its trade on the river.
There were other tales of boats being rescued, some having to be physically dug out of the mud, lifted on to land and being hosed down before being moved to a boat yards where they have been restored to pristine conditions. Men using their work skills to carry out the restoration work.
Characters abound around the river banks. Two that were mention were Richard Grimble who spent twenty five years renovating a Victorian Yacht and Jim Hutchinson, a diver for over seventy years. Jim has been giving diving demonstrations, in his old diving suit, with the screw-on head piece until recently.
Fishing is still an industry on the river and the only independent fishmonger in the Medway Towns is Sean Hales from Rainham. He trades in Station Road, Rainham, and selling local fish caught in the Medway and around the Kent Coast among his other fish sales. He is the Chamberlain of the Medway Fisheries which among his duties is to present the first sturgeon caught in the Medway each year to the Queen. This is not an onerous task as the last one caught was in 1924 and prior to that there was one in the eighteenth century and one two centuries previous.
These were just a few of the tales that were related to us on this evening. Further tales can be found in Wilf Lower’s book Tales of the Medway, obtainable from most local booksellers.
The River Medway has always been at the centre of life for the Medway Towns whether bringing in local trade or cargos to be transferred to industries further up river, the Royal Dockyard, fishing or leisure, all have a place in the history of the towns. Many skilled crafts were brought to the towns over the years whether it was boatbuilding, established in the Tudor times, sail making, rope making, tool making, engineering, brick and cement making all have a place in the local history.
There are people today who are trying to keep many of the skills and traditions alive and Tales of Medway referred to some of them. Besides those that were mentioned there are others and this summary only refers to some of those that were spoken about.
The Edith May, a Thames Barge, currently moored at Lower Halstow following its restoration by three generations of the same family, Eric, Geoff and Edward Gransden, was a project to save the vessel from the scrap yard. Now restored it may soon be seen cruising the river on one of it trips. Each member of the family was able to bring their own skills and determination in this restoration project.
At Upnor you may see The Alice, built in 1954 as a dumb lighter. Owen Emerson saw the possibility of this being converted into a sailing barge. His dockyard apprenticeship gave him both the vision and the necessary skills to accomplish this by cutting away the front section and reshaping it into a sailing barge. The Alice now sails on the river.
The Medway Queen has had a chequered career, having been a pleasure paddle steamer prior to the Second World War she was commissioned by the admiralty at the outbreak of hostilities. From minesweeper duties in the Thames and Medway she made several trips to Dunkirk to rescue soldiers from the beaches before she returned to her minesweeping duties. After the war she returned to her pleasure duties taking passengers from the Medway Towns to Sheerness, Southend, Herne Bay and Clacton. With the decline in this type of pleasure and cheap package holidays she was eventually laid up before being sold as a floating restaurant on the Isle of Wight. This project failed and she was left to rot until a local group heard of her plight. She was returned to Chatham and attempts were made at restoration and return her to her previous glory. Bad weather, including being under water, lack of interest and lack of money led to further decline in her state until a new set of enthusiasts set out to restore her. She was moved to Drumhead Creek and work and fund raising started. Eventually, after several attempts the Lottery Fund made a substantial grant. Much of the hull of the boat went to Bristol where work was carried out. She will return to Drumhead Creek where other work will be carried out including fitting of the cabins and engines which have been worked on whilst she has been away. A great deal of the work being done by these enthusiasts is as a result of local training and the desire to see this boat once again plying its trade on the river.
There were other tales of boats being rescued, some having to be physically dug out of the mud, lifted on to land and being hosed down before being moved to a boat yards where they have been restored to pristine conditions. Men using their work skills to carry out the restoration work.
Characters abound around the river banks. Two that were mention were Richard Grimble who spent twenty five years renovating a Victorian Yacht and Jim Hutchinson, a diver for over seventy years. Jim has been giving diving demonstrations, in his old diving suit, with the screw-on head piece until recently.
Fishing is still an industry on the river and the only independent fishmonger in the Medway Towns is Sean Hales from Rainham. He trades in Station Road, Rainham, and selling local fish caught in the Medway and around the Kent Coast among his other fish sales. He is the Chamberlain of the Medway Fisheries which among his duties is to present the first sturgeon caught in the Medway each year to the Queen. This is not an onerous task as the last one caught was in 1924 and prior to that there was one in the eighteenth century and one two centuries previous.
These were just a few of the tales that were related to us on this evening. Further tales can be found in Wilf Lower’s book Tales of the Medway, obtainable from most local booksellers.