News, Local history and Thanet issues from Michael's Bookshop in Ramsgate see www.michaelsbookshop.com I publish over 200 books about the history of this area click here to look at them.
Showing posts with label The Steam Tug Cervia in Ramsgate Harbour. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Steam Tug Cervia in Ramsgate Harbour. Show all posts
As I pointed out yesterday both Ramsgate Maritime Museum and the last remaining ocean going steam tug are open to the public in Ramsgate harbour today and well worth a visit, entrance is free.
My understanding is that a group made up of the museums volunteers, from when the museum was open, have taken matters into their own hands and opened the museum without getting permission from Thanet district Council.
There is something of an Ealing film atmosphere, reminiscent of “The Titfield Thunderbolt” to the occasion. Very much a sense of the museum belongs to the town of Ramsgate.
Many the people engaged in this act of civil disobedience are local old age pensioners, this is what it has come to here in Ramsgate where the Dunkirk spirit is still alive.
There even appears to be a Dunkirk exhibition, there is also an historic lifeboat on the slipway, various Little Ships to look at and of course the sea and the sand.
I will endeavour to take more pictures tomorrow when I hope to have more time here are the ones of my lunch time walk http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/510b/id7.htm they include several of the harbour event.
I was most encouraged to see in yesterday’s Isle of Thanet Gazette an article that quoted a Thanet District Council spokesperson as saying, that the council are prepared to offer The Preston Steam Trust a 25 year lease on Ramsgate Clock House.
The article hasn’t yet appeared on the Gazette’s website so I am unable to link to it.
This is the building within the harbour area that has housed the maritime museum since it first opened, and because of its proximity to Smeaton’s Dry Dock, which I believe would also be likely to be leased to the museum under the same terms, is really the only practicable building to house the museum.
I have made some enquiries and gather that a 25 year lease would be sufficient to allow the museum to obtain the grant funding that it needs for the work it intends to do to the steam tug “Cervia”, the dry dock and museum.
The steam trust has the resources to offer a considerable amount of leisure activities for Ramsgate apart from the museum and the vessels I gather that it intends to hold a series of events in Ramsgate.
For those of you that are interested in what this could mean the following links take you to some pictures and videos of past events that they have held, adjacent to the other museum they run, at Preston near the village of Wingham in Kent.
For those of you interested in the last surviving ocean going steam tug “Cervia” click on the link for some pictures video below, these were taken before the recent restoration work, I promise to get down there and take some updated ones soon.
For those of you who prefer something more professional, than the disorganised web publishing of a deranged shop assistant, here is the link to The Preston Steam Trust website http://www.thesteammuseum.org/
For those of you who haven’t ever visited Ramsgate Maritime Museum click on the link for some pictures of inside it.
A few pictures of the steam tug Cervia that I took today, restoration work is well underway and she should be open to the public next month as soon as she has been made safe.
I am sorry that some of them didn’t come out too well and I will endevour to delete the worse when I get time.
Do feel free to enhance any you like, let me know if you want any in high definition please quote web address as the top if the page (url) and send me the picture so I know which one it is.
The pictures there are about 200 of them Click here to look at them use the links at the top of the pages for more pictures.
I also took some video footage on the Cervia embed here, sorry there is no voice over, walking round the works of a steam tug while trying to see where you are going through the viewfinder of a camcorder it would have been something like this:
“Whoops I tripped over a pipe.” “Ouch my head.” So on and so on.
Sorry about the bit where the video goes all blurry for a moment, I had a senior moment with some technical part that was harder than my shin.
I gather that volunteers can get involved with this project and would recommend standing alongside and hailing ahoy Cervia would be a good starting point.
The hull doesn’t appear to be leaking, hardly a drop of water in her when I sounded the well and that tasted a little brackish but definitely not pure seawater, a bit oily too, I believe this came mostly from leaking hatches on the decks.
One has to appreciate that the hull plating of a tug is much thicker than most vessels due to the impacts they encounter when working.
From what I can see of the engine and boiler they seem to be in fairly good order.
Parts of the hull are definitely rusted and a little thinner than they should be.
I have some experience of boats and engineering so this isn’t just wild guess work.
I believe the plan is to slip her in Ramsgate next year and replace the plates that need it, by riveting not welding.
the craft of hull riveting has all but died out so this should be a major international tourist attraction.
Notes for enthusiasts:
Built 1945-6 by Alexander Hall and Co. Ltd., Aberdeen. YN709. Steel Screw Tug. Length 105.2 Ft B 27.1 Ft D 11.7 Ft 233 Grt. 900ihp 3 Cyl TE oil fired steam engine by builder. Official No.180997. Call sign GDPM. 21-1-1946 Launched as Empire Raymond for Ministry of War Transport. Foremost class. 30-4-1946 completed and handed over to Townsend Bros. Ferries Ltd. for onward delivery. 12-1946 Sold to William Watkins Ltd. for £36,000, 1947 renamed Cervia. 1-2-1950 Transferred to Ship Towage [London) Ltd. 26-10-1954 Capsized and sank whilst assisting P & 0 liner Arcadia at Tilbury. The Skipper and four crew were drowned. 28-10-1954 Raised and towed to Ramsgate for repairs. 27-1-1969 Transferred to London Tugs Limited. 1971 Sold for preservation at Medway Maritime Museum. 1973 returned to towing with International Towing Ltd., UK/Europe coastal towage and North Sea oil rig moves. Last in service as port tug at Ramsgate. July 1985 loaned to East Kent Maritime Trust's Ramsgate Maritime Museum, for preservation
As I pointed out yesterday both Ramsgate Maritime Museum and the last remaining ocean going steam tug are open to the public in Ramsgate harbour today and well worth a visit, entrance is free.
