byron
RIP
In another thread the speeds of Fly Boats was mooted. I got hold of the following information for anyone interested:0
Harry Arnold of the Shropshire Union Fly-boat Restoration Society replies –
We really have no firm evidence whether fly-boats planed - yet. All we have are accurate recollections of the timings of some of the fly-boat services. For example, the Birmingham Fly did two round trips a week from Ellesmere Port to Birmingham, with just one overnight stop - in Birmingham on the Friday night. Horses were changed at Bunbury, Tyrley, Norbury Junction and Autherley Junction.
Timings for a typical pre. First World War, November return run, with skipper Bill Jarvis and his three-man crew and the boat Adonis, with 11 tons of goods for export from Liverpool, were: Birmingham, Crescent Wharf, depart Saturday 4pm, Wolverhampton Top Lock 8pm, Wheaton Aston Lock 12 midnight, Audlem Top Lock 9am, Ellesmere Port arrived Sunday 11pm. The normal time for the Wolverhampton 21 lock flight was just 1 hour!
There are however existing timetables for the passenger packet boats which, if you work out the required speeds between stops and locks, they are sometimes 10 to12mph. If you study the fine lines of the packet boat Duchess Countess – fortunately measured by a marine architect – it is quite likely that at these speeds she lifted to ‘ride her bow wave’: I don’t know whether this qualifies as ‘planing’ in modern nautical terms. These boats were generally towed by two horses, with a postilion riding and driving them. Generally a youth, called in local parlance, ‘lean to the water boys’ because of negotiating bridges.
The only modern parallel I have experienced was with ex. Shroppie Fly-boat skipper, Jack Roberts when, on the straight section of the Bridgewater Canal between Broadheath and Stretford, he had the horse Mary going at a fast trot pulling the boat Margaret. She was not a fly-boat but was built as a Montgomery Canal horse-boat and had quite good lines. I reckon – by the speed I had to run to take pictures – the boat was doing about 6 or 7 mph. There were other times, with the boat Iona and the powerful horse Jim, when we ‘raced’ (and beat, with no real effort from the horse) fast V-bottomed cruisers along Shelmore Embankment, which I wont go into.
Nobody from British Waterways has yet said that we cannot re-enact a fly-boat run – especially as they are partners in the Saturn restoration project. I doubt if we will try to emulate the distance or the speed of the Birmingham Fly; although you will note it does not require many horses. There are already sufficient suitable horses. We are working closely with Sue Day and the Horseboating Society. The sheer amount of modern traffic will be a major hindrance. Will everyone give-way?
The object of the exercise will not necessarily be speed, but be to demonstrate and record the techniques of fly-boating. So it is essential that we preserve this unique boat for future generations
Harry Arnold of the Shropshire Union Fly-boat Restoration Society replies –
We really have no firm evidence whether fly-boats planed - yet. All we have are accurate recollections of the timings of some of the fly-boat services. For example, the Birmingham Fly did two round trips a week from Ellesmere Port to Birmingham, with just one overnight stop - in Birmingham on the Friday night. Horses were changed at Bunbury, Tyrley, Norbury Junction and Autherley Junction.
Timings for a typical pre. First World War, November return run, with skipper Bill Jarvis and his three-man crew and the boat Adonis, with 11 tons of goods for export from Liverpool, were: Birmingham, Crescent Wharf, depart Saturday 4pm, Wolverhampton Top Lock 8pm, Wheaton Aston Lock 12 midnight, Audlem Top Lock 9am, Ellesmere Port arrived Sunday 11pm. The normal time for the Wolverhampton 21 lock flight was just 1 hour!
There are however existing timetables for the passenger packet boats which, if you work out the required speeds between stops and locks, they are sometimes 10 to12mph. If you study the fine lines of the packet boat Duchess Countess – fortunately measured by a marine architect – it is quite likely that at these speeds she lifted to ‘ride her bow wave’: I don’t know whether this qualifies as ‘planing’ in modern nautical terms. These boats were generally towed by two horses, with a postilion riding and driving them. Generally a youth, called in local parlance, ‘lean to the water boys’ because of negotiating bridges.
The only modern parallel I have experienced was with ex. Shroppie Fly-boat skipper, Jack Roberts when, on the straight section of the Bridgewater Canal between Broadheath and Stretford, he had the horse Mary going at a fast trot pulling the boat Margaret. She was not a fly-boat but was built as a Montgomery Canal horse-boat and had quite good lines. I reckon – by the speed I had to run to take pictures – the boat was doing about 6 or 7 mph. There were other times, with the boat Iona and the powerful horse Jim, when we ‘raced’ (and beat, with no real effort from the horse) fast V-bottomed cruisers along Shelmore Embankment, which I wont go into.
Nobody from British Waterways has yet said that we cannot re-enact a fly-boat run – especially as they are partners in the Saturn restoration project. I doubt if we will try to emulate the distance or the speed of the Birmingham Fly; although you will note it does not require many horses. There are already sufficient suitable horses. We are working closely with Sue Day and the Horseboating Society. The sheer amount of modern traffic will be a major hindrance. Will everyone give-way?
The object of the exercise will not necessarily be speed, but be to demonstrate and record the techniques of fly-boating. So it is essential that we preserve this unique boat for future generations
