Workhorse of the waterways
Fifty years ago, the last commercial voyage by a Thames sailing barge made its way downriver. Tom Cunliffe marvels at these unique and beautiful ships that kept south-east England supplied with essential food and goods for centuries
The first sight of a Thames sailing barge is mesmerising. Her long, low hull is immediately impressive, but the rig catches the eye and leads it towards the sky. Initially, the sails seem enormous, heavy and unwieldy, yet as one watches, the beauty of the vessel begins to fill in, like watercolours being patiently washed on to a preliminary sketch.
Better than almost any other historic artefact, the Thames barge shows how vernacular man perfected the power to work with nature. Restored with assistance from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Cambria is at sea again today – still with no engine. In 1970, under skipper Bob Roberts and his mate Dick Durham, this barge carried the last freight of the old era under sail: 100 tons of cattle cake from Tilbury Dock to Ipswich.
ESSENTIAL TRANSPORT
For three centuries and probably more, she and her older sisters plied the wide and narrow waters of the Thames Estuary. They unloaded ships and brought farm produce to the city from the fields of Kent, Essex and Suffolk. Great stacks of hay were transported to town to feed the vast army of horses serving London, then they loaded manure to take back to the farms to fertilise the land. The bargemen filled their holds with gravel off the banks beyond the estuary at low tide, shovelling tons and tons of it by hand. When the water returned, the boats lay at anchor, open to the North Sea until it receded again. Then the men would spit on their hands and return to their labour. Barges even ferried stone from the Isle of Portland to build fine houses in London Town. Their uses seemed endless and they were vital to the smooth running of the capital. At the height of their powers, between 1850 and the years leading up to the First World War, 2,000 barges were registered. A slow decline between the wars, accelerated by improving road transport, railways and the arrival of the marine engine, led to a final demise in the 1960s, with Cambria holding out heroically to the last.
LIFE AFTER SERVICE
The wonderful thing about the Thames sailing barge is that, unlike so many important historic craft, she has not been consigned to the dusty filing cabinets of history. Actual numbers are hard to pin down as barges pass in and out of active service, but 30 or more vessels survive.