Focus on ‘the Danny’ at national awards
The preservation society that cares for one of the UK’s best-known historic vessels wins an award and features in a photo competition organised by National Historic Ships UK, reports Phil Pickin.
NATIONAL Historic Ships UK’s annual award ceremony late last year was described as ‘a celebration of maritime heritage around the UK coasts, lakes, canals and rivers’.
One notable inclusion in the 2021 photography competition was a stunning image titled The Daniel Adamson on the River Weaver with the autumn colours in the background. The image was shot by John Eyres, who, by his own admission, is primarily a railway photographer with a significant interest in heritage.
John has followed in his father’s footsteps in his interest in the railways. Mr Eyres senior still gets out today and is a regular contributor to several wellknown railway magazines. However, John’s interest in maritime subjects began about 20 years ago.
“Living close to the Manchester Ship Canal, it became apparent to me that the daily ‘goings on’ seemed to pass everybody by and that I ought to start recording shipping scenes,” John said. The River Weaver has always fascinated John, who sees it as a mini version of the ship canal.
“My years of photography just missed out on real commercial traffic to Northwich. Therefore I see it as just another backwater today in that regard, even though it is still such a beautiful river. Due to the lack of ‘heavy’ traffic along the Weaver, I suppose the rebirth of Daniel Adamson has given me some inspiration to capture some images of what I call a ‘proper’ ship sailing up the Cheshire waterway.
“I had followed her restoration quite closely and, as soon as she was out sailing, I was always looking at specific angles along the river and where the sun would be, etc. Certainly, the best time to capture ‘the Danny’ on the Weaver is in deep autumn; however, usually, her sailing programme wouldn’t delve that far (into November) when the colours along the river would be at their best.”
The image was shortlisted for the award almost by chance. “‘The Danny’ had completed her cruises along the Weaver several weeks earlier in October. But problems at Saltersford locks (where she was captured) meant she became trapped at Anderton lift instead of returning downriver to Sutton or onward to Liverpool for winter lay-up. She finally escaped on Sunday, November 11 (Remembrance Day),” John continued.
“The weather, I recall, in the morning was quite poor, but the forecasters got it right and by the time she had left Northwich, clear blue skies had rolled in from the west. The shot that you see was arriving at Saltersford among a backdrop of autumnal colours along the north bank.
“It was quite spectacular, as were many other shots that afternoon, especially further along towards Dutton and Devils Garden. So that (unfortunate) stoppage at Saltersford a few weeks earlier actually made this photo unique, getting ‘the Danny’ in perfect autumn conditions on the Weaver away from her normal cruise season.”
John sends all of his images to the Daniel Adamson Preservation Society for their social media use. And he hopes that the standard of his photography portrays the vessel in the light they want and brings visitors to them, which is what it is all about.
However, this wasn’t the only time the Daniel Adamson was in the news at the award ceremony that was held online. The judges were particularly impressed by two nominations, both of which demonstrated the huge effort made by teams to support their vessel during the pandemic and return it to operation at the earliest possible opportunity.
As a result, a Marsh Volunteer Group Award was awarded to The Daniel Adamson Preservation Society crew. The team was recognised for the value volunteering plays in combatting isolation and developing well-being together with a bespoke learning experience for schools. The crew, who had no idea they had been nominated by Andrea Ward and Cathriona Bourke and only found out when watching the ceremony online, received a prize.
A second Marsh Volunteer Group Award went to the Steamship Shieldhall Charity in Southampton. Other Marsh Volunteer Awards included the individual award won by Tim Jepson of the Thames Sailing Barge Trust in Essex and the Shipshape Volunteer Award given to the ship engineers of The Steam Tug Kerne Preservation Society in Merseyside.
A Lifetime Achievement Award was given to Chris Heyes of The Steam Tug Kerne Preservation Society for his 50 years of committed volunteering. Chris was a founding member of the preservation society in 1971 and has continued to maintain Kerne to keep the historic tug steaming for the public.