RMweb Premium Popular Post Kris Posted October 23, 2020 RMweb Premium Popular Post Share Posted October 23, 2020 The BBC have some drone footage of the remains of the barges involved in the the Severn bridge disaster. There is also footage of the remains of the line. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-gloucestershire-54651734 6 6 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold phil_sutters Posted October 23, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 23, 2020 Before - an old commercial print from my grandfather's collection. 16 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hodgson Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 I have a copy of the accident report. It wasn't the usual type by the Railway Inspectorate. It was court of inquiry under the Merchant Shipping Acts conducted by judges seeking to ascertain whether either of the skippers of the vessels were negligent. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
doilum Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 The barges were built ( and operated?) by Harkers of Knottingley. They were the basis of the model moored in the foreground of Great Burden the NPRMS n gauge layout. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
caradoc Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 Presumably the barges' location means they are not worth salvaging for scrap, and they are not a hazard to navigation ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
simontaylor484 Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 2 hours ago, doilum said: The barges were built ( and operated?) by Harkers of Knottingley. They were the basis of the model moored in the foreground of Great Burden the NPRMS n gauge layout. Going by the names quoted in the report with the suffix H would point to them as part of Harkers own fleet which would have been built at their Knottingley ship yard. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
simontaylor484 Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 On the twixt aire and calder website which is run by Wakefield Council libraries there are photos of similar barges being launched. twixtaireandcalder.org.uk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
doilum Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 Once upon a time Knottingley was deemed important enough to have it's own library (and sports centre, swimming pool etc etc...) which had a good archive of Harker material in the local history section. I'm not sure what happened to it as my good lady wife had moved on by then. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold phil_sutters Posted October 23, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 23, 2020 Because there was interest in the photo above, when I put it on ipernity, the photo-sharing site I use, I looked up the accident and came across this local website, which may be of interest. https://www.severntales.co.uk/severn-bridge-disaster.html 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold TravisM Posted October 23, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 23, 2020 Not being familiar with the Severn rail bridge and I was wondering why it was built? The Severn tunnel was the obvious choice for the GWR and it’s services to and from South Wales but I don’t understand why the bridge was built. With the junction at Gloucester, the South Wales services would divert via Chepstow therefore negating the need for the bridge. Obviously there was a need but I hope someone could explain it’s existence. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithHC Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 The bridge was built to allow Forest of Dean coal to be shipped from Sharpness docks as Lydney docks was silting up. The bridge was completed in 1879 some six years before the tunnel opened. Keith 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium figworthy Posted October 23, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 23, 2020 7 hours ago, simontaylor484 said: Going by the names quoted in the report with the suffix H would point to them as part of Harkers own fleet which would have been built at their Knottingley ship yard. Arkendale.h was built at Richard's Ironworks in Lowestoft in 1937, Wastdale.h by Sharpness Shipyard in 1951. Harkers owned the Sharpness Shipyard, using it as a maintenance base for their Severn fleet. Adrian 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
2251 Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 As has been said above, the Severn Bridge was primarily built to take coal traffic to Sharpness from the Forest of Dean. That traffic never materialised in the anticipated volume. It was begun after the tunnel (in 1875) but finished well before (in 1879). The bridge was never intended to be a major through route – indeed, it was not really capable of being one, even leaving aside the fact it was single track and the weight restrictions. Traffic from the north for south Wales would naturally go via Gloucester. Traffic from the east for south Wales also had to go via Gloucester because there is no triangular junction at Stonehouse (although I suppose a reversal at Standish Jct might have been possible, if an operational nuisance). Traffic from Bristol for south Wales might in theory have gone via the bridge, but that would have required a reversal at Berkeley Road. Of course once the tunnel opened, such coal traffic as there was to Sharpness could have gone that way, but until the Badminton Line opened at the start of the twentieth century, that would have necessitated a reversal in Bristol as well as a reversal at Berkeley Road. Even once the Badminton Line had opened, it would have been a rather circuitous route and still required the Berkeley Road reversal. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
simontaylor484 Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 2 hours ago, doilum said: Once upon a time Knottingley was deemed important enough to have it's own library (and sports centre, swimming pool etc etc...) which had a good archive of Harker material in the local history section. I'm not sure what happened to it as my good lady wife had moved on by then. I know the collection of Bagley glass was in Pontefract museum a couple.of years ago. I would assume the Harker material is either at Wakefield museum of the new West Yorkshire archive in Wakefield. Your right though Knottingley is a shadow.of its former self Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
simontaylor484 Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 Further research has pointed to the Knottingley records being in the John Goodchild collection at the West Yorkshire history centre Kirkgate Wakefield wether that includes what was at Knottingley library i don't know Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
simontaylor484 Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 23 minutes ago, figworthy said: Arkendale.h was built at Richard's Ironworks in Lowestoft in 1937, Wastdale.h by Sharpness Shipyard in 1951. Harkers owned the Sharpness Shipyard, using it as a maintenance base for their Severn fleet. Adrian Thanks for the extra info Adrian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wickham Green too Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 35 minutes ago, KeithHC said: The bridge was built to allow Forest of Dean coal to be shipped from Sharpness docks ........... There's now a railway preservation scheme at both ends of the bridge ........ could they get together and emulate the Great Central with a reunification project ? ........................................................................................ maybe not ! 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
2251 Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 I realise I omitted to mention the Berkeley loop which would have obviated the need for a reversal at Berkeley Road, but that did not open until 1908. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
doilum Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 Try googling " River Severn Tales" by Chris Witt. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
45669 Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 I visited the bridge in 1964 and there are some pictures in this album (scroll down - they're at the end): 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold TravisM Posted October 23, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 23, 2020 (edited) 5 hours ago, 2251 said: As has been said above, the Severn Bridge was primarily built to take coal traffic to Sharpness from the Forest of Dean. That traffic never materialised in the anticipated volume. It was begun after the tunnel (in 1875) but finished well before (in 1879). The bridge was never intended to be a major through route – indeed, it was not really capable of being one, even leaving aside the fact it was single track and the weight restrictions. Traffic from the north for south Wales would naturally go via Gloucester. Traffic from the east for south Wales also had to go via Gloucester because there is no triangular junction at Stonehouse (although I suppose a reversal at Standish Jct might have been possible, if an operational nuisance). Traffic from Bristol for south Wales might in theory have gone via the bridge, but that would have required a reversal at Berkeley Road. Of course once the tunnel opened, such coal traffic as there was to Sharpness could have gone that way, but until the Badminton Line opened at the start of the twentieth century, that would have necessitated a reversal in Bristol as well as a reversal at Berkeley Road. Even once the Badminton Line had opened, it would have been a rather circuitous route and still required the Berkeley Road reversal. So, guessing from what people have said, it’s loss to BR after the accident was no great thing, and gave BR a justifiable reason to close it and sell the remains off for scrap. I wonder if the accident just speeded up the eventual closure? Edited October 24, 2020 by jools1959 Typo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium DLT Posted October 23, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 23, 2020 25 minutes ago, jools1959 said: So, guessing from what people have said, it’s loss to BR after the accident was no great thing, and give BR a justifiable reason to close it and sell the remains off for scrap. I wonder if the accident just speeded up the eventual closure? It would not have survived Beeching 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejstubbs Posted October 24, 2020 Share Posted October 24, 2020 13 hours ago, doilum said: Try googling " River Severn Tales" by Chris Witt. It's Chris Witts with an "s"*. He published a book specifically about the disaster on its 50th anniversary: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Severn-Bridge-Disaster-25th-October/dp/0953271137/ (also available as a Kindle e-book). This book covers a number of mishaps on the Severn, including the Severn Bridge disaster: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Disasters-Severn-Chris-Witts-2002-07-01/dp/B01LPE2RWS Tales of the River Severn is rather older and a bit trickier to find: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tales-River-Severn-Chris-Witts/dp/0953271110 * http://www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire/focus/community/content/archive/chriswitt.shtml Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
doilum Posted October 24, 2020 Share Posted October 24, 2020 52 minutes ago, ejstubbs said: It's Chris Witts with an "s"*. He published a book specifically about the disaster on its 50th anniversary: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Severn-Bridge-Disaster-25th-October/dp/0953271137/ (also available as a Kindle e-book). This book covers a number of mishaps on the Severn, including the Severn Bridge disaster: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Disasters-Severn-Chris-Witts-2002-07-01/dp/B01LPE2RWS Tales of the River Severn is rather older and a bit trickier to find: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tales-River-Severn-Chris-Witts/dp/0953271110 * http://www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire/focus/community/content/archive/chriswitt.shtml Thanks. Late night clumsy typing! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
D826 Posted October 24, 2020 Share Posted October 24, 2020 Might have had weight restrictions, but two Castles ran over it on Bridge load deflection tests, so it was pretty strong ! See 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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