The restoration of a 1923-built keel into a piece of living history has been featured on primetime TV.
THE Humber Keel and Sloop Preservation Society’s (HKSPS) ongoing work on Comrade was featured on the March 2 episode of the BBC’s flagship Sunday teatime programme Countryfile. The episode focused on the Humber Estuary, and how nature and industry live there side by side. You can find the episode on BBC iPlayer.
Members of the society told presenter Anita Rani how before the advent of rail and road, waterways like the estuary were the only way to trade and transport goods. At the turn of the 19th century, hundreds of ships, including Comrade, used the estuary to access waterways and canals through Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. The keel’s design made Comrade perfect for navigating the canals and locks of the area’s industrial towns to bring them imported goods and return with coal, and crews would be away for three or four days at a time. Today, the HKSPS is working to restore it into a floating museum.
Society chairman Dave Parker told the programme: “The history of these ships goes back centuries. When Hull was developed and big ships started coming in, they needed smaller ships to take their cargoes into the places which wanted them and where they couldn’t go. Eventually, mills were built inland and away from the water and unfortunately, by 1973 Comrade was obsolete.”
Built in 1923 at Warren’s Shipyard in New Holland, North Lincolnshire, for Turner Carmichael of Hull, Comrade was originally named Wanda and with a hold capable of carrying up to 100 tons of cargo, it initially traded in barley and coal between Wakefield and Hull. Following changes of name and ownership over the years, it was acquired by the HKSPS in December 1974 but continued to carry cargo until its commitments were fulfilled in March 1975. Since then, thousands of man-hours have been spent on restoring, maintaining and crewing it by a comparatively small group of dedicated volunteers.
Working on the keel gives Dave a “huge sense of satisfaction,” he said, “and putting my skills back into a forgotten trade – of being a keel man or a sloop man.” If you are interested in volunteering for the society or would like to support its work through a donation, visit www.keelsandsloops.org.uk
