Crockham Hill October 2024 Newsletter - Flipbook - Page 19
Sailing Barge Kitty
Roger Marriott
For over 25 years I was the proud owner of Kitty, a Thames barge, until I
sold her in 2017. Built in 1895, by J&H Cann of Harwich, for the owner of
the Horlicks Co., based at Mistley, Essex, she was named after the owner9s
wife. As a matter of record, her launch was delayed by 2 months as the sea
was iced up in the coldest winter ever recorded in the UK. Her vital
statistics were Beam 18 ft, Length 82 ft (including the bowsprit),Weight
(unloaded) 79 tons, Sail Area 2400 sq ft.
She was designed to be crewed by 2 people, a
skipper and a boy, and could carry an
impressive 150 tons of cargo.
Commercially, the heyday of the Thames barge
was between 1850 and the early part of the 20th
century. The country had fewer roads then, and
a limited rail network. The Thames barge had a
reputation for being a convenient and reliable way of transporting heavy
materials such as coal, bricks, grain, hay and timber to ports mainly on the
south and east coasts. Being flat-bottomed, it was able to go into any port
whilst other traditional vessels couldn9t, for fear of keeling over when the
tide went out, which often resulted in the cargo being lost overboard and
the vessel being damaged.
Maritime records confirm that Kitty was
regularly chartered to transport coal from
the north-east to London, grain from
Ipswich to London, and china clay from
Fowey to London. During the First World
War she was chartered by the Ministry of
Defence to take much needed war
materials, such as food and ammunition, to Calais and Boulogne.
In 1955, Kitty carried her last commercial cargo to Ipswich. She was then
sold to timber merchants Brown & Co, who de-rigged her and used her as
a lighter, carrying timber from the River Blackwater to Chelmsford. In 1964,
the Maldon Yacht & Barge Co bought her and, re-rigged, used her for
hospitality charter and barge racing. Being a Cann-built barge, Kitty
enjoyed a reputation for being fast whatever the weather; she won many
races, including the prestigious Pin Mill and Medway races in the 1970s.
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