Our next indoor meeting:
Saturday September 14th 2024
Malcolm Gould from the China Clay History Society
will present an evening of films made for E.C.L.P. at the Cornwall Railway Society meeting, in The Memorial Hall which stands over the tunnel at Redruth Station, commencing at 18.30hrs
A show not to be missed!
Saturday September 14th 2024
Malcolm Gould from the China Clay History Society
will present an evening of films made for E.C.L.P. at the Cornwall Railway Society meeting, in The Memorial Hall which stands over the tunnel at Redruth Station, commencing at 18.30hrs
A show not to be missed!
NINETEEN SIXTY FOUR – PART SIX
Kitty C and the Port of Fowey
Michael L. Roach
he Kitty C is a cargo ship flying under the flag of Portugal and registered in Madeira. The ship is a general cargo ship 106 metres long and 15.5 metres wide. Stanlow is a port on the Manchester Ship Canal a short distance east of where the Canal commences on the bank of the River Mersey. The port deals mainly with oil products as it is located on the opposite bank of the Canal to the Stanlow Oil Refinery. The Kitty C sailed from Stanlow to Fowey arriving about 14.30 hours on Saturday 7 September 2024. Ships the length of the Kitty C are required to swing in the lower harbour at Fowey, take on a compulsory pilot, and are then towed astern by a harbour tug to the loading berths a mile and a half up the River Fowey. Historically most of the harbour pilots come from Polruan on the opposite bank of the river to Fowey. My 4x great grandfather Philip Salt (1749 - 1814) was a master mariner who sailed around the world and survived – a feat in itself in those days. He was born and lived in Polruan and finished his working days as a Fowey Harbour pilot. He must have been well-known in Polruan because he is buried inside the Parish Church under the floor of the north aisle under an engraved slate slab. The Parish Church is Lanteglos-by-Fowey situated in a remote valley two kilometres east of the village of Polruan.
The Kitty C had come to Fowey to load china clay and would have been meticulously cleaned before loading could commence to prevent any contamination of the clay to be loaded. It appears that all of the clay loaded into the Kitty C on Monday 9 September came from the store or was brought in by lorries along the private road from Par which was constructed on the route of the St. Blazey to Fowey railway line in 1968; but where did the clay originate from and why was it not brought by rail – perhaps there is a good reason. No clay trains ran to Carne Point on Monday 9 September but there was one on the 10th and another on the 11th September, both from Goonbarrow.
The ship only took on a part load before sailing very late, about 23.00 hours, on the day it was loaded. This was an hour or two after high water. The Kitty C's journey was short, only lasting a couple of hours before arriving at the Port of Plymouth, and mooring up at Victoria Wharves (about 02.30) which lies between Sutton Harbour and The Cattewater on the east side of the City. Victoria Wharves handle a greater variety of commodities than Fowey but one of the principal ones is china clay. As an aside I was there on the quayside many years ago when china clay in bags was being unloaded from a 12-ton railway box van. The wagon had travelled the enormous distance of just two miles from Marsh Mills dries on the east side of Plymouth. The one great advantage of the railway wagon in such circumstances is that there is no driver agitating to be unloaded asap. What is interesting about the china clay arriving at Victoria Wharves is that it comes from a completely different source, on Dartmoor, and possibly from a different company to that at Fowey The pattern of a ship being loaded with clay partly at Fowey and partly at Plymouth is a regular occurrence. The Kitty C sailed from Plymouth about 21.00 on 10 September for a destination in Spain - not mainland Spain but the port of Ceuta which lies on the south side of the Strait of Gibralter in a small Spanish enclave on mainland Africa. Another ship had sailed from Victoria Wharves to Ceuta some two months earlier – a journey of some six days. You can find the current position of the Kitty C by searching marinetraffic.com.
I have been watching the ships coming and going at Fowey and Plymouth for a couple of months now to try to learn the patterns. Presuming I did not miss any ships, and I was looking twice a day, a total of seven ships arrived at Fowey in July 2024 which was not great, but August was even worse with just two ships arriving. The destinations of the ships leaving Fowey were ports around the Mediterranean or Plymouth and then on to the same ports around the Med. I think that in the past the principal destinations for Cornish clay were the ports in the Baltic, and particularly on the north side of the Baltic where there are vast forests and much paper is made. One wonders how those paper mills are now supplied with china clay ? Is Cornish clay production in a permanent state of decline ?
The Kitty C had come to Fowey to load china clay and would have been meticulously cleaned before loading could commence to prevent any contamination of the clay to be loaded. It appears that all of the clay loaded into the Kitty C on Monday 9 September came from the store or was brought in by lorries along the private road from Par which was constructed on the route of the St. Blazey to Fowey railway line in 1968; but where did the clay originate from and why was it not brought by rail – perhaps there is a good reason. No clay trains ran to Carne Point on Monday 9 September but there was one on the 10th and another on the 11th September, both from Goonbarrow.
The ship only took on a part load before sailing very late, about 23.00 hours, on the day it was loaded. This was an hour or two after high water. The Kitty C's journey was short, only lasting a couple of hours before arriving at the Port of Plymouth, and mooring up at Victoria Wharves (about 02.30) which lies between Sutton Harbour and The Cattewater on the east side of the City. Victoria Wharves handle a greater variety of commodities than Fowey but one of the principal ones is china clay. As an aside I was there on the quayside many years ago when china clay in bags was being unloaded from a 12-ton railway box van. The wagon had travelled the enormous distance of just two miles from Marsh Mills dries on the east side of Plymouth. The one great advantage of the railway wagon in such circumstances is that there is no driver agitating to be unloaded asap. What is interesting about the china clay arriving at Victoria Wharves is that it comes from a completely different source, on Dartmoor, and possibly from a different company to that at Fowey The pattern of a ship being loaded with clay partly at Fowey and partly at Plymouth is a regular occurrence. The Kitty C sailed from Plymouth about 21.00 on 10 September for a destination in Spain - not mainland Spain but the port of Ceuta which lies on the south side of the Strait of Gibralter in a small Spanish enclave on mainland Africa. Another ship had sailed from Victoria Wharves to Ceuta some two months earlier – a journey of some six days. You can find the current position of the Kitty C by searching marinetraffic.com.
I have been watching the ships coming and going at Fowey and Plymouth for a couple of months now to try to learn the patterns. Presuming I did not miss any ships, and I was looking twice a day, a total of seven ships arrived at Fowey in July 2024 which was not great, but August was even worse with just two ships arriving. The destinations of the ships leaving Fowey were ports around the Mediterranean or Plymouth and then on to the same ports around the Med. I think that in the past the principal destinations for Cornish clay were the ports in the Baltic, and particularly on the north side of the Baltic where there are vast forests and much paper is made. One wonders how those paper mills are now supplied with china clay ? Is Cornish clay production in a permanent state of decline ?
The Kitty C is being loaded with clay from the articulated lorry (centre). Note the building centre right where rail wagons are unloaded. Behind this is the transverser which was used to move empty CDA wagons sideways to the adjacent siding - now redunant as the JIA wagons are too long to fit on it. Copyright Jon Hird.
A view of the Port of Fowey looking south showing Fowey and Polruan (top right); the huge china clay store (middle left); and all the conveyors needed to move the clay around. Copyright Jon Hird.
Many thanks Michael - an interesting and thought provoking article. Perhaps it will whet the appetite of readers who may wish to attend our indoor meeting tomorrow evening which will focus around the Cornish clay industry?
For more of Michaels articles, please click here.
For more of Michaels articles, please click here.
Early 1977
Roger Winnen
Part 4 - More Westerns!
05.02.1977 - A Class 50 at St Erth on the 09.30 Paddington to Penzance service. Copyright Roger Winnen
05.02.1977 - D1048 Western Lady at Penzance. Copyright Roger Winnen
05.02.1977 - D1048 Western Lady stabled on Sea Sidings Penzance. Copyright Roger Winnen
05.02.1977 - D1048 Western Lady stabled on Sea Sidings Penzance. Copyright Roger Winnen
05.02.1977 - D1041 Western Prince at Penzance. Copyright Roger Winnen
Thanks Roger - more tomorrow
47's on 'The Beds'
Jon Hird
In late 2004, the FGW Class 57 'invasion' was in full swing, many of First Group's class 47/8's had already gone off-lease, and their duties were being handed over to the newly released 57/6's - 57602, 603, 604 and 605. So on 01.09.2004 when 47811 was booked to work the up 'sleeper', I got myself down to Penzance for a last run behind one. The loco propels the stock out of Long Rock towards Penzance on a sunny evening. Copyright Jon Hird.
47811 burbles away to itself in Platform 4 waiting for its passengers to arrive. There's a Wessex Trains class 153 stabled in the sidings behind it. 01.09.2004, copyright Jon Hird.
The old orange station lights made long exposures a bit tricky in terms of white balance, but the wonders of lightroom mean that nowadays we can easily bring them back to somewhere like where they ought to be. It's approaching departure time and the sun has set. 47811 went off-lease very soon after this date and has been used as a spares donor since by Freightliner and Locomotive Services Limited. It finally met its maker at Booths Rotherham in November 2022. 01.09.2004, copyright Jon Hird.