The Queen’s Barge

I was very interested to see the design for the barge which will be used by the Queen to travel down the Thames during the Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

When Queen Victoria visited north-west England in 1851, she and Prince Albert travelled along the Bridgewater Canal from Patricroft station to Worsley Hall to pay a visit to the earl of Ellesmere. The Earl had two imposing state barges fitted up to carry her Majesty and her retinue during her visit to Worsley. The stern of each boat was decorated with the earl of Ellesmere’s coat of arms. The queen’s boat was painted white with gold mouldings, and was upholstered inside with crimson satin.
There was intense excitement locally, but it was all too much for the canal horses. The Times reported that the horses received special training: ‘…in order that they may not be frightened at the shouts they are destined to hear.’ This was a necessary precaution because: ‘…when the horses were first tried they jumped into the canal.’ (Times, 8 October 1851.)

You can still see the Duke of Bridgewater's Boat House at Worsley today.

Image: The state barges on the Bridgewater Canal used during Queen Victoria’s visit to Worsley. Illustrated London News, 18 October 1851.

Great British Railway Journeys

Unfortunately I only managed to catch a few minutes of Michael Portillo's Great British Railway Journeys (BBC2) tonight, which is a shame as there was some smashing archive footage of the underground network of canals in the Duke of Bridgewater 's mines at Worsley. In Narrow Windows, Narrow Lives, I covered a lot of the territory Mr Portillo will be visiting in his series. The Duke of Bridgewater's success with his novel canal linking Manchester and Worsley inspired a huge growth in canal building, although Cheshire rather lagged behind; the county's canal network was still being completed in Regency Cheshire . I will look out for the first programme again when it is repeated.

Image: Worsley Basin and ‘starvationer' boats,
Lives of the Engineers: Brindley and the Early Engineers, Samuel Smiles, (John Murray, 1874.)