Volume Eight - Pre-Victorian to the present day - more aspects - To dredge the River Ely - 1860's

Then followed a Memorandum of the Agreement written in a floury hand with a variety of errors. You can almost visualise the clerk writing away on his high Dickensian desk, blotting paper at hand, dipping his quill into the ink well, moustache twitching and him biting his tongue as he concentrates on the correct spelling of the words. No Tippex allowed then you know, just a good thrashing when you got it wrong!

Mr. Mitchell's Powerful Dredging Machine

You may recall that as Smith & Knight prevented Mr. Hardie from completing his contract with the Penarth Company by removing their dredger from Penarth, Mr. Mitchell of Newport was building a new powerful dredging machine as per his letter to the Board in June 1860 offering his services to complete the contract on behalf of Mr. Hardie.

I was interested to find out more about this 'Dredging Boat' or 'Powerful Dredging Machine' as it was referred too. Help came from the kind staff and volunteers at the Cornish Maritime Museum of Falmouth who researched the matter on my behalf and to my complete surprise not only found an image of the dredger but also a brief history within a book written by David Barnicoat entitled 'Sailing Ship to Super Liner - Falmouth Docks 1860 - 2010'. [323] Mr. Barnicoat, in 2010, was the port's longest serving pilot and that is no mean achievement in itself! Thank you to all concerned.