Repairs

I’ve written before about Meadows and the trow Flora and how he was operating in the Bristol Channel. It seems that most of his cargoes were coal and that the most frequent customer was the Shirehampton Coal Co. in the shape of Thomas Sharpe. There are a lot of communications from both Meadows and Sharpe and in the case of the latter it becomes clear that the relationship could sometimes be a little strained.

However in July of 1894 Thomas Sharpe writes to James Smart; “I see from the Bristol paper the Flora shunted the bridge and is a total wreck for which I am sorry.” He also encloses a cheque in payment of account and asks if another boat can be sent.

So we might conclude that the Flora has come to the end of its working life against the piers of the Severn Railway Bridge, like others had and would. But her story is to continue, for we discover in the account ledger of 1894 between Matthew Gardiner - based in Bourne and the go to guy for all thing boat related - and James Smart that the Flora is in dock for a rebuild.

2018.16/538 - Wilf merrett collection

In the account ledgers for the years of 1891, 1892 and 1894 and it’s not uncommon to see the various boats belonging to Smart return to dock for refurbishment, but as a general rule this is only for three of four days at a time. But we can see how severely the Flora was damaged by the fact that she was in dock for seventeen days.

Besides the materials Matthew Gardiner lists days in dock where the Flora is worked on by specific people or possible companies. These are abbreviated to J.G., W.W. and E. Law. Not knowing who these people were or what they did I’ve assumed that they were working concurrently. There are also one or two items where the spelling is unclear and, not being familiar with the terms I’ve made a “best guess”.

All items are listed in pounds, shillings and old pence.

August 13th 1894 Flora

J.G. 16 days                                                  £3-16-0

W.W. 17 days & ½                                         £4-3-1.1/2

E. Law 17 days & ½                                      £2-12-6

56 feet of 2 inch oak                                    £1-17-4

2 new gunwales                                           £2-3-0

44 feet of 3 inch pitch pine                          £1-2-0

100 feet of 1 inch elm                                   £1-5-0

182 feet of 2 inch pitch pine                        £2-14-0

Piece of oak for scarfing stern                    £0-5-6

8 elm welts for saul windlass                       £0-4-0

New hawser pipe                                          £0-3-0

New oak hanging knee                                 £0-2-6

4 studdle heads                                             £0-4-0

116 feet of 1.1/2 plank                                  £1-9-0

24 feet of ½ inch board                                  £0-2-6

40 feet of 1 inch board                                   £0-7-10

Dock 17 days                                                 £0-17-0

55 lbs of oakum                                             £0-16-0.1/2

53 lbs of nails                                                £0-13-3

13 quarts of linseed oil                                   £0-8-1.1/2

4 gallons of best tar                                        £0-2-8

Captains allowance                                         £0-6-0

New side spar                                                 £0-1-9

120 feet of batting                                           £0-3-0

30 gallons of tar                                              £0-7-6

Long severn shaft                                            £0-3-0

This amounts to just under £27 which seems like quite a lot for the time but it was still much cheaper than the £250 which the new Excelsior had cost in 1891.

I’ve yet to discover anything about the life of the Flora and its crew after this date but if I do, I’ll let you know.