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HISTORY
P WARREN
Length 18 metres ( 59 feet )
Beam 4.45 metres ( 14.6 feet )
Displacement 30 Tonnes
Susan
was built in 1953 for Brown & Son, Timber Merchants of Chelmsford. She is the only surviving wooden lighter purpose built for the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. Her design is similar to that of the earlier horse drawn lighters which worked on the Navigation from 1797 until 1959. These lighters were of a totally different design to those found elsewhere on the canal system. The design is apparently based on that of lighters which were already in use on the Blackwater estuary from medieval times. The lineage of this vessel is historic and totally unique.
The Navigation is very shallow having a depth of only 1.22 metres ( 4 feet ). All boats using the Navigation must therefore have a shallow draft and because of this the bottom of
Susan
is completely flat and even the main keel ( keelson ) is inside the hull. The propeller is housed in a tunnel built into the hull to ensure that it does not protrude below the bottom of the boat. Twin rudders are provided, one each side of the propeller tunnel.
Susan
is the first and only wooden lighter on the Navigation to be fitted with an engine.
Richard Coates, the Resident Engineer for the construction of the Navigation, founded a coal and timber business at Springfield Basin in Chelmsford. This later became Brown and Son.
Susan
was built for Brown and Son, Timber Merchants of Chelmsford, by R & J Prior of Burnham-on-Crouch in 1953. As such she forms a unique link with the working days of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation.
Susan
worked between Chelmsford and Heybridge Basin until 1972 when all commercial traffic on the Navigation ceased. In the late 1950s
Susan
was joined by 4 steel motor lighters fitted with Harbourmaster outboard engines. These replaced the remaining horse drawn lighters, the last of which was scrapped in 1959. One steel lighter, Julie, now survives and she has been restored by the Inland Waterways Association to work as a maintenance vessel, thus ensuring her future.
In 1972 the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation Company aquired
Susan
for maintenance work and for the directors annual inspection of the Navigation. In the mid 1970s the Thornycroft engine was removed and offered for sale,
In 1976 the Chelmsford Branch of the Inland Waterways Association purchased
Susan
from the Navigation Company
to prevent her from being broken up.
In 1979 the Chelmer Lighter Preservation Society was formed to purchase
Susan
and restore her to working order. The society purchased
Susan
and then held regular working parties to carry out maintenance and restoration work. The local sub-aqua group also helped by repairing under water leaks. After a year or two of fund raising, mainly by selling life memberships, enough money was raised to buy back the original Thornycroft engine from the Navigation Company.
Susan
was pulled manually from the coal wharf at Little Baddow to Paper Mill Lock where the engine was re-installed. The Chelmer Lighter Preservation Society restored
Susan
to full working order in 1981 and operated her on the Navigation until 1984.
In 1984,
Susan's
main keelson and other structural timbers were in need of replacement. The cost of replacing these was beyond the scope of a small group of enthusiasts and so the Chelmer Lighter Preservation Society reluctantly transferred the ownership of
Susan
to the Passmore Edwards Museum in the London Borough of Newham, who, with assistance from Essex County Council paid for her to be restored by Walter Cookes of Maldon. Following restoration
,
Susan was moored on the salt flats at Maldon.
In 1991 the Passmore Edwards Museum donated
Susan to Chelmsford Museums. She was brought up the Navigation to moorings at Sandford Mill which has remained her home base ever since.
Susan
is an impressive exhibit at Chelmsford Borough Council's Industrial Museum and Science Education Centre at Sandford Mill.
In 1993
Susan
's hull was re-caulked and re-tarred by Holt and James at Heybridge with the aid of a Science Museum grant. The Chelmer Lighter Preservation Society continued conservation of the topsides ( replacement of rotten timbers and treatment with preservatives and paint ), bilge cleaning and engine maintenance. Major replacements to inwhales and cappings were undertaken in 2002 when the hull was again re-tarred inside and out.
Operating in the fresh water of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation has resulted in a gribble attack on the underwater timbers and this has weakened the hull which has in turn increased the amount of water leaking into it. At the end of 2002 it was agreed that the operation of
Susan
should be suspended. The Thornycroft engine was removed and placed on display in the Industrial Museum to protect it from possible damage.
In 2003,
Susan
was placed on the National Register of Historic Ships published by the National Historic Ships Committee (NHSC). The aim of the NHSC is to secure the long term preservation of a sample of ships to reflect the UK's maritime history.
In 2005, The Susan Trust was formed and in 2006, Chelmsford Borough Council donated
Susan
to The Susan Trust together with a grant of £25,000 to start the fundraising for restoration.
SUSAN's OWNERS
• 1953 - 1972 Brown & Son, Timber Merchants of Chelmsford
• 1972 - 1976 Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation Company
• 1976 - 1979 Inland Waterways Association ( Chelmsford Branch )
• 1979 - 1984 Chelmer Lighter Preservation Society
• 1984 - 1991 Passmore Edwards Museum in Newham ( previously West Ham )
• 1991 - 2006 Chelmsford Museums Service
• 2006 »»» The Susan Trust