Leeds & Liverpool Steam Dredger

Working the Waterways: NarrowBoat, Summer 2023

Christopher M Jones

Chris M. Jones studies an 1890s article about a steam dredger on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal

Christopher M. Jones Collection The image as shown in The Engineer of 26th April 1895 showing dredger No 8, registered 219 at Wigan the previous year. The Engineer magazine of 26th April 1895 contains an article and photograph about a steam grab dredger built for the Leeds & Liverpool Canal Co. It was noted as the second built for the company under Mr Cockburn’s patent and was supplied by the firm of Cockburn & Montgomery, mechanical engineers of 50 Queen Anne’s Gate, Westminster, London SW. It appears that a number of improvements were made to the original design at the suggestion of Robert Henry White, deputy engineer of the Leeds & Liverpool under Charles White, engineer and estate manager. The results were deemed so successful that the canal company placed a further order for another three. At the working end, the grab had a capacity of 15 cubic feet and was suspended in a universal joint or gimble from a radial arm. It was opened and closed using pr…