Traffic through Thames Lock

One of the last of R.G. Odell Ltd’s tugs, Oxford, ascends foam-covered Thames Lock 1 on the Wey Navigation in June 1962, two years before Harry Stevens gave the navigation to the National Trust in 1964. The man on the far right is lock-keeper Mr Edwards who died in 1978. Oxford was built as Brons in 1928 by Rowhedge Ironworks Co Ltd of Rowhedge on the tidal River Colne near Colchester. It was 34ft 2in long and 8ft 4in beam with a draught of 3ft 3in. Its first owner was the Thames Steam Tug & Lighterage Co Ltd of London, and it was fitted with a 30bhp Brons diesel engine. In 1955 it was sold to R.G. Odell Ltd of Walton Bridge, Shepperton, and was renamed Oxford. As well as lightermen, Odell’s was also a tug- and barge-builder and dredging contractor at the time this image was taken, with its barge-building yard at Albion Wharf, Battersea, and a base at Lambeth Pier. Its tugs had a black funnel with a blue letter ‘O’ on a broad white band. Oxford was sold to Saunders Marine in 1972.

One of Stevens’ barges is waiting to load grain in King George V Docks, London, in June 1957. Its large tiller and rudder are particularly noticeable here, while the Thames barge alongside has been motorised and fitted with a wheelhouse. In order for such a large rudder blade to fit in a lock on the River Wey, it was hinged to the rudder post and held in place by a large iron pin resting in two eyes on the side of the rudder’s ironwork, which corresponded with two eyes on the rudder post. When the pin is lifted out, the rudder blade can be swung against the stern to avoid fouling lock gates and cills, then once clear it was swung back and the pin inserted to make the rudder blade and post rigid again. The number 1393, as painted on all of Stevens’ barges, was the firm’s Thames Watermans’ Hall register number.

Coxes Lock Mill at Addlestone was just over 1½ miles from the River Thames with just two locks to work: Thames Lock and Weybridge Lock. During the 19th century, several different millers – such as James & Stephen Murrell, then later William Henry Slade & Co – were in operation. Then, from the latter years of the 19th century, the flour millers Coxes Lock Milling Co Ltd took over with a rail connection to the London & South Western Railway – Weybridge & Virginia Water Line – and its tenure lasted into the 1960s. William Stevens did most of the hauling for the mill with his own fleet of barges carrying wheat, maize, oats and barley, although after World War II it was all wheat, mainly from North America. Unloading was done using an external suction pipe under a lucarne, or large weatherboarded structure fixed to the exterior wall, a common feature on mills and warehouses. In this image, several barges are positioned under one with a wider skirt at the bottom to cover the whole width of the barge for better unloading in poor weather. At the old mill next to Coxes Lock on the left, backloads of flour of 70 to 80 tons were loaded via a chute from a gangway cantilevered over the water. The barges were loaded end-on, so once one end was down in the water, they were winded and loaded from the other end. From there, the flour was taken to Winchester Wharves at Clink Street near London Bridge, run by H.R. Perry & Son Ltd on the South Bank, which specialised in storing bagged cargoes of flour.

A steerer’s eye view of the upstream voyage from London Docks to the River Wey behind a tug in the early 1960s. Not only were they heavily laden but travelling at some speed, judging by the bow-wave. It’s interesting to note the substantial tow rope laid on the hatches and the anchor and chain on the bow deck ready for use, if needed. Like a number of images showing boating in the post-war era, the steerer is wearing army surplus gear. The last barges to Coxes Mill were Stevens’ Speedwell and Perseverance which landed their loads of wheat on 9th and 10th July 1969. That year the grain terminal was moved downstream to Tilbury. Harry Stevens retired and his barges were sold; he died in January 1970.