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Graham W

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About Graham W

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  1. Quite a few people I've spoken to can remember Thornton's being on Archer Road, but no one call recall them being on Stalker Lees Road, I've walked up and down the road and there in no sign of where the chocolate factory once was, although their website say it was there. I'd like someone to give a hint as to where the factory was.
  2. Thank you for that. However according to Thornton's publicity it was on Stalker Lees in the 1930's. I just wondered if anyone had any memories of it, or knew where it was exactly on Stalker Lees.
  3. Does anyone have any memories or remember where the Thornton's chocolate factory was on Stalker Lees Road
  4. Coal & coke was delivered by barges to Blackburn Meadows Power Station, the old 'Ethel' barge being one of them used. When Blackburn Meadows closed all that remained was the twin Tinsley Towers which stood there for a further 30 years after the power station ceased to exist. Apparently Blackburn Meadows also had its own standard gauge steam railway for moving the coal around the site.
  5. I do remember Henry, I remember Mike going over to Thorne to get him onboard 'Ethel', when we were just starting out. He was the best skipper we had while I was there. When 'Ethel' was new it was displayed at the Victoria Quays Festival, and Henry was the skipper then. I also remember Ashanti Gold, and Adam's Ark which was at Doncaster.
  6. Hi, I know I am a long time in posting, it is because I have only just seen this debate. I worked for the Ethel Trust Community Barge from 1989 to 2000. The Trust was founded a year before I joined. At that time it was a part of the Probation Service in Sheffield. They had acquired the old Humber keel ‘Ethel’ from Family & Community Services, who used it for day trips. Before that it was a working barge and delivered coke to Blackburn Meadows. It was thought that by renovating ‘Ethel’ to its former glory by supervised young Probation clients it would deter these young people from reoffending by giving them something useful to do and teaching them new skills. However, after surveys of the keel it was found impractical to renovate, quite frankly the keel and hull were rotten and falling to bits, so it was broken up at the Canal Basin, and taken away, none of it remains. The original Trustees and staff, myself included, were not put off by this and launched an ambitious project to have built a new barge capitalizing on experience gained on trying to save the original ‘Ethel’. This had the backing of the Probation Service to begin with but they soon changed their minds when they saw what was involved, so the Trustees had to go it alone. In fact for a long time there was only one trustee (Mike Glover), myself and Hannah, who typed most of the begging letters. At first the Trust moved to an office at West Bar to raise funds, then to save money it was moved to the attic of my house. The services of Garston Marine Ltd at Wallasey were sort to design a new barge for us and costed, and also the object of the Trust were changed to provide a barge with access for wheelchair users and people with disabilities. The cost of this would be £110,000 (£205,000 at today’s value at 2.5% inflation over 25 years). Mike and I made several trips to Wallasey to witness the progress of the construction of the new ‘Ethel’ which was made in 3 stages. ‘Ethel’ was finally fitted out and completed in 1993 and was brought by road haulage to Goole, where she was craned into the canal close to where the Sobriety Project has its headquarters. Without the dedication of Mike Glover, Hannah Mottershaw and myself there would be no ‘Ethel Trust Community Barge today plying its way to and fro along the South Yorkshire Navigation providing day trips and exciting residential trips for all the community groups that use her. Cheers, Graham Woodward
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