|
(above)
Thomas Richard
Wadhams pictured on the stern of his Thames sailing barge, "Viola",
moored in Hammersmith Creek, London, circa 1900. The mooring was owned
by Sankey & Co., a prominent local firm of builders' merchants, adjacent to
their Hammersmith depot. Thames barges were used extensively up and down the
Essex and Kent coasts to carry bulk materials prior to the age of mechanised
road transport.
The "Viola", registered number 110980, was built
for Sankeys in 1900 at Strood, Kent, and had a cargo capacity of 38 tons.
She was sold to Harold Andrews in 1926 and eventually broken up at
Queensborough, Kent, in 1939.
(Photo
courtesy T.Wadhams) |
