A unique Edwardian boat, the only surviving steam-powered tug-tender, will be restored to full working condition with a £3.8m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, 11 years after it was saved from the scrapyard when a group of enthusiasts bought it for just £1.
The Daniel Adamson had a working life of almost a century, kept in service by its unusually elegant lines and an improbably sumptuous interior fitted in the 1930s.
After restoration work the plan is to return the vessel to service in 2016, when it will once again carry passengers on the Mersey, and the Manchester Ship Canal.
Almost 100,000 hours of volunteer labour have kept decay at bay since the Daniel Adamson Preservation Society was formed in 2004 to save the vessel, but the boat will now be towed to dry dock for complete restoration.
Dan Cross, a tug skipper who led the campaign to save the vessel from the scrapyard, said he was thrilled at the news of the grant, for what he described as a national maritime treasure: “This wonderful ship occupies a unique place as part of the UK’s national historic fleet. This huge vote of support also acknowledges the massive effort put in by literally hundreds of volunteers and supporters over the last 11 years, without which the vessel would have been consigned to history years ago.”
The Daniel Adamson was one of three boats built in 1903 as steam-powered tug-tenders for the Shropshire Union canal. Then called the Ralph Brocklebank, it carried passengers and towed barges between Ellesmere Port and Liverpool.
In 1936, by then owned by the Manchester Ship Canal, it was refitted in art deco style, with a sumptuous boardroom in mahogany, brass, cut glass and leather. The elegant working vessel became a miniature version of the glamorous ocean liners of the day, and so was used for corporate hospitality too.
The vessel finally came out of service and was laid up at Ellesmere port in 1986, and in 2004, after years of decay and attacks by vandals, was on the point of being scrapped by the owners. Instead the enthusiasts bought the tug for £1 – which has proved a rather expensive bargain over years of unpaid labour and endless fundraising.
