End of the line?

The steam tug Cervia is currently part of the Ramsgate Maritime Museum collection. She was built in 1946 and is the last sea going steam tug in UK waters and the last to work commercially, being in operation until 1983.

However, despite restoration works a few years ago the tug is in poor shape below the waterline and resources are not available for the repairs required. Lottery bids have been drawn up but as the Council cannot match the funding bid nor give a long term commitment it is now likely that the tug will be broken down and parts sold off.

The only hope is that someone will be able to purchase the tug, apparently for a nominal sum, and offer it a new home. However, if this does not happen by mid September it seems the tug will die.

Little Malvern Toll House

No longer at Little Malvern this is one of the rescued buildings rebuilt at Avoncroft museum. It was originally built and owned by the Upton upon Severn Turnpike Trust. Turnpike Trusts were established by Act of Parliament and were responsible for upkeep of roads. To fund their work they were allowed to charge road tolls, which were collected at tollgates. Trusts usually subcontracted this to individuals who, in return for a yearly rent, were allowed to keep the tolls they collected. Travellers tended to hate the toll system as they saw little improvement in the quality of the roads and often had long waits at the gates. 

Quaint as the building looks today it was basically a one up one down affair with a scullery area and an outside loo in a wooden hut. Times have improved!

National Telephone Kiosk Museum

Sometimes you come across the unexpected at museums. Having stopped over at Redditch for the Midland Air Festival (see the In Reach Blog) we had some time to spare the next day before heading home so decided to call in at the nearby Avonscroft Museum which houses a collection of relocated buildings of historical importance that would likely have been lost to developers. Before we had really even started looking around we noticed a sign to a collection of telephone kiosks and went for a quick look. We ended up chatting with a former BT engineer who had previously worked at Brooklands museum and found that Avonscroft holds the National Collection of phone kiosks representing at least one of every box that has been in use since 1912, a number of roadside boxes and a working exchange which is connected to all of the individual phones so, yes, they all work.

If like me you are of a certain age you will remember many of these boxes so it was a little nostalgia trip as well as being interesting, as was the exchange which was demonstrated to us by the nice chap at the museum. Sparing no expense we were also given a souvenir post card of the Queen launching direct long distance calling back in 1958. At least that happened before I was born!