The Wrecks of the Arkendale H and Wastdale H
The Disaster
On the evening of 25th October 1960 a number of barges were making their way up river from Avonmouth to Sharpness. Amongst them were two vessels operated by John Harker Ltd. of Knottingley, Yorkshire. The WASTDALE H had been built locally at Sharpness Shipyard in 1951. She was a tanker barge and was carrying a load of petroleum. The ARKENDALE H had been built by Richards Ironworks of Lowestoft in 1937 as a dumb (unpowered) tanker barge. She had been converted to a motor barge in 1948 and was later lengthened. Her cargo was Britoleum black oil, a heavy oil which required her to be fitted with heating coils in her tanks to keep the oil liquid.
The barges hit thick fog near Berkeley Power Station and the strong incoming tide was running at 5 knots making it difficult to manoeuvre the vessels for their approach to the lock at Sharpness. Both barges were swept past the lock entrance and the found themselves by the old, disused dock entrance further upstream. The two barges came abreast and the skippers found it impossible to separate them. Whilst they struggled to break them apart they drifted yet further upstream until the port bow of the WASTDALE H hit pier 17 of the bridge. The bridge shook with the impact and the WASTDALE H turned onto her port side and began to sink. As pier 17 gave way under the pressure the two spans it supported fell onto the barges causing the WASTDALE H’s petroleum cargo to ignite and explode. The ARKENDALE H’s cargo of black oil was also ruptured and with the help of the petroleum it too ignited leaving the entire expanse of the river blazing. The two barges drifted on up river before grounding on the Ridge Sandbank. Skipper George Thompson of the ARKENDALE H managed to make it ashore. His engineer Jack Cooper also survived but not before he received a severe back injury sustained by an encounter with the still-rotating propeller of the sinking ARKENDALE H. Skipper James Dew of the WASTDALE H was the only other survivor. The other five crew members were missing.
The next morning the smouldering wrecks of the two barges were left high and dry on the sand with the WASTDALE H standing on her port side. On the following tide she settled back to en even keel. Attempts were made to pump out and search both vessels for the missing crew members but their inaccessible position made the job difficult. All five bodies were later found at various locations along the Severn. On 30th October 1960 the Army blew holes in the bow and stern of both barges to prevent them refloating. They remain there to this day, submerged at high tide and exposed at low tide.
On the night of the disaster the Fairfields workers engaged on the strengthening of the bridge decided to take an early meal break in order to listen to the Henry Cooper v Karl Muller boxing match on the wireless at Severn Bridge Station. Had they not done so the death toll would have been considerably worse as the span they were working on was one of the two that fell.
Within a month of the disaster the Western Region of British Railways had prepared an outline plan to repair the bridge. Pier 16 would be repaired and a new concrete pier would be constructed to replace pier 17. A single, welded mild steel span would then be placed across the top, supported in the middle by the new pier. The projected cost for this was £85,000.
It was found that pier 16 was significantly damaged and was leaning towards the Sharpness bank. It was therefore decided to erect a timber trestle beneath span 15-16 and the contract to do this was awarded to Peter Lind & Co. Ltd.
The bridge suffered further mishap on 17th February 1961 when the tanker barge BP EXPLORER capsized and struck pier 20 causing a further £12,740 worth of damage.
Peter Lind & Co. Ltd. hired the twin floating crane TWEEDLEDUM & TWEEDLEDEE to assist with the erection of the trestle. On the 14th April 1961 the TWEEDLEDUM & TWEEDLEDEE broke away from its moorings on a flood tide and drifted into the bridge damaging the dolphins on pier 20. The crane jib also struck the underside of the bridge. This time the damage was estimated at £6,000."
The Wrecks of the Arkendale H and Wastdale H
The Disaster
On the evening of 25th October 1960 a number of barges were making their way up river from Avonmouth to Sharpness. Amongst them were two vessels operated by John Harker Ltd. of Knottingley, Yorkshire. The WASTDALE H had been built locally at Sharpness Shipyard in 1951. She was a tanker barge and was carrying a load of petroleum. The ARKENDALE H had been built by Richards Ironworks of Lowestoft in 1937 as a dumb (unpowered) tanker barge. She had been converted to a motor barge in 1948 and was later lengthened. Her cargo was Britoleum black oil, a heavy oil which required her to be fitted with heating coils in her tanks to keep the oil liquid.
The barges hit thick fog near Berkeley Power Station and the strong incoming tide was running at 5 knots making it difficult to manoeuvre the vessels for their approach to the lock at Sharpness. Both barges were swept past the lock entrance and the found themselves by the old, disused dock entrance further upstream. The two barges came abreast and the skippers found it impossible to separate them. Whilst they struggled to break them apart they drifted yet further upstream until the port bow of the WASTDALE H hit pier 17 of the bridge. The bridge shook with the impact and the WASTDALE H turned onto her port side and began to sink. As pier 17 gave way under the pressure the two spans it supported fell onto the barges causing the WASTDALE H’s petroleum cargo to ignite and explode. The ARKENDALE H’s cargo of black oil was also ruptured and with the help of the petroleum it too ignited leaving the entire expanse of the river blazing. The two barges drifted on up river before grounding on the Ridge Sandbank. Skipper George Thompson of the ARKENDALE H managed to make it ashore. His engineer Jack Cooper also survived but not before he received a severe back injury sustained by an encounter with the still-rotating propeller of the sinking ARKENDALE H. Skipper James Dew of the WASTDALE H was the only other survivor. The other five crew members were missing.
The next morning the smouldering wrecks of the two barges were left high and dry on the sand with the WASTDALE H standing on her port side. On the following tide she settled back to en even keel. Attempts were made to pump out and search both vessels for the missing crew members but their inaccessible position made the job difficult. All five bodies were later found at various locations along the Severn. On 30th October 1960 the Army blew holes in the bow and stern of both barges to prevent them refloating. They remain there to this day, submerged at high tide and exposed at low tide.
On the night of the disaster the Fairfields workers engaged on the strengthening of the bridge decided to take an early meal break in order to listen to the Henry Cooper v Karl Muller boxing match on the wireless at Severn Bridge Station. Had they not done so the death toll would have been considerably worse as the span they were working on was one of the two that fell.
Within a month of the disaster the Western Region of British Railways had prepared an outline plan to repair the bridge. Pier 16 would be repaired and a new concrete pier would be constructed to replace pier 17. A single, welded mild steel span would then be placed across the top, supported in the middle by the new pier. The projected cost for this was £85,000.
It was found that pier 16 was significantly damaged and was leaning towards the Sharpness bank. It was therefore decided to erect a timber trestle beneath span 15-16 and the contract to do this was awarded to Peter Lind & Co. Ltd.
The bridge suffered further mishap on 17th February 1961 when the tanker barge BP EXPLORER capsized and struck pier 20 causing a further £12,740 worth of damage.
Peter Lind & Co. Ltd. hired the twin floating crane TWEEDLEDUM & TWEEDLEDEE to assist with the erection of the trestle. On the 14th April 1961 the TWEEDLEDUM & TWEEDLEDEE broke away from its moorings on a flood tide and drifted into the bridge damaging the dolphins on pier 20. The crane jib also struck the underside of the bridge. This time the damage was estimated at £6,000."