Leonard Bentley
Lambeth Pier
This is a Rotary Photographic Company postcard showing the view from the Lambeth Suspension Bridge looking towards Lambeth Palace and Lambeth Pier on the south bank of the River Thames. It is summer 1906 or 1907 and the London County Council paddle steamer "Colechurch" is taking on passengers before steaming upstream to its next stop. The "Colechurch" was built in Glasgow by the Napier & Miller Company and named "Colechurch" after Peter de Colechurch, the 12th century priest who started the construction of the first stone London Bridge. In the summer of 1907 the steamer was involved in the sinking of the dumb barge "George". Apparently the steam tug "Margaret" was towing a number of barges downstream, as it entered the pool of London the "Colechurch" and another LCC boat passed the barges at high speed on either side. The resulting wash swamped the "George" and it sank together with its cargo of Beer barrels. Mr. Justice Bicknill in the Admiralty Division of the High Court found for the owners of the barge and fined the LCC together with costs. The LCC service ceased operating in 1907 and the "Colechurch" together with all the other boats was sold at auction in 1909, she was sold for £500.00 to an Italian Company who used her for services on Lake Lugano and renamed her "Lombardia". As there is no sea access to the northern Italian Lake, she steamed to Genoa and was dismantled and transported overland to Lake Lugano. She was withdrawn from service in 1921 and broken up at Lugano in 1925.
Lambeth Pier
This is a Rotary Photographic Company postcard showing the view from the Lambeth Suspension Bridge looking towards Lambeth Palace and Lambeth Pier on the south bank of the River Thames. It is summer 1906 or 1907 and the London County Council paddle steamer "Colechurch" is taking on passengers before steaming upstream to its next stop. The "Colechurch" was built in Glasgow by the Napier & Miller Company and named "Colechurch" after Peter de Colechurch, the 12th century priest who started the construction of the first stone London Bridge. In the summer of 1907 the steamer was involved in the sinking of the dumb barge "George". Apparently the steam tug "Margaret" was towing a number of barges downstream, as it entered the pool of London the "Colechurch" and another LCC boat passed the barges at high speed on either side. The resulting wash swamped the "George" and it sank together with its cargo of Beer barrels. Mr. Justice Bicknill in the Admiralty Division of the High Court found for the owners of the barge and fined the LCC together with costs. The LCC service ceased operating in 1907 and the "Colechurch" together with all the other boats was sold at auction in 1909, she was sold for £500.00 to an Italian Company who used her for services on Lake Lugano and renamed her "Lombardia". As there is no sea access to the northern Italian Lake, she steamed to Genoa and was dismantled and transported overland to Lake Lugano. She was withdrawn from service in 1921 and broken up at Lugano in 1925.