Motor Vessel "MV Blisworth"

Why would anyone want to name a ship after a small Northampshire village which has a contact with the open sea only by a Canal capable of passing narrow boats and the odd barge?  It turns out that two boats named Blisworth, one operated from 1940 to 1955 out of Hull and the other from 1957 onwards probably out of Regent's Lock, were both owned by the Grand Union Shipping Company.  Remembering that the village of Blisworth was once an important inland port for all sorts of goods arriving for the Midlands, prior to the advent of railways, some senior managers within the Grand Union Canal Carrying Company must have decided that their ships should recall that early 19th century history.

The trail began in one of those Google searches one does and it came up with two items which led to others.  One was a forum site for the town of Goole, a canal port on the River Humber in Yorkshire, in which two correspondents in early 2008, pen names Pedro and Hamish, discussed old times.  This Hamish recalled working on the Blisworth.  This is an extract of what he said - "Greetings Pedro, I was on the Beeding in 53 and again in 55, I guess you are aware of her history?  She came to a sorry end in the Med after hitting an "underwater" object.  Talking about old ships, my first trip to sea was on the Blisworth, built in 1902 as the Kathleen.  I joined her right out of sea school - at the dock across the road from the "Melodies" (in Goole).   She was on the scrap iron run to Kiel (c1946 - picking up broken down U-boats and other German stuff and, I believe dumping much valuable iron in the North Sea) at the time and we did about four trips and then took off tramping around the coast, all in all a great little ship even if we did live forrad.  She was sold on and became the Holdernidd (with Kettlewell Company Ltd., Goole) and I left her not too long after her sale.  Living forrad had its disadvantages.  I had to use the same system to get aft - wait till she was coming up for air, take your life in your hands and leg it for the mid-ships then many times stood my trick at the wheel, wet!   In the very forward AB's cabin on the Blisworth the top bunk only had half a pillow as the rest of the space was taken up by the Hawes Pipe - imagine being the 'watch below' when some silly mate let the anchor go!"  We posted a call for Hamish or anyone else on the forum to come back and tell us more about the ship, a picture of which (see inset) was kindly supplied by Brian Pritchard and taken of the ship after renaming to Holdernidd.  The other Google find was of some records of the Hall Russell Company of Aberdeen, shipbuilders.  There are some 9 photographs dated 1957 of MV Blisworth in an Aberdeen library whose staff were unwilling to let us post any of them.  There being as many as nine photos demonstrates they were taken by the ship-builder after launch and naming.  The ship was built for the Grand Union Company (London) Ltd. - an entirely new build in 1957.  Thus there were two Blisworth vessels, but not extant simultaneously.  The earlier one was sold and renamed some time before 1953 according to Hamish and the other, in 1957, was born to take its name and presumably its place in the fleet.  The younger ship was a good size - 1031 tons.  We have no idea what the ship was used for but a 'colliery' transporter would be a reasonable guess. 

Here is a brief story of the operating company with its proper name Grand Union (Shipping) Ltd:   In the 1920s, the Regents Canal Co. along with a few other canal companies amalgamated to form the Grand Union Canal Company.  In 1936 the Grand Union formed its own subsidiaries, the Grand Union (Shipping) Ltd., to operate ships from London, the Grand Union (Stevedoring and Wharfage) Co. Ltd., to service the ships.  It was probably during the 1930s that "Kathleen" was acquired and renamed Blisworth and this was clearly the ship that Hamish sailed on.  By 1945 the company owned five ships plying backwards and forwards to the continent.  It was also concerned with shipping from ports on the east coast of the British Isles.  The Grand Union Company was nationalised in 1948 when it became the British Transport Commission.  The profitable Grand Union (Shipping) Ltd. was soon afterwards sold for £180,000.  It had operated the Regents Line which made use of a broadened canal connecting the Grand Union Canal to the docks of the Thames, specifically the Regents Canal Dock, and provided shipping from Teesside and perhaps other east coast ports to the canal network via London.  From the forum remarks it seems plausible that the Regents Line also serviced the inland canal network at Goole.

A kind librarian at the Hull Central Reference library helped by consulting Lloyds Register and discovered that Kathleen was indeed renamed Blisworth in 1940 when acquired by the Grand Union Shipping Company.  By 1950 it is sold to Holderness S. S. Co. Ltd (ie. Kettlewells).  This old ship was finally scrapped in 1955*.    A seven year gap before the next Blisworth is acquired by the Grand Union Company is odd but there is no doubt; the new MV Blisworth was commissioned in 1957 to either join this fleet or replace one of the elderly carriers.  In the 1957  picture of the ship (see inset here) there is evidently a long wheelbase Land-Rover, or similar, on its port deck.  That would be analogous to the ubiquitous 'bike on the narrow boat roof ', no doubt.   The ship was kept on in the fleet until 1968 when it was transferred to the General Steam Navigation Co. Ltd. and later was taken on by Lana Maritime and registered in Beirut, no doubt a "port of convenience".  This picture was available on website www.simplonpc.co.uk.

*Lloyds Register data:  Launched April, 1902 Original name: Kathleen: Master: J. T. Paysden. Reg No. 113519. Built by Ailsa S. B. Co. Ltd. of Ayr. Steel-built three master with three-cylinder, triple-expansion steam engine by Ross & Duncan, Glasgow, mounted aft. single steel well deck. Total tonnage- 738. Owned by J. Milligen & Co. Ltd. of Belfast. Length- 300 ft. Breadth- 30.4 ft. Depth- 12 ft. Source: Lloyd's register 1904.  1940- renamed Blisworth. Owned by Grand Union (Shipping) Ltd. of Hull. Source: LR 1949.  1950- renamed Holdernidd. Owned by Holderness S. S. Co. Ltd. Source: LR 1955.  1955- final entry in Lloyd's register.  The clydesite.co.uk website indicates the ship was broken up and scrapped at Gateshead 13 January 1956.

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Naturally we thought it wise to see where else the name of our village might have been used.  So far there has been discovered only a 'Blisworth County' in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.  A chat with some librarians there revealed that some neighbouring names were Pinner and Stratford suggesting some architect or planner opened a map of England on the internet and used his mouse as one would use a pin.  They would have needed dozens of names in a massive expansion of Las Vegas in the 1980s and 1990s.  By the way, 'Blis' and 'Blyth' as parts of place names come up quite frequently in England.

James Payler and Tony Marsh                                  April 2009