The Packet-boat 'Duchess Countess'

 

Mr Mackey, the quiet recluse, with friend on the bank of the Llangollen Canal in September 1951.

(M.Grundy)

The Packet-boat 'Duchess Countess' was built for the Bridgewater Canal, Manchester at the beginning of the 19th Century. She may well have replaced an earlier packet-boat built soon after the opening of the Bridgewater Canal in 1761. Passenger carrying was added to the Duke of Bridgewater's own cargo freight operations. The first-class patrons had the luxury of a heated and carpeted cabin, with "tea and cakes . . . elegantly served in the afternoon". The second class passengers had to make do with bare boards.

The 'Duchess Countess' measured 72ft long with a 6ft 61/2ins beam. She continued in service as a passenger packet-boat until 1868, by which time she had included cargoes of parcels, poultry and even cattle. Rings for tying up cattle were still in place in the 1950s. The 'Duchess Countess' remained in passenger and light cargo service until the middle of the First World War. She claims the honour of being the last horse-drawn packet-boat in regular service on British canals. The 'Duchess Countess' was sunk for a number of years until rescued by a Mr H Mackey, a retired seaman, who lifted and fitted her out as a retirement home. She was now more than 130 years old. Mr Mackey towed the former passenger boat by mule along the Shropshire Union Canal and moored at Welsh Frankton, where he became a recluse.

 
'Duchess Countess' Moored on the Montgomery
As very little maintenance was done, by the end of the war the 'Duchess Countess' was in a very poor state. During the summer of 1945 she is recorded as having been moored half way up the Frankton Locks, outside Beech's Dry Dock. In the late summer of 1945 or early spring of 1946, 'Duchess Countess' worked her way up the Frankton Locks and must have been the last boat to have done so. She is recorded to have been out of the water and on the far bank of the Llangollen Canal by the summer of 1946. The Curator of British Transport Commission, Relics Collection arranged for accurate measurements of the vessel to be taken and architect's plans made before she was finally broken up and burnt. In view of her age (now over 150 years old), the possibility of renovating this historic packet-boat was looked into but she was considered to be in far too bad a state for preservation.

The photo. taken from the Llangollen Canal towpath. Packet-boat 'Duchess Countess' on the bank, a couple of hundred metres above the first bridge.. High and dry but still being used as a house-boat. It was here that she was measured and drawings made prior to her being broken up. For those who saw the 'Duchess Countess, this is the view most will remember. (M Grundy )