Daniel Adamson celebrates 120th Birthday

The steam tug Daniel Adamson - known as The Danny - is celebrating her 120th birthday in 2023.  On Saturday 9 September, the Daniel Adamson Preservation Society held a big thank you party for their volunteers and supporters, to mark the special occasion.

Other steam transport vehicles attended the event, and guests were serenaded by a local singing group.  Guests tucked into wood-fired pizza and local beer from Cheshire brewery Weetwood Ales, and a Danny-shaped cake was cut by Society founder Dan Cross and Louise Sutherland, head of engagement, North, National Lottery Heritage Fund (both pictured).  Also in attendance was local MP Mike Ames. 

The historic Mersey tug-tender Daniel Adamson is a remarkable survivor from the age of steam and a most unusual vessel.  She was built in 1903 as the 'Ralph Brocklebank' to tow long strings of barges laden with goods from the inland towns of Cheshire and the Potteries to the great seaport of Liverpool.  She made her appearance on the Mersey at a time when old-fashioned sailing ships still jostled for space on the Liverpool waterfront with the great steamships and ocean liners of the Edwardian era.  The 'Ralph Brocklebank' also carried passengers between Ellesmere Port and Liverpool, a service that continued until 1915. During the First World War, she also had a short stint working for the Royal Navy as an unarmed patrol boat around the Liverpool coastal area. 

After the war, however, canal traffic declined as companies turned to road and rail to move their goods. In 1936 the 'Ralph Brocklebank' was chosen as the official director's launch for the Manchester Ship Canal Company (MSCC) early that summer, was given a radical refit and her name changed to that of the ship canal's founding father and first MSCC chairman, Daniel Adamson.  The directors requested a renovation to her interior and she was transformed with clean, bold lines and geometric patterns and block patterns of the Art Deco style - a miniature version of one of the newer generation of Atlantic liners.

During February 2004, the intention of her owners (the MSCC) to break her up became known. This led to the formation of the Daniel Adamson Preservation Society (DAPS) the same year, who have since restored her to full public operation, sailing from Liverpool along the rivers Mersey, Weaver and Ship Canal.  The Danny was rescued by volunteers so its heritage would reach present and future generations. The DAPS wants to reach all sectors of the community through a range of activities targeted at different ages, abilities and interests.  Dan Cross says the Danny is run on 100% volunteer labour and is a testament to what volunteering can achieve.

Read more about the Daniel Adamson Preservation Society, one of our Shipshape Network North projects.