British Waterways Warehouse, Nottingham

The Nottingham Corporation (Trent Navigation Transfer) Act, promoted by the Nottingham Corporation, received the Royal Assent on the 29th July 1915. This act provided that from and after 1st January 1917, or such date as may be arranged, the portion of the Trent Navigation lying between Nottingham and Newark should be transferred to the Corporation, which the acquired the rights to the tolls on this transferred portion.

After the war (WW1), the Corporation of Nottingham, exercising its powers under the Act, took over from the Trent Navigation Company the control of the Nottingham-to-Newark portion of the river and have since pursued an energetic policy of constructing new locks and deepening the river under a scheme authorizing an expenditure of over £400,000. That sum had already been expended by the end of 1931.

At the Nottingham end of the section now controlled by the corporation, important progress has been made with the provision of new terminal facilities. A transit shed was the first building completed (by 1928) and close to it has since arisen a splendid new warehouse. This warehouse has a frontage to the river itself, but close to it is a basin, opening at right angles to the river, is being constructed and this will be flanked by Warehouse No.2 and Transit Shed No. 2. Railway lines run along side the warehouses and transit shed and link up with the L.M.S. Railway a short distance away.

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A short description of No. 1 Warehouse will serve to indicate not only its own excellent accommodation but also the nature of the increased accommodation that will become available when No. 2 Warehouse is completed. There warehouse is constructed of reinforced concrete and is considered to be the best of this type in the country. The riverside elevation, in line with the river wall, facilitates the loading and discharge of vessels. There are 4 floors each 170 feet long and 50 feet wide, giving a total floor space of 34,000 square feet. The ground floor is of reinforced concrete specially treated to ensure freedom from dust, while the upper floors are of wood on reinforced concrete.

The appliances for handling cargoes are specially designed for speed and economy. On the ground floor are electric transporters capable of travelling at a speed of 100 feet per minute for the full length of the warehouse, and in addition capable of stacking goods to a height of 9 feet above floor level. They can also discharge goods from barges direct to railway truck, or load lorries or drays at the various bays.

For working the upper floors, four electric hoists of ten cwts. capacity, hoisting at 70 feet per minute and travelling at 100 feet per minute have been installed. Two of these hoists work inside pent houses under which barges may be discharged or loaded in wet weather.

In addition to the electrically-operated machinery, spiral sack chutes are provided as well as gravity chutes capable of conveying loads 3 feet 3 inches wide. The warehouse is lighted throughout with electricity. Easy access is provided by means of a concrete road fifty feet wide which runs the whole length of the building. The railway track is bedded into the concrete road so that no difficulty will be experienced by the various forms of transport in loading or unloading. The adjoining Transit Shed is equipped with additional electrical hoisting and conveying machinery for discharging and loading vessels as well as temporary storage are thereby provided.

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The policy of improvement and expansion has already been justified by striking increases in the tonnage carried on the Trent, as the following comparative figures clearly show:

Annual tonnage carried for the years 1913 to 1926 inclusive

29,062 TONS

Year ending 31st March:

1928 - 66,960 TONS

1929 - 83,118 TONS

1930 - 105,337 TONS

1931 - 159,315 TONS

1932 - 284,666 TONS

The annual tonnage carried thus increased almost ten-fold since the Corporation took control of part of the Trent Navigation. Of special interest are the figures relating to the transport of petrol by the Trent, since these are suggestive not only of the increasing value of the navigation but also of the development of the road transport in this country. They are as follows:

Year ending 31st March,

1928 - 4,290 TONS

1929 - 19,004 TONS

1930 - 37,377 TONS

1931 - 45,901 TONS

1932 - 59,206 TONS

These two sets of figures are eloquent of Nottingham's rapidly increasing importance as an “inland port” and an augury of still greater things to come. The Trent is now navigable at all seasons of the year from Nottingham to the sea. In addition to the river service with the Humber ports, there is a canal service via Leicester and the Grand Union Canal between Nottingham and London, and also services between Nottingham and Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool ect. The service is mainly by steam or motor barges, and the canal carriers have first-class accommodation for the storage and handling of traffic

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Neosea said:

Excellent thread and history 85 Vintage, the effort you have put into your research has paid off. Thanks for the invite to explore this little gem.

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Goldie87 said:

Nice one, looks good in there. Didnt any of you try the sack chute?

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