Steam dredger being restored

The Steam dredger at Gloucester Docks finally managed to get to the dry dock at Gloucester Shipyard, and is now resting on blocks ready for restoration.

This is the last remaining steam bucket dredger in Europe, and with the help of a £43,300 grant from the  Heritage Lottery Fund, will eventually be back to its former glory.

Boiler and hull

The main work is repairs to the steam boiler and the hull, and when complete the dredger will return to the museum to  start an educational programme.

SND No 4 was built by the De Klop shipyard at Sliedrecht in Holland in 1925 to dredge both Gloucester and Sharpness Docks, and worked up until 1982 when she was replaced by a new diesel electric dredger.

Concerns

Chris Witts, Chairman of the Friends of Gloucester Waterways Museum, explained:

"We had some concerns about moving the dredger across the dock and into the dry-dock due to high winds and driving rain. Fortunately all went well,  and soon SND No 4 was behind the closed gates of the dry-dock dropping gently down onto the blocks."

The old steam dredger will not be alone in the dry-dock as she will be sharing it with Cariad an old sailing Bristol Channel pilot cutter, with both scheduled to remain in the dry dock for three months.