60 years ago, it was the 'Westmoreland' moored in the dock where 'Edith May' now berths
Having been owned and operated by Eastwoods Brickmakers, she spent her working life trading out of Lower Halstow dock, where the ‘Edith May’ is now based.
Unfortunately for the barge, her retirement years have not been kind to her. After leaving Eastwoods ownership in the 1960′s, she had a rather bad accident when moored at Hoo. Her stem hung up on a lighter she was moored to and as the tide ebbed, her ageing timbers gave way and she broke in two.
She was hulked on the nearby saltmarsh until Colin Frake salvaged her and towed her to Faversham. There, at Standard Quay, he was able to rebuild the front end of the barge and secure her short term future.
Cambria's launch after a successful Lottery funded rebuild, Westmoreland desperately looking on...
Recent developments at Standard Quay have put the barge’s future once again into doubt, as the area enters a period of change where an old barge on the foreshore is deemed unsightly.
Thankfully, there is hope for the Westmoreland. A Heritage Lottery Fund bid has been submitted and a ‘Westmoreland Trust’ is in the process of being formed. If successful, it is hoped that a 4 year rebuild could begin in the next year.
For now, her immediate future has been secured and she has been patched up and refloated into a lighter so that she may now be moved away from Standard Quay, hopefully to the berth where she will be restored.
Updates will appear on this website as progress continues…
I was very interested to hear about the plans to restore the Westmoreland.
I am the great, great grandson of Alfred Marconi White and as far as I am aware (and I may easily be wrong) the Westmoreland is the only surviving barge he built.
I’ll follow the progress of the lottery funding bid with great interest and hope the restoration programme can start very soon.
regards
Andrew Spencer
Thank you for posting Andrew.
The barge has now been moved away from Standard Quay and is headed for the Medway where it is hoped the restoration will begin soon.
thanks for the update Edward and good luck with the restoration.
Sad news that she has had to be removed from Standard quay Faversham – but hopefully she will be saved. She was (is) a pretty barge. Any idea where she is on the Medway ? is there public access ?
I’ve known the Westmoreland since 1958 and followed her decline with a degree of sadness…I watched her race in the very windy 1963 Blackwater Match and in the mid 1960′s I helmed her from Maldon to Silvertown behind a tug! I was dismayed by her accident at Hoo and went to visit her after she had been dumped on the nearby saltings.She is a pretty little barge and I very much hope that funding can be found and she can be restored. All the best!
[...] http://www.edithmaybargecharter.co.uk/westmoreland-restoration/ [...]
Can’t understand why Lower Halstow wouldn’t want to bring Westmoreland home. It is a unique opportunity for the village as well as our cultural heritage.
Verybsad and regrettable that he parish council didn’t agree to the restoration taking place in Lower Halstow.
Does anyone have a record of the decision or know where it can be obtained?
I would be very interested to understand the reasoning behind his short sighted decision.
Message sent to the Lower Halstow Parish Counil on: 25/04/2012 for reading at the next meeting regarding this project in May 2012
As a regular visitor to Lower Halstow, I was astonished and dismayed to hear that the owners of the ‘Edith May’ are having such trouble, with obtaining permission to proceed with the restoration of another barge ‘Westmorland’. I would like to add my strong support, as a regular visitor to the area, to this very worthwhile project. There is not many places, in this country, where you can really experience living history and the ‘Edith May’ and the potential restoration of ‘Westmoreland’, provides this wonderful opportunity. Children and young people will have the most amazing opportunity to work on and study, the rich culture and skills, our country should be proud of. Please don’t let this opportunity go by. I understand there is huge local support, for this project, so please listen to public opinion and not that of some, who might have their own agenda and the power to stop this commendable project. What an opportunity, in the Queens Diamond Jubilee Year, with undoubted support from the Princes Trust, to really keep historic Lower Halstow on the tourist map. It is such a pleasurable place to visit and I look forward, with enthusiasm and great interest, to see this project materialise.
Come on everyone, lend your voices!!