Many local people will remember the Erewash Princess as a pleasure cruiser on local waterways in the late1960s and early 1970s. But where did she come from, and what happened to her?
In 1966 four members of the Inland Waterways Association were fighting to keep the Erewash Canal open. They bought a 2nd hand 36ft boat and named her ‘Erewash Princess’. They formed their own company and planned to run boat trips at weekends and most evenings.
The Erewash Princess was 36ft long and constructed from wood, with a diesel engine. She could carry up to 55 passengers. She was built in 1927, and it seems she was operated on the River Severn, and then on the River Dee at Chester. But the details of her early history (and her original name) are currently unknown.
In May 1966, one of the new owners – Derrick Alsop, who lived in Toton – started operating a service every Saturday and Sunday between Sandiacre and Trent Lock. It left Sandiacre at 2pm every Saturday and Sunday, stopping at Long Eaton (at the old coal wharf near the fire station) and on to Trent Lock. It then made 3 more runs from Long Eaton to Trent Lock, leaving every hour. The service was later cut to just Sundays, with private hires on other days.
In 1967 one of his passengers, Stephen Slack, a 16-year-old from Stapleford, jumped into the canal to rescue a 2-year-old boy who’d fallen in the water. Later the same month he had to jump off the boat, run down the towpath and enter the water again to rescue another young boy.
In 1970 the Erewash Princess brought in pumps to rescue a boat that had sunk in the canal behind Welbeck Road, Long Eaton. In 1972 Derrick Alsop (1932-2016) formed the Erewash Travel company and began to also operate a local bus service. The bus service became Erewash Community Transport.
In 1976 the Erewash Princess was sold to R Lewis and refurbished before operating on the River Wye. She was renamed ‘Independence’.
In 1980 she was acquired by the Bristol Ferry Boat Company, as part of their fleet operating around Bristol City Docks (which now feature a museum and many bars and cafes) and the River Avon.
Independence now operates as both a waterbus and a private charter vessel. Approaching 100 years old, she is now in need of a full rebuild.
Please contact us if you have any information, stories or photos and we’ll pass them on to the current owners.
