6. The Blacksmith

The Castlerock boatyard of Richard Abel & Sons in Runcorn, hand-built the very last of the seagoing Mersey Flats.

The last boat to slide down the slipway was the Ruth Bate, launched in 1953 and everything that could be was made on-site.

One particular aspect of boat traditional wooden building that could be easily overlooked by the casual observer, was the need for an on-site blacksmith and forge.

And therein, anything that needed to be made in metal for the construction of the boat, could be custom made to measure in the forge.

In the case of the Oakdale, the last surviving composite Mersey Flat, that launched just two years earlier than Ruth Bate, her interior framework is a series of angled steel uprights that replaced the earlier timber frames of boats like Mossdale.

The inner skeleton of metal ribs act as the connection points between her huge outer planking and the equally substantial inner lining to her hold.

Running the interior length of the boat are two substantial cast steel beams. These sit close to the interior edge of the boats hatch and provide great levels of longitudinal strength but also flexibility.

The boats visibly flexed and twisted as they rode the swells, her bluff bow a good 60’ away from where the skipper would stand with his hand on the giant 8' tiller.

The boats, like anything, are as strong as the sum of their component parts and importantly, part of Oakdale’s restoration will revolve around the preservation, or recreation where necessary, of all her metallic components.

And therefore, a heritage blacksmith will play a vital role in the resurgence of this historic boat, with each part being diligently copied from the original or from documentary evidence.

Apprentices at the boatyard were often tasked with pumping the forges bellows, so doubtless all apprentices who carried out this task will have had a working appreciation of the blacksmiths importance in the process.

Each worker at Castlerock played a vital role, after all, the crews lives were at times wholly dependent upon the accuracy and fine workmanship of their respective craft skills.