Tug Boats

John Christiansen’s painting, “Inward Bound – River Mersey circa 1964,” provides great memories for me of the shipping activity on the river, especially around the entrances to the various docks and the approach to the landing stage.

Whether it was ship spotting on the Liverpool side by bike on a Saturday morning or watching the action from Egremont Promenade, the tug boats were an ever-present and integral part of the scene. Busy and manoeuvrable, they fussed around until they had positioned the ocean-going vessels accurately enough to enable them to make their next move. It was magic to watch them at work.

The Empress of Britain was one of three Canadian Pacific liners in her class and I’m sure I must have seen them all at one time or another. From the Overhead Railway, I can remember a grandstand view of the burnt-out hulk of her sister ship, the Empress of Canada, in Liverpool’s Gladstone Dock. That was the only time I ever travelled on the LOR. I have always been grateful to my Dad for taking me there.

John Christiansen comes from a seafaring family and his father worked on the tug boats for thirty-four years. His paintings at www.tugboatsinwatercolour.com concentrate on those relatively unsung workhorses of the estuary. He’s making a great job of reminding us of their pivotal role and I’m very pleased to have added this fine example to my own collection.