Barge set to ferry tourists around the Stour Valley (From Essex County Standard)

Barge set to ferry tourists around the Stour Valley

10:05am Friday 14th September 2012 in News

A HISTORIC barge which has been out of service since 1914 is set to be brought back into use.

The Lighter, which was last used in Sudbury, was historically used in the Stour Valley to carry coal, bricks and corn.

But now plans are in place for it to be put back into the water and provide tourist trails along the River Stour.

The vessel, named the John Constable, has been restored using money provided by the Managing a Masterpiece fund.

James Hasall, chairman of the Managing a Masterpiece board, said: “For over a hundred years or so River Stour Lighters were an important feature on the river, immortalised in paintings such as John Constable's Boat building near Flatford Mill in 1815.

“Thanks to the Managing a Masterpiece programme and the dedicated and skilled restoration work carried out by the Pioneer Sailing Trust, the restored lighter will once more be a feature of the river.”

The River Stour Trust rescued the barge in the 1970s but it remained in Sudbury until June 2010, when it was raised out of the silt at Great Cornard Lock.

It was then taken to Brightlingsea, to be restored by the Pioneering Sailing Trust.

Work is now complete and the barge will be on show at the University of Suffolk’s Ipswich campus next Wednesday, September 26.

It will be formally launched on the River Stour next spring.

Historically, the lighters, which operated in pairs, travelled between Sudbury and Mistley Quay
Each boat could hold 13 tonnes and were towed by a single horse.

Managing a Masterpiece was given £910,000 by the National Heritage Memorial Fund to fund 62 projects. They began on June 1, 2010.