Daniel Adamson Preservation Society. Media Release

DANIEL ADAMSON PRESERVATION SOCIETY
MEDIA RELEASE February 24th 2012. Immediate
“NEW FACES TO HELP BRING TOP TUG-TENDER BACK TO LIFE”

THE ambitious plan to restore Britain’s last steam – powered tug tender, Daniel Adamson, to working order has taken an important step forward with two key appointments. These consultants will focus on the Daniel Adamson Preservation Society’s broader social impact to help it gain the crucial Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) Round 1 approval.

The project’s future development task plan and volunteering plan guidance will be drafted by Cara MacMahon, a cultural consultant and trustee of Brunel’s SS Great Britain.

The society’s activity/outreach plan will be scrutinised by Kate Rodenhurst, former head of community partnerships at National Museums Liverpool.

If the HLF Round 1 application is successful (plus a request for development funding), further consultant’s will be hired to help take the project through to a new HLF Round 2 application. The Daniel Adamson Preservation Society (DAPS) made these appointments after its earlier HLF application for £2.8m was turned down last September. It is now working very hard to submit a fresh application for Round 1. This will be a major milestone in returning this unique 1903 Birkenhead-built coal-fired ship to public service on the Rivers Mersey and Weaver and The Manchester Ship Canal.

The revised application will include a clearer outline of the project and how it will apply for further development funding. The DAPS management team met HLF officers in November 2011, to address any shortcomings in the previous application. DAPS also consulted other bodies for advice, such as National Historic Ships UK and local authority external funding officers.

The society considered it essential to use some of its limited financial resources to engage professional assistance from independent consultants. This has been supplemented with the award of a £1000 grant from National Historic Ships. A keen advocate of returning Daniel Adamson to public service, National Historic Ships lists the steam ship on its Core Collection register of the country’s most important vessels.

Dan Cross, DAPS chairman, said: “The appointment of Cara and Kate, as professional advisors, will ensure we can strengthen and build on our previous application. We are so lucky that our regular team of dedicated volunteers have carried on regardless of the delay, and our membership continues to grow.”

“If the Round 1 application is successful this year, we hope to submit a new Round 2 application by the middle of next year, to coincide with the Daniel Adamson’s 110th anniversary.”

This month is the eighth anniversary of DAPS, formed in February 21, 2004 when the Daniel Adamson was bought from Manchester Ship Canal Company for £1, thereby saving the ship from the scrapyard.

ENDS.


For Media Relations enquiries please contact Peter Elson on -07717 733 257 Or e-mail him at : media@danieladamson.co.uk

For other enquiries please contact the Chairman, Dan Cross on 07979 865 391 or e-mail him at: chairman@danieladamson.co.uk

For Membership enquiries please contact John Broomby, Membership Secretary on: 0161-969-2903 or e-mail membership@danieladamson.co.uk Membership enquiries can also be sent to him at: 28 Brookfield Drive, Timperley, Altrincham, Cheshire WA15 6QR

Note to editors:
• Daniel Adamson is Britain's only steam-powered, coal-fired tug-tender. The ship was built as Ralph Brocklebank, by the Tranmere Bay Development Co, at Birkenhead, Wirral in 1903. Once restored, the vessel would be the oldest, Mersey Built steam ship still operating anywhere in the world.
• With two sister ships, the tug-tender ran a passenger ferry and barge towing service for her owners, the Shropshire Union Railway & Canal Co, from its Ellesmere Port terminus to Manchester Dock, Liverpool.
• In 1921 the ship was sold to the Manchester Ship Canal Co. (MSCCo)

• In 1936 a lavish art deco style double-deck saloon was fitted by craftsmen from John Brown & Co, Clydebank and although badly water damaged, the saloons will be restored. She was at this time, re-named in honour of the first Chairman of the Ship Canal Co.

• The MSCCo laid-up Daniel Adamson in 1984 after the boiler required repair work and the vessel was moved to Ellesmere Port Boat Museum. However, when MSCCo decided to scrap the vessel after vandalism problems, the current trust was formed and bought the ship for £1 in 2004.

• Hi-Resolution JPEG images of the Daniel Adamson are available upon request. These include the Daniel Adamson(DA) passing Liverpool’s Pier Head in 1907, Assisting a ship on the Ship Canal in the 1920’s, Several shot’s of the Art-Deco saloon’s fitted in 1936, Colour shot’s from the 1970’s and 80’s. All images are owned by DAPS.

• The Society’s progress can be followed on our website: The Daniel Adamson Preservation Society - Britain's Last Surviving Steam Tug Tender. and also we can be followed on Facebook – search “Daniel Adamson Preservation Society” and also now on Twitter where we can be followed: @dannyinsteam