Garston Docks c1909 - description of ships needed
 

I am seeking information about the types of shipping shown in the attached image. Either to discuss in this Forum, or direct me to a forum about ship history please.
I am creating next year's calendar for the London & North Western Railway Society (a CIO), and this is an image from our archive. The LNWR had extensive banana and coal traffic through the Stalbridge Dock at Garston (Mersey). The caption at present is rather bare:
[Photo ref.LNWMC438] Garston. Stalbridge Dock. View across the decks of sailing ships towards the wagon tipplers at the far side of the dock. C1909. Crewe Official MC438.
The silhouette of the railway company structures for tipping coal into bunkers is visible in the centre of the image. I thought it would be good to add in some information about the types of vessel and their probable traffic.
All help gratefully received. Tony Gillam

Greetings LNWRS and welcome to SH. Bon voyage.

Hello Tony and welcome.
Could I suggest that you also post the picture in the Gallery. On SN that tends to get a bit more attention, views and comments.

Many thanks Malcolm G - will do.

Hi LNWRS, welcome aboard.

At the risk of being shot down in flames, I think that the barge in the middle foreground is a Mersey or Weaver Flat. While the Thames had their well-known sailing barges, the Mersey had Flats.

Here is a link that you may find interesting:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mersey_flat

Best Regards,
Dave

Thank you for that. Someone id's it as a de-rigged Thames barge, but a local flat makes much better sense.
The two bigger vessels against the bright water (stern on the left and bow to the right) seem to be schooner rig. Is there anything more to be said about them?
Many thanks for your interest.
Tony