Recent article by George Henderson Forrester newspaper which covers area Newnham on Severn
Article also included about 5 photos.
IT HAS been a long and exhausting voyage - but grand old lady of the seas SS Freshspring is now approaching safe harbour.When she was towed away from her mooring at Newnham in 2016 she was just a rusting hulk, left mouldering on the banks of the Severn for 20 years.But today, the SS Freshspring is nearing the end of a full restoration, to be opened as a tourist attraction at Bideford in Devon on June 30 as part of the town’s Heritage Day.The volunteers of the SS Freshspring Society has carried out a two-year programme to reopen the ship as a heritage attraction.The ship will then be a nationally recognised attraction and asset, engaging up to 120,000 people a year through a combination of work, education and tourism.The project was made possible by a National Lottery grant which was substantially matched in Devon by Torridge District Council, Bideford Bridge Trust and The Balsdon Trust.Match funds were also awarded by The Headley Trust along with individual Trust Membership support.Trust chairman John Puddy said: “This is a huge step forward for the trust. Presenting her afloat in Bideford as a static heritage exhibit means she will be the only vessel of her type and age accessible to the general public.“SS Freshspring’s hull and superstructure were substantially intact, while her steam engines are in outstanding condition due to the care given to them over time.“With her pre-Second World War configuration, her form reflects the type of general cargo vessel that was the workhorse of the British and the world’s mercantile fleets from the 1920s to the 1950s.“Bringing Freshspring back to operational condition for a sustainable future involved retaining her external form.“Her internal water tank spaces have been sympathetically converted making her the only operational vessel of this type.“I thank all those in our team who worked so hard to make this such a successful project with a very bright future.Final work on the restoration of the ship’s bridge, boat deck and access is approaching completion to ensure the ship can fully open in June this year.”By George
[email protected]Y STATE: The deteriorating SS Freshspring in Newnham in 2015.SEAGOING DAYS: A seaworthy SS Freshspring at Bristol Docks.LABOUR OF LOVE: John Richards pictured working on the vessel in Newnham 2007.Fleet Auxiliary vessel boasts proud history THE SS Freshspring was built at the Lytham St Anne’s shipyard in 1946 as the last of 14 Fresh-class ships for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.She worked as a water tank supply vessel supplying Royal Navy ships with fresh water.Following initial trials, she sailed to Malta replacing one of her sister ships which had been sunk during the Second World War. Originally coal fired by hand, she was converted to burn heavy fuel oil while in Malta.After around 15 years service in Malta she was repatriated to the UK, working around the Firth of Clyde and west coast of Scotland for the Port Auxiliary Service.In 1969 she was surveyed and refitted at Ardrossan, then towed to the Gareloch where she remained possibly laid-up out of service at the Faslane naval base. In 1977 she was put up for sale and was sold two years later to Oswald Burgess, the owner of a Bristol company that was evaluating alternative ship fuels, which is where it is thought the SS Freshspring was last in steam.Following vandalism and theft in Bristol, which saw the loss of equipment from the wheelhouse such as the telegraph, she was moved to Newnham-on-Severn.The ship's owner died in the early part of the new millennium and left the ship to John Richards, a volunteer restoring the SS Freshspring in Newnham.In 2015 the owners of the Bollow Pill berth at Newnham gave notice that they wanted it moved from its moorings after resting on the banks of the River Severn for more than two decades.And in 2016 The SS Freshwater was towed to Devon so her major restoration could begin.