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Wharf Life May 11-25, 2022 wharf-life.com
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Years since Massey Shaw started fighting fires in London from the Thames. She was named in honour of Sir Eyre Massey Shaw, the first superintendent of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade, who led the organisation from 1865
why the Massey Shaw Educational Trust is seeking volunteers to see its boat sail into the coming decades by Jon Massey
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his is not the story of the fire oat assey haw. ow could it e ust to stand on the dec o this re ar a le cra t at her erth in est ndia outh oc is to eel her plan s and steel plates uietly pulse with the decades o history they’ e a sor ed. t would e possi le to fill this space any ti es o er without co ing close to otto ing out the sheer depth o aterial associated with this re ar a le oat. t ight e the part she played sa ing goods worth any illions o pounds ust a year a ter co ing into ser ice y lasting down the walls o a warehouse with the power o her ain et to stop a fire in its trac s at olonial har in apping. t could e the ore than li es she sa ed as part o the flotilla o little ships launched to help rescue ritish ser ice en ro the eaches at un ir in errying soldiers ro the land to larger cra t and hersel ta ing a out ac across the channel, a ing three trips despite the danger o the sea and ene y fire. r it ay e the part she played in the desperate firefighting e ort during the lit . ut these stories and any ore are est told y those who now, the olunteers who are wor ing to eep her shipshape and who hope e entually to open her to the pu lic as a useu ship.
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uilt in y a uel hites at owes on the sle ight or , ore than illion in today’s oney she ser ed the ondon ire rigade ro launch until . ter a decade in the wilderness, in , the assey haw nd arine essels reser ation ociety e ar ed on a pro ect to restore her and to sail her once again to un ir or the first ti e since the s. oday, a ter uch passion, a sin ing, restoration wor , andalis , repair and reno ation, she lies y the entrance to est ndia oc s, sharing space with the s stea tug ortwey and the oc land cout ro ect. ro there, the assey haw ducational rust, as the society
has eco e, intends to use its th anni ersary year to raise awareness o its wor , the essel hersel and the opportunities a aila le or those who ight li e to get in ol ed with the ongoing pro ect. rust a id ogers hi sel a or er firefighter, al eit a land ased one said e’re a co pletely oluntary organisation and we’d really li e to engage with a wider audience including people who are in oc lands. erhaps they’ e seen this lac and red oat that loo s a it strange we o ten get uestions a out what she is and what she does. o one o the things we want to do is to get ore olunteers o all ages who can co e along and support us in our plans or the oat. e’ e had her or years, ut we see oursel es as custodians and we now need people to ta e her orward or the ne t . his oat has a uni ue history and we want to help people understand it and to help shape it whether they’re in ol ed in the fire ser ice or not. e want people to co e and e trained so they can run the engines, operate the oat and an her pu ps so she can appear at e ents. ut we also ha e a ig archi e that we’ e uilt up o er the years, so we need people with s ills to help organise and digitise that. urrently the tea are wor ing towards getting assey haw ready to once ore cross the channel in . e’re part o un ir ittle hips, which cele rates the ourney ade y those oats in to sa e troops ro the eaches, said a id. he crews who went o er during the war were all olunteer fire en and ortunately they all ca e ac sa ely, ut so e o the soldiers they rescued had een adly in ured. e’d especially li e young people to ta e part in our ne t trip, to learn the s ills that were taught ac in the s, which are needed to operate the oat so uture generations can continue to en oy and learn a out her. olunteering is a great deal o un o er the years ’ e een in ol ed, ’ e et so e antastic people and ’ e always en oyed it. t’s great when isitors co e onto the oat, especially i they ha e stories to share a out indi iduals who perhaps ser ed on
pump up the
Massey Shaw’s ‘monitor‘ is capable of knocking down walls at maximum flow Images by Matt Grayson – find more of his work at graysonphotos.co.uk or @mattgrayson_photo on Insta