Thursday 14 May 2009

MV Wincham - pay back time?

MV Wincham - now

and then...


The sale of the historic vessel MV Wincham by its Trustees for scrap has reached the columns of Private Eye. Piloti's Nooks and Corners, in the newest issue (May 15th), decribes this most sad of sagas.

Why indeed was it scrapped, and not mothballed?

Well, as it seems the vessel cannot now be brought back into use, as the Trustees literally have sold her down the river, Piloti reports, as many of us hoped might be the case, that the Lottery fund, which stumped up forty seven and a half grand for work to the Wincham not so long ago, is now asking for its money back.

Sounds as though the five grand received for the scrap value won't go far. This will be an interesting one to watch. Will the Trustees of the Wincham Preservation Society have to stump up from their own pockets? I think we should be told!

As Piloti says:

Until recently the society received most of its funds from the Friends of National Museums Liverpool as the Wincham, as an historic Mersey vessel, was a suitable ornament to the Albert Dock, home of the Merseyside Maritime Museum. But the Friends were disbanded last year ...

...Given the hype around Liverpool and its history, the Maritime Museum might have been expected to rescue the boat; but no. And now the Heritage Lottery Fund, not unreasonably, wants its money back. Yet again Liverpool has shot itself in the foot.

 
Nem

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wincham may be lost but another ex Liverpool steamer is in desperate need of being saved from the scrapman, the ship in question being the SS Manxman.
lets hope the loss of MV Wincham at least draws some attention to Manxman before its too late If its not already too late!)

Nemesis said...

Can you expand?