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Oral History Recordings
Introduction
This collection of recordings has been created from a number of cassette tapes found in the loft at the former Yorkshire Waterways Museum (YWM) building and donated to this Society by Spicer’s Auctioneers. Those tapes had themselves originally been donated to the YWM so we have full confidence that this Society has had all necessary permissions to publish their contents for the benefit of all students of life on the waterways of Yorkshire.
We are indebted to Goole Fields Wind Farm Community Fund for providing a grant to allow us to have the cassette recordings digitised and transcribed for your enjoyment.
The collection may be accessed by clicking on a topic below:
Memories of a Tom Pudding Tug Skipper
During an interview conducted on 6 June, 1990, Goff Sherburn, assisted by wife Eileen, recounts his various experiences working as a tug skipper, including the unique task of moving the number four coal hoist through Goole docks for repairs. Sherburn discusses the demanding nature of his work, often involving long hours and seven-day weeks, which significantly impacted his time with his family, prompting him occasionally to take his children on trips to spend time together. Furthermore, he shares anecdotes about the harsh working conditions, including breaking thick ice during freezing winters, and fond reflections on how his profession, though challenging, became an integral part of his and his family’s lives, contributing to a unique heritage.
COMING SOON:
Goff Sherburn, Tom Pudding tugman, recorded in 1991
In an interview recorded on 4 July, 1991 Goff Sherburn shared his experiences working on steam tugs and navigating canals and river ways in the 1950s, detailing the hard work involved in transporting empty and loaded pans to various collieries and dealing with challenging conditions such as fresh and floodwater. He described the primitive living conditions on the tugs, camaraderie among the workers, and various colorful and eccentric characters he encountered, including humorous and sometimes macabre anecdotes. Sherburn also recounted the tugmen’s achievements like winning the All England Championship Cup in darts and their mishaps, including an exhibition match in Goole that had to be abandoned because some team members were arrested for unknowingly buying stolen goods.
Publication permission for copyright images
We acknowledge that copyright images are being shown for which no explicit permission to publish has been given to this Society. Many of the digital images shown had originally been produced with the knowledge and permission of the now defunct Yorkshire Waterways Museum from original photographs deposited there for public display. Following the closure of that organisation in 2019 and the break up of their collection those original photographs have disappeared and have effectively been lost to the public.
Through an incredible stroke of good fortune digital copies of those images were donated to this Society in 2022 allowing our volunteers to finally achieve the wishes of those photographers and collectors who had made the original donations.
If you are the copyright holder and would like to contact the Society please use the form below.
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