The last remaining seagoing, composite Mersey Flat, OAKDALE is also the last-known surviving commercial seagoing vessel built in Runcorn. Of all the Mersey Flats built across the region (the local style of vessel once constructed on the Mersey, Weaver, and other local waterways, and across the Northwest), only two now survive: MOSSDALE, built in Chester but later bought and refitted by Abel’s of Runcorn) is in the hands of the National Waterways Museum at Ellesmere Port; and OAKDALE, beached at Askam-in-Furness and used as a houseboat by her owner and restorer, David Keenan.
The most modern Flats were composite-built, so therefore had steel frames and wooden planking. Later developments led to the invention of motor-engined “Weaver Packets”. In much the same way that we can consider the Weaver Packet as the most modern development of a Mersey Flat, the design being taken to its natural conclusion in those motor vessels, OAKDALE represents the very same level of development along the traditional sailing line and is therefore a vessel of great historical importance. Furthermore, she is one of only five surviving composite vessels in the world (alongside the CITY OF ADELAIDE in Sydney, the CUTTY SARK in London, HMS GANNET in Chatham, and the beached remains of the AMBASSADOR in Chile), making her a craft of international significance.
OAKDALE was the second-to-last Flat ever constructed and was launched at the Castle Rock Yard of Richard Abel & Sons, having been built to the same designs that the firm used back into the 1850s for the many vessels they created for themselves and for other concerns. She is a sister-ship of the last ever Flat, the RUTH BATE, which has already, sadly, been scrapped. OAKDALE has a rudder that appears to be from an older vessel, as evidenced by it having a rounded top with a decorative notch carved into it which they stopped doing after the 1890s.
Construction began in 1949 and she was launched on 15th September 1951, OAKDALE is a 63T Mersey Flat.
72’ 6” X 15’ 9” X Depth 3’ (6’ 6” moulded depth); Lister HA3 Diesel Engine.
66 Reg Tons Gross, 63 Reg Tons Net, 52 Tons Displacement in working order, Cargo Capacity 120 Tons.
Official Number 183820.