Electric narrowboat named UK's flagship of the year
BBCA 90-year-old narrowboat that was converted to fully electric propulsion has been named the UK's flagship of the year.
Redshank, which takes passengers on tours around Bristol Harbour and on the River Avon, was awarded the title by maritime body National Historic Ships UK.
In 2023, having barely left the water in its lengthy service, the boat's traditional diesel engine was replaced with lithium battery packs, allowing it to operate all day on electric power.
Skipper Jude Taljaard said Redshank was "paving the way for future boat conversions".
Redshank received the award on 12 May and to mark the occasion her operator, Bristol Packet Boat Trips, was offering trips for just £1 on Sunday.
Built in 1936 and first christened "Reading", the vessel had a long career shipping cargo such as coal, timber and even lime juice between Birmingham and London.
In 1954 it was sold to another operator and renamed Redshank, but continued its work carrying goods between UK cities.
Simon Stevens, of National Historic Ships, said: "Before motorways and lorries came along, this was how you got your cargo from A to B - from the collieries to the sea and vice versa.
"They carried bricks, manure - a whole range of things.. They were literally just iron buckets - elongated iron buckets to carry stuff."
In 1970, as the age of canal freight came to a close, Redshank carried its final commercial load, and four years later she was bought to the West to work the waterways around Bristol.
There are now five boats in the Bristol Packet fleet, and Taljaard said he loves Redshank's new incarnation as an electric vessel.
"Before it was very smelly, very loud. Now it's this beautiful electric boat," he said.
"It's green and we are paving the way for future boat conversions - making sure other people can see how to turn a boat like this into something green for the future."
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