Volume One - Into the Victorian Age - Some newspaper reports from the 1870's

• May 1875 -The Docks— During the whole of last week there was not one single arrival in the dock excepting a couple of trows for stones from Portishead Dock, neither was there one pound of coal shipped during that time. The utter stagnation will be understood when it is stated that the drops in this dock are capable of shipping from forty to fifty thousand tons per week. - The Western Mail [164] [361] 25th May 1875

• April 1876 - Economy in Coal Loading - "The screw steamer Allendale, belonging to Messrs. Dixon and Wilson, of Sunderland, which left Penarth Docks on Wednesday, with 1050 tons of coal for Dieppe and Havre, is fitted with an arrangement by which trimming is said to be dispensed with, the small coal equally distributed, breakage of coal reduced, and despatch in loading and discharging increased.

The arrangement is Prices' patent self-trimming hatchways, and was illustrated in our columns some time since. We are informed that there are nine steamers already fitted with these hatchways, and that satisfaction has been expressed by the owners at the results obtained." - Engineering [516] [499] 7th April 1876.

The only detail I could find of Prices' patent self-trimming hatchways is taken from a 'Catalogue of Ship Models and Marine Engineering in the South Kensington Museum' [1055] [684] published in 1878 : -

14. Drawings (Lithograph), illustrating Prices’s Patent Self-Trimming Hatchways for Steam Colliers. W. Denton, shipbuilder, Sunderland, agent.

Lent by Mr. W. Denton. 1876.

Note. — The Drawing represents a longitudinal through section of the screw steam collier, " J. B. Eminson, " built of iron at Sunderland. Scale ⅛ in. to 1 ft. A midship section of the same collier loaded. Scale ¼ in. to 1 ft. Details of hatchways (side and end) for colliers ranging from 26 to 32 ft. beam.