Volume Ten - Pre-Victorian to the present day - even more aspects - The Patent for the Penarth Slipway - 1881 . . .

1883 - The Institute of Civil Engineers received a paper on the subject of 'The Design and Construction of Repairing Slipways for Ships', dated the 13th February 1883. A presentation to members is recorded within the Minutes of Proceedings with no less than the Vice-President of the Institute in the chair, Sir J. W. Bazalgette, C.B. A footnote states 'The discussion upon this Paper occupied portions of two evenings'. Thomas Bell Lightfoot, M.Inst. C.E., and John Thompson (the designer of the Patent Slipway at Penarth as already described) presented their paper to the Members present. Subsequently, 'The Engineer' [000] reported in its edition of 13th July 1883 that the Council of the Institution of Civil Engineers had awarded the Manby Premium to Thomas Bell Lightfoot and John Thompson for their paper.

The following extracts from the paper commence with an overview of the historical development of slipways.