A.M.Models

RESEARCHERS are using Time Team-style technology to search for a narrowboat that was buried underground 48 years ago.

Dr Jamie Pringle, a lecturer in geoscience at Keele University, is leading the team hunting for the National Coal Board vessel.

It was buried when the Burslem Branch Canal was filled in.

The waterway had originally opened in 1805 as a branch of the Trent and Mersey Canal to serve the Mother Town's growing ceramics industry.

Dr Pringle and his team are working with the Burslem Port Project, which aims to restore and reopen the disused canal.

They believe the narrowboat, called Elizabeth, from Wolstanton Colliery, was stranded near a junction with the Trent and Mersey when the canal breached in 1961.

And it is then believed to have been covered in 1962.

An amateur ground study carried out in 1999 showed the boat was still in its original position in the disused canal.

If it is found in good condition, the vessel may be lifted out and restored.

Dr Pringle, aged 36, of Hartshill, said: "We have been using geophysics, like Time Team does, in an effort to search for the hidden boat.

"We will have a fairly good chance of finding it as it should only be around six feet down and within the filled-in canal, if the reports are correct.

"We don't know for sure if it is there, or what sort of condition it is in.

"But I think it is opposite what was the old boatyard."

Geoscience is the study of science related to the earth, such as geology or geophysics.

The research team have a range of technology that is more commonly used to look for abandoned mine shafts.

Dr Pringle searched for the boat yesterday, using three different types of surveys.

Firstly, his team used ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to search for signs of the structure.

Then the team switched to using magnetism, working on the assumption that the boat had a metal frame.

Finally, the researchers used technology to hunt for resistance beneath the ground, in the knowledge that large objects like boats have a greater resistance than purely soil.

Dr Pringle said: "I thought the GPR would work well, but the results weren't great.

"The trouble with magnetism is there is so much stuff buried that it is difficult to tell what is there.

"Shelton Bar is not far away and there could be debris from the steelworks.

"But I will analyse the data and we will try to come up with a good estimate of where the boat is."

Volunteer Kris Wisniewski, a student of chemistry and forensic science at Keele University, helped to search for the Elizabeth.

The 22-year-old, from Chell, said: "It's exciting to be involved in a local heritage project like this."

David Dumbelton, of the Burslem Port Project, said: "We hope to restore the canal as part of a wider community facility and visitor attraction under the name of Burslem Port, and we would be delighted if we can find the Elizabeth."