Collier Brig and Barge

The bluff little brigs from England's northeast carried Northumberland coal down to coastal cities and the London approaches in the nineteenth century. They discharged their sooty cargos by basket hoist and chute onto quays into wagons or - as in this view of the Thames estuary - into a sailing barge for delivery to towns on rivers too shoal for the brigs. Coal was the fuel of British industry and the warmth of home and office. On this golden morning, the brig dries sails while she offloads; farther out, a baroque tows up toward London.