EVERY day Kevin Wilkinson helps preserve a little piece of British history.

Tucked away in a quiet corner of Thelwall, the ferryman takes passengers from one side of the Manchester Ship Canal to the other on a little four-seat boat.

The 56-year-old operates the often-forgotten 'penny ferry' and in doing so is helping to keep a tradition going that dates back to 1894 when the canal opened.

The penny ferry was established to maintain a public right of way instead of a bridge or viaduct.

Kevin said: "I think there were originally four or five little boats like this up and down the canal but they closed over the years."

The penny ferry at the end of Ferry Lane is last of its kind in the Warrington area to operate every day of the year. There is a similar service in Irlam open from April to November.

"I find it fascinating that it is still here after 122 years," added Kevin, a former Lymm Secondary School pupil.

"It’s amazing. When you think of all the technology that we’ve got now and we’ve still got a little boat that takes people across the canal.

"I think it’s a very British thing to preserve the things from our past."

Kevin has always been familiar with the penny ferry as he used to live on Alderley Road which backs on to the canal. His parents Eric and Beryl still live there and have done since 1964.

He took his first journey when he was 11.

Kevin said: "We used to go across because when we were kids there were no trees on the other side. It was all sand dunes so it was like a playground for us.

"The thing is when it is on your doorstep you can take it for granted but I had a couple who had lived in Thelwall for 22 years and had never been down here."

Then from 1976 he used to take the ferry every day when he worked as a van driver for Littlewoods before cycling the rest of the way to Woolston Grange.

Always fascinated by the ferry, Kevin started to assist the previous ferryman Derek Warburton 14 years ago.

He took the oar full time when Derek retired in 2007.

"The highlight for me is meeting so many different people," added Kevin, who was born in Latchford and now lives in Woolston.

"I’ve had people from Australia, America and Canada. I had a couple of people who go around the world on all the massive ships.

"They’ve been on every size of ship including the QE2 so they wanted to go the other way and travel on one of the smallest ferries.

"Another chap came down who is into ferries. He brought his laptop and you’d be absolutely amazed at how many little ferries there are in the world.

"He showed me pictures from all over the world including Holland, Vietnam and Africa."

There have only been around four boats since the penny ferry – named after the original price of the journey – launched.

And it took Kevin a solid fortnight to learn the technique using a single oar at the back of the aluminium 10ft by 4ft ferry.

He said: "A lot of people say to me: ‘Why don’t you get a motor on the boat?’ And I always say the same thing. "If you went to Venice you wouldn’t ask a gondolier to put a motor on his boat. It’s the same thing.

"The whole point of it is it’s our history. It’s something that needs to keep going and something that you need to do as it was originally done."

THELWALL'S penny ferry welcomes around 600 passengers a year.

Ferryman Kevin Wilkinson's busiest shift was when he transported 53 ramblers across the Manchester Ship Canal.

But sometimes there are no passengers at all, particularly when the weather is bad.

So on days like that Kevin enjoys making cross-stitch designs for his four grandchildren. He has been working on a Winnie the Pooh Christmas advent since March 2015.

It seems that previous ferrymen from years ago had similar hobbies too.

Kevin said: "I read somewhere that at the turn of the century ferrymen used to pass the time while waiting for customers by bringing sewing machines to make costumes for theatre productions."

Others chronicled important events by carving a record on the inside of a wooden box in the ferryman's hut.

One refers to ferryman Terence James Balmer who died in December 1974 and another is about a ferryboat sinking in January 1976. There are also references to the Moon landings.

The penny ferry used to run every day from 6am to 10pm and originally included a pontoon that carried animals and farm produce.

It now runs from 7am to 9am, 12pm to 2pm and 4pm to 6pm on Monday to Saturday and 12pm to 2pm and 4pm to 6pm on Sundays and bank holidays. Crossings cost 11p.

  • You can take a trip on the penny ferry from 12pm to 2pm on Saturday during the open garden event at Thelwall Old Hall in aid of Kidneys for Life.

The event, supported by the Pickering Arms, will also see a performance by the Wired for Sound choir and cakes and refreshments at Beech Cottage in Ferry Lane.