J.S. Watson - Gainsborough stands on the River Trent in Lincolnshire, some 60 miles from the open sea near Hull. It must have been one of the farthest inland shipyards in the UK. Files of Watson's yard show a record of a vessel having been built there as far back as 1893. Undoubtedly their origin in building vessels capable of river navigation stems from Gainsborough's proximity to the Nottinghamshire coalfields and the efficiency of using the river and canal network to transport its coal to the major centres of population and industry.
