Len celebrates 100th on the Ship Canal

Len Jones was born in 1911, the coronation year of King George V and the year the Titanic was launched at Harland & Woolf in Belfast.
During his lifetime there have been four British monarchs, 19 Prime Ministers, two World Wars and the break up of the British Empire.
Women have won the vote, man has landed on the Moon and the world has seen the invention of television, computers, the internet, mobile phones and SatNavs.
Len celebrated his 100th birthday with a special trip on the Manchester Ship Canal, where he spent his working life of almost 50 years and retired as deputy general manager. The trip was arranged by Peel Ports, the owner and operator of the Manchester Ship Canal as a way of celebrating Len’s birthday and thanking him for his dedicated service.
Last week (July 5) Len was joined by former colleagues and current Manchester Ship Canal general manager Dean Hammond on board the tug ’The Viceroy’.
Len sailed from QEII dock at Ellesmere Port, which he was involved in the design and construction of in the early 1950s, and travelled up the Ship Canal to Port Ince before returning to Eastham Locks.
Len joined the Manchester Ship Canal Company as a 15-year-old in June 1927, and apart from four years in the late 1930s, he worked for the Ship Canal Company until his retiral in July 1975.
During that time he served as chief draughtsman, principal assistant engineer and deputy chief engineer, a post he held for the last four years of his working life.
Len is still fit and healthy, being a regular user of a local gym near his Wilmslow, Cheshire home.
He said: “This has been a very nice day, and I’d like to thank Peel Ports Mersey for organising it. It was a pleasure to spend some time on the Ship Canal with family and friends and get a chance to see all the developments that are taking place there.”
Ship Canal general manager Dean Hammond said: “Len is a remarkable man who played a big role in making the Ship Canal what it is today – a living and growing asset to the North West of England. It was a real pleasure to share in his big day.”