Hopes are rising that the barge that carried Sir Winston Churchill’s coffin during his state funeral can be saved for the nation after a Mail on Sunday appeal. Two potential British buyers have come forward after we revealed how the 85ft Havengore could be sold overseas. Their identities are being kept secret but both are said to have a keen interest in preserving the teak and brass vessel. In 1965, Havengore, a former Port of London Authority survey vessel, carried Churchill’s coffin up the Thames from his funeral at St Paul’s Cathedral to Waterloo Station, where a train took him to his burial plot in Oxfordshire. This would give a potential British buyer the time to raise funds to keep it in the country.

Source: Daily Nation December 24, 2023 15:01 UTC