Christmas at The Barge Tearooms

We visited The Barge Tearooms at Maldon on Sunday as part of our family Christmas.  

We hadn’t realized a charity rowing race would be taking place on the river in aid of RNLI, which meant there were large crowds both on Hythe Quay and all along the Promenade.   It was a pretty miserable windy, wet day, and we were glad to get on board sb Hydrogen and into the tearooms.   There were six of us; four scurried below into the warm, but two hardy souls stayed on deck.   The cream tea was excellent, and so, apparently, was the cake.  They even provide blankets and umbrellas for those who stay outside!   Well worth a visit.

Because of the repairs which are taking place to the Quay there were only the three Topsail Charters barges present:  sb Hydrogen, sb Thistle and sb Reminder.   At Cooks Yard, sb George Smeed is now looking very smart;  

still without leeboards, but two freshly painted specimens were lying nearby in the yard so could be destined for her.   And sb Dawn was also there, wrapped up in her winter cover.

While we were there sb Kitty came back from a sausage-and-mash cruise and passed us on her way to Fullbridge where she is based at present.  

Gordon Swift RIP

We were very sorry to hear today from Gerard Swift of the sad death of his father, Gordon.

Gerard says:-

“News of the passing of my father, Captain Gordon Swift, on the 7th February 2014.

“2014 has seen the 50th Anniversary of his association with sailing barge Dawn.   He bought her when her days had come to an end as a timber lighter.   She was laid up with others at Heybridge Basin.   After re-rigging Dawn, they were able to stay together for many years.

“He sold her to Newham Council but continued to skipper her.   Sadly she needed work in the early 1990s, which was the beginning of her end.   But Gordon would not give up on her.

“He formed the Dawn Sailing Barge Trust in 1996.   With many, many people’s support and help, she sailed again in 2008, in the Blackwater Match with Gordon at the wheel once again.

“He was always happy to talk to anyone about Dawn, and if they had the time there were many tales.”

Our picture, kindly supplied by Gerard, shows Gordon’s last time at Dawn’s wheel at Ipswich in 2013.

We send the Society’s condolences to Gerard and his family.

Last December, we posted about Dawn and the latest stages of her restoration.   Read it here.

UPDATE  –  We now have details of Gordon’s funeral, which will be held on Wednesday 26th February, at 12 noon, at St John the Baptist Church, Metfield, Suffolk, IP20 0LA.   All are welcome to join the family to remember with them the life of Gordon Swift.

No flowers please, but donations if wished to his chosen charity, The Dawn Sailing Barge Trust.   Donations may be made via Susan Whymark Funeral Service Ltd, Chestnut House, 12 Progress Way, Langton Green, Eye, Suffolk, IP23 7HU.  

Gordon’s family would love you to join them for the service and afterwards to share your memories with them over a mug of tea.

Dawn has a new website

Gerard Swift, Skipper of sb Dawn, has contacted us to let us know that Dawn has a new website and to give a report on the season.   He says,

“Dawn is the last of the full-size Thames Sailing Barges built with a tiller.   It is the aim of the Dawn Sailing Barge Trust to continue with her restoration so that she is completely back to 1897, her launch year.   The next phase is to replace the wheel steering with tiller steerage.   The next will be the steel mast and spars with traditional wooden spars.   There are many smaller details that will keep the Trust busy for a long while to come, but when complete she will be a full working example of Victorian maritime transportation actually able to carry a full cargo under sail.

“Dawn has just finished another successful season of sailing with many new people able to experience a barge sailing.   Anyone interested in getting involved can find out more from the website.” 

The new website address is  www.dawn1897.com

Our picture, courtesy of Bill Sutherland and taken from his window, shows Dawn taking hay upriver to St Katherine’s Dock recreating the journey she and many others stackies would have made in their heyday.