Northdown’s Barge Boat
David Evans has written to us:-
“The Barge Boat belonging to the Thames Barge Northdown is currently in a field near Maldon, in need of restoration. It had been started, but unfortunately my friend who would have done the main work died, and the project abandoned. The boat was made by Alf Last in Maldon to show the expertise of shipwrights to the Queen on a visit to the area. We have tried to get someone to carry on the work to no avail. I live on Hayling Island so not able do anything. Any thoughts?”
New approaches to funding maritime heritage
The webinar will bring together a range of experience on funding including:
– Rose Ravetz, experienced global sailor and production manager for Wind, Tide, Oar a film by Huw Wahl, currently in production, which explores “the absorbed attention and artistry of engineless sailing, and the lives of those few exceptional seafarers prepared to go to sea whilst relying on the natural elements alone” and was the subject of a very successful Crowdfunder as well as other grant support;
– Felicity Lees, Operations Manager at Pioneer Sailing Trust, will describe how the Trust is taking forward its Development funding of £61,300 recently awarded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to help the Trust progress their plans to apply for a full National Lottery grant at a later date .
Over five years a partnership between Pioneer Sailing Trust and Vanguard Restoration Foundation will restore two iconic historic vessels, reach and attain maximum benefit for community audiences and deliver a sustainable business model for their long term operation.
The project aims to improve wellbeing, health and mental health within the community, equip trainees with new skills, increase capacity to restore and maintain heritage and other vessels, and build community engagement with national heritage.
Panellists for the webinar will also include John Megoran, Chairman of the Paddle Steamer Kingswear Castle Trust who is overseeing fund-raising for a major rebuild of the ship and Hannah Cunliffe, Director, National Historic Ships UK
The Webinar is on Wednesday 1st February from 19.30 to 21.30.
Free tickets can be obtained by registering at Eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/new-approaches-to-funding-maritime-heritage-tickets-514077418397
Edith May tells us the tale of the Medway Match
Tiller and Wheel have this lovely video on YouTube of the 2022 Medway Match.
John White, RIP
We are very sorry to have to announce the sad and sudden death of our Hon Secretary, John White.
John has been unable to attend meetings or undertake physical activity following an earlier heart attack, but has continued to support the Society working from home and dealing with queries from members and others.
He is, of course, the compiler and author of the acclaimed “Sailing Barge Compendium” and of its coming successor, “Directory of Sailing Barges”, which is currently being edited before printing. This mammoth task saw him identifying the history of over 2,000 Thames sailing barges for the Compendium, and over 4,000 for the Directory, In addition he played a large part in the setting up of our first Archive unit and the cataloguing of items deposited in it, and took part in our attendance at various sailing barge and other maritime events.
John will be much missed by all of us in the Society. We send our deepest sympathy to his wife, Jenny, and the family.
Up goes the storage container – despite the heat!
Richard said the ‘Quick-Build’ storage container would be assembled yesterday, but I hadn’t taken notice of the size and was expecting something smaller. In fact, it is 2 metres by 4 metres, and the working party assembling it must have been glad to have the JCB’s help.
The container which will eventually house our heavier equipment, (folding tables, chairs, tents, display boards, and so on), is now in place at the site where SSBR’s new Archive building will be at Fambridge Yacht Haven.
Committee members Richard Walsh, Don Wright and Mark Allinson struggled excessive heat yesterday at North Fambridge to start this first phase of the Archive move. The container was assembled with the help of the hearty marina crew: Ellie, Thomas, Ian and Oran. Thanks also to Yard Manger Paul Wiggins.
Meanwhile it’s all happening at the company building the Archive unit and plans are being made for delivery in early September.
These pictures, courtesy of Mark Allinson and Richard Walsh, show the container going from flatpack to finished job.
The Barge Blog 