Issue 48 Spring 2025
Ipswich Maritime Matters
Issue 48 Spring 2025
SHEFARERS UNITE - IN HAMBURG
Shefarers Cathy Shelbourne (far left)
and Claudia Myatt (far right) met
up with Secret Agency artists Esther
Pilkington and Sibylle Peters last
December.
From the Editor
IMT was very pleased to support the
Shefarers project set up in 2023 by
the SPILL Festival in Ipswich, which
we reported upon in previous issues
of Ipswich Maritime Matters (number
45: Summer 2023 and number 46:
Spring 2024).
SPILL commissioned two artists
from the Secret Agency based in
Hamburg, who took up residence on
Victor(ia) and brought together local
women and girls already working, or
interested, in the maritime world.
The network created in Ipswich
is now part of an international
Shefarers movement, and continues
to resonate around the world - one of
our members is currently on a year’s
assignment on South Georgia!
Two other members, Belinda
Joslin and Heike Lowenstein, were
invited to give presentations at
the Port Townsend Wooden Boat
Festival in the USA - and Belinda
will be joining us on Wednesday
2nd April for a talk on Women in
Boatbuilding, her participation in the
Festival, supporting young women in
boatbuilding - and much more. Don’t
miss it!
Details of all our events this year
are on the back cover.
Cathy Shelbourne
Contents
Celebrating Maritime Anniversaries pages 3-4
From the Chairman BEN GOOD pages 5-7
News pages 8-9, 27
Heritage: Made in Ipswich DES PAWSON investigates an
America’s Cup yacht pages 10-11
Maritime Writing Competition: the winning entries
pages 12-13
Heritage Open Days 2024 and 2025, including Sir Thomas
Slade by PAUL TURNER: pages 14-17
From the Archives selected by STUART GRIMWADE
page 18
Talkback reports on our meetings pages 19-21
Heritage: Remembering David Miller, by BARRY GIRLING
pages 22-23
Book reviews by DES PAWSON AND CATHY SHELBOURNE
pages 24-25
Obituary of Captain Richard Woodman, by PAUL RIDGWAY
page 26
Diary dates page 28
IMT Committee members
Chairman: Ben Good
info@ipswichmaritimetrust.org.uk
Treasurer: Adam Rae
treasurer@ipswichmaritimetrust.org.uk
Membership Secretary: Richard Fayers
membership@ipswichmaritimetrust.org.uk
Magazine Editor and Events Co-ordinator: Cathy Shelbourne
editor@ipswichmaritimetrust.org.uk;
events@ipswichmaritimetrust.org.uk
Social media: Jon Cobbold
info@ipswichmaritimetrust.org.uk
Minutes Secretary: Frances McGready
Senior Member: John Warren
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News
Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy, meteorologist and first weather forecaster. Born 1805 in Suffolk
CELEBRATING MARITIME ANNIVERSARIES
100 years of the Shipping Forecast
On Monday 1st
January 2025 the
BBC celebrated
one hundred years of
broadcasting the Shipping
Forecast with a wonderful
selection of programmes,
many of which can be found
here: www.bbc.co.uk/
programmes/articles/4X
d1HYns0lKBdl27DDGnW
pG/the-shipping-forecast-
centenary
Exactly one hundred
years earlier, on 1 January
1924, the very first clipped
British tones were heard
delivering a weather
bulletin called Weather
Shipping.
In the UK, the Maritime
and Coastguard Agency
(MCA) is responsible for
the provision of maritime
safety information to ships
at sea, which includes the
broadcast of warnings
and forecasts. The iconic
Shipping Forecast is a BBC
Radio broadcast produced
by the Met Office on behalf
of the MCA. Although the
Shipping Forecast officially
came into existence in
1924, it was in October
1925 when it was first
broadcast via the BBC.
The history of the
forecast goes back to
1861, when Vice-Admiral
Robert FitzRoy developed
a telegraphic messaging
system to issue weather
warnings to ships, following
the loss of the steam clipper
Royal Charter. The vessel
sank in a violent storm
off the coast of Anglesey,
with the loss of more
than 450 lives, prompting
FitzRoy’s desire to prevent
it happening again.
He was the main
influence in the early
development of the Met
Office, which was then
primarily intended to
improve safety at sea.
Robert Fitzroy was born
on 5th July 1805 at Ampton
Hall, Ampton, Suffolk, and
after an illustrious career in
the Royal Navy (including
temporary captain of HMS
Beagle), in early May 1831
he stood as Tory candidate
for Ipswich in the general
election (but was defeated).
He later became second
Governor of New Zealand,
from 1843-45.
For more of this
fascinating man, and his
creation of accurate daily
weather predictions,
which he called ‘forecasts’,
come along to the IMT
meeting on Wednesday
3rd December when our
speaker, Andy Beharrel,
will give another of
his excellent talks, this
one entitled Shipping
Forecasts.
CELEBRATING MARITIME ANNIVERSARIES
And the winners were:
Nic Whittam, Lucy Aikman
and Anya Page, seen
in the photo with Mai
Black on the left, and
Ben Good on the right,
at the presentation of
framed certificates and
entries, on Wednesday 6th
November 2024.
Dunkirk Little Ships:
85th anniversary
Ipswich’s very own
Little Ship
Between 26th May and 4th June 1940, during
World War II, Allied soldiers were evacuated
from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in
northern France.
Approximately 850 private boats and 20 warships
participated in Operation Dynamo, although not all
were documented or known. More than 200 ships
were lost at Dunkirk.
Between 21st May - 26th May 2025, a
commemorative cruise will start from Ramsgate
Heritage Harbour, to honour those ‘Little Ships’. Over
50 of the original vessels are expected to take part.
For more information, see the Association of
Dunkirk Little Ships at www.adls.org.uk and the
Ramsgate Society at www.ramsgate-society.org.uk/
heritage-harbour/
Watch IMT’s videos about the Dunkirk’s little
ships, including interviews with members of the
Association of Dunkirk Little Ships, and the owner
of Glala, a Dunkirk veteran. https://vimeo.com/
user113090161
Ipswich’s very own
Little Ship
Glala, owned and being
restored by Andrew Robson (in
photo below) and Kathy Norris,
is one of the Little Ships that
went from Suffolk to evacuate
soldiers from Dunkirk.
On board Glala, on 28th May
1940, was Midshipman Peter
Magnus – grandfather of Emma
Lightfoot, IMT member, and
owner of
the Orwell
Lady.
(See
Ipswich
Maritime
Matters,
Spring
2024,
page
9, for
the full
story).
Winning Writers
Congratulations to the
Writers Group’s
Maritime Competition.
Organiser Mai Black gave
entrants the choice of
writing about one of three evocative bland and white photos from IMT's huge image archive, www.ipswichmaritimetrust.org.uk/image-archive - each including, unusually, an animal.
Many thanks to the judges
who were Ben Good, IMT
chairman; and Julia Jones,
author and publisher at
They enjoyed reading the
range of responses to the
photos, and were impressed
by the choice of words and
stories created.
Mai visited the IMT’s
exhibition in the Old
Custom House during Heritage Open Day last September
“When walking alongside
the quay, I’m always struck
by the beauty of the Ipswich
Custom House. What a
treat to attend the Open
Day and also be greeted by
the wonderful photos from
Ipswich’s maritime history. "I'm always on the lookout for inspiring photos
to use with my creative
writing groups and as I
stared into these faces
from Ipswich’s past, I was
immediately curious as to
what stories they might tell.
“Members of Suffolk
Writers Group quickly
rose to the challenge, and
we were soon inundated
with a wealth of brilliant
stories and poems. Thank
you so much to everyone
at Ipswich Maritime Trust for helping to organise the subsequent writing competition and choosing our wonderful winners.
For more information about forthcoming writing courses, see heeps://suffolkwritersgroup.com/writingcourses/
The winning entries are on pages 12-13
From the Chairman
We are Sailing!
IMT and Victor: an update
In the last newsletter,
commercial vessel, (as she
from Wes, who will remain
we said that we were
is today for charter groups
fully active throughout
considering making an
and public cruises), and as
2025, and will likely also be
offer for the sailing barge
a platform for school visits
on hand for advice in 2026
Victor, now that she has
and heritage events. We will
and beyond.
been put on the market.
also be analysing the results
So we are proceeding
This is for two reasons.
of the detailed structural
cautiously, but, assuming
First, she is an icon of our
survey which is planned for
things are looking
town’s maritime heritage
next month.
promising, we will launch in
and it would be a terrible
At the end of 2025, we
the summer a fundraising
shame to see her sail away
will thereby aim to have
campaign to help fund her
for ever down the Orwell.
become as well-informed
purchase and future costs.
Second, she features
as possible about the
Victor herself can of course
prominently in IMT’s plans
implications of owning a
play a useful role in that
as a platform for heritage
barge, and, if all is well, will
campaign as an events
and cultural events and for
proceed with her purchase,
venue.
school trips.
so that by the start of the
Undoubtedly, there’s a lot
Your responses to
2026 season, she will be
to work out, and various
that article expressed
wholly owned by IMT. That,
potential Pooh-traps
enthusiasm and urged
at least, is the plan....
ahead of us, but it’s also
caution in equal measure.
Coming back to this
potentially very exciting.
So we have endeavoured
summer, then, we aim to
I am reminded of our
to proceed with
retain a similar number
experience last September
correspondingly equal
of charter trips/public
during the Heritage Open
measures of enthusiasm
cruises as usual, (about
Day, when we had a pop-up
and caution!
80-100 in a season), as
museum in the Old Custom
Since then we have
these provide the income
House and, just across the
agreed with both the
to cover her costs, but will
pavement, Victor, on the
‘Victor team’ (that is, Wes,
in addition work into her
quay and open for all-
as skipper and general
schedule some school trips
comers. We had over 350
manager, and the vessel’s
and quayside public events.
visitors that day, (making us
actual owner who lives
In addition, given that
Ipswich’s 4th most popular
overseas), and a potential
this is happening mainly
attraction), many of them
key donor, to take a two-
because Wes is coming
young families not really
phased approach.
up to retirement, we have
participating in the Heritage
This year, 2025, is the
identified a new skipper,
Open Day, but just excited to
first phase, during which
Lyndon March, who will
board the old boat. As one
we will not own the Victor
work closely with Wes and
young mother said to me:
but take increasing levels of
progressively take over his
“We ‘ve got three kids and
control over its operations.
duties. [Lyndon’s profile is
can’t afford the tickets for
We will use this summer’s
on page 7]. In this way we
a cruise, so this is our best
sailing season as a proof-
are aiming for a controlled
chance to get onboard!”
of-concept phase to learn
handover, learning as much
I hope that owning Victor
properly the financial
as possible along the way
will allow IMT to offer
and operational details
chances to many more kids
of operating a barge,
who would otherwise miss
alongside the practicalities
out.
of using her both as a
Ben Good
People
Sam learns
the ropes
- and finds a future
At IMT, we think
Ipswich’s
maritime heritage
can be a source of
opportunity for the next
generation. And if our
mission is to make that
happen, then Victor
crewmember Sam
Murkowski, 20, is a
good example of what we
mean.
Sam’s story is not
uncommon. After
an underwhelming
academic career, he
escaped school as soon
as possible and with few
prospects. Sam might
put it a little differently:
he didn’t so much leave
school as school left him,
progressively. It felt like
he was sailing single-
handed with unreliable
charts, facing the
headwinds and shoals
of unkind classmates,
indifferent teachers and
boring books. Navigating
that lot was extremely
hard, and it was perhaps
unsurprising that he
didn’t end up in quite the
best place.
But then his neighbour
on Gainsborough, a big
man with an unusual
job, hired his dad, an
electrician, to do some
work in the galley of a
certain old boat. Sam
went along, and started
spending more and more
time onboard, with Wes,
(yes, it was he), happy
to mentor him as he
became more and more
useful on deck.
“Wes has been an
amazing teacher,” says
Sam. “Tough but fair.”
“I have had to kick him
up the a**e from time
to time,” says Wes, more
pithily.
For the last three
years. Sam has crewed
on Victor for almost
every trip. He still needs
Wes’ direction, but now
the commands can be
broader: the overall plan
for the next manoeuvre
rather than the details
of every step. He has
started to build up his
qualifications, too, having
completed his VHF and
first aid training. In time
he would like to become
a fully fledged First Mate.
That will require more
training, and many hours
on other barges, under
the command of skippers
who may or may not have
the same paternalistic
streak as a certain
Captain Westwood.
That’s a little way in
the future, but Sam is
on his way, thanks to his
experience with Wes and
on Victor.
“I’ll know when I’m
ready,” Sam says with a
smile.
Ben Good
Introducing Victor’s new skipper
When we first
started talking
to Victor’s
owner about taking her
over, we agreed that IMT
is the perfect new owner
for her. Except that we
have neither the money
nor the skills....
In a way it is the latter
deficit which was the
bigger concern: lots of
people have money, but
very few have barge
skills. So it was very
welcome when Wes
suggested we meet
a young man with
extensive experience of
barges. Lyndon March
has his Barge Skipper’s
ticket, and has been
sailing on barges for
nearly 20 years - not bad
for a 31 year old - but
is not only a sailor. He
is also a shipwright and
has relevant business
management experience.
His CV includes spells
at Topsail Charters, in a
business development
role as well as helping
with sailing and
maintenance of that
organisation’s then
four sailing barges; as
operations manager
at the Heritage Marine
Foundation; relief
skipper/mate for sb
Edith May and Pioneer
Sailing Trust; and a year
at Woodbridge Boat Yard.
Currently, he is busy as
a freelance shipwright,
with project experience
on both the east and
south coasts.
Finding a barge skipper
with so much experience
is one thing; finding one
who is both experienced
and not at the wrong
end of his career is even
better. With IMT looking
for ways to appeal to the
next generation, having
someone of Lyndon’s
vintage is a distinct asset!
Lyndon remembers
first getting hooked on
barges aged 13, when
talking to the barge
skipper Rebecca Polden
on Maldon Quay. “I often
wonder what 13 year old
me found so compelling
about the cumbersome
and complicated bulks
that are sailing barges,”
he says. But he kept at
it, crewing on barges
regularly despite the
inconveniences of school
and university, and by
the time he collected his
degree he was already
signed on as a mate at
Topsail.
The opportunity to
take over from Wes as
master of Victor is a huge
opportunity for Lyndon,
who is well-known in
the barge community.
“The barge world hasn’t
changed much in recent
decades. That is part of
its charm but also part of
its greatest weakness,”
he says. “It needs an
injection of youth, vision
and clarity.”
“I am very happy
with IMT’s plans to use
Victor to open young
eyes to the possibilities
of maritime heritage
and nautical matters in
general. At several points
in my career, I have been
involved in introducing
young people to our
sector and in their
training. It’s obvious that
this is where our future
lies.”
“I am also very happy
that she will remain
in Ipswich. Although
she spent much of her
working life elsewhere,
she really belongs
here. She is the only
surviving vessel by
Horace Shrubshall, an
Ipswich yard known for
its fast craft. And she has
spent the last 15 years
in the Wet Dock as a
centrepiece of Ipswich’s
maritime story.”
Lyndon lives with his
young family in Maldon
but has worked all over
the south of England,
so is not fazed by the
prospect of many trips
up the A12. His partner’s
family are also heavily
involved in the heritage
vessels world. Taking
all this into account, we
are more than happy to
overlook his Essex roots
and welcome him to
Ipswich.
It’s an exciting future
for Victor and we’re
pleased he’s aboard!
Ben Good
NEWS FROM THE SUTTON HOO SHIP’S COMPANY
3,500 rivets and counting
Things are looking
up for the Sutton
Hoo Ship’s
Company. They have
recently agreed to
move to new premises
in Woodbridge which
will offer a permanent
solution – much needed
as their stay in the
Longshed was coming
to an end. And now the
team are even starting
to think about how
to organise the ship’s
launch. That won’t
happen until 2026, but,
says Sean McMillan,
chair of the Trustees:
“The launch of an early
Anglo-Saxon ship will
be an event of national,
even international,
significance, and we need
to get it right. So we must
plan well in advance.”
The Company was
formed in 2016 to build
a faithful reconstruction
of the 27-metre ship
that King Raedwald was
buried with, in about 624
AD. The discovery of the
burial site in 1939 was
the subject of the 2021
film, The Dig; and it was
the accurate surveying
of the ghostly imprint
of the ship’s timbers,
punctuated by over 3,500
rivets, that formed the
basis of the lofting plans
for the current build
phase.
Extraordinary as the
original Sutton Hoo
archaeology work was,
what is now going on
in the Longshed, on
Woodbridge waterfront,
is in many ways no
less extraordinary. For
one thing, the build is
using only the tools,
materials and techniques
that Anglo-Saxon
boatbuilders would
have used. For another,
quite a lot is not known
about the original boat.
For example, there is no
archaeological evidence
about the original design
of any steering gear, or
what the oars were like.
It is not even known for
sure whether she would
have sailed, although
the team - perhaps
unsurprisingly given
Sean’s background as a
founder of Spirit Yachts
- are keen to give it a try,
and sails are being made
using original wool-
based materials.
That experimentation
is largely the point: it
is only by doing that
we can fill in the gaps
in the archaeological
evidence, and fully
appreciate how boats
like this were built, and
navigated, 1,400 years
ago. Although the project
is overseen by a small
team of professionals, the
vast majority of the work
is done by volunteers,
over 150 of them. Not
all of them are on the
tools, but those that
are have been trained
and are encountering
a fascinating array of
technical challenges.
Another challenge is
that England these days
has fewer oak trees!
Overall, the boat will
require the equivalent
of about 12 mature
oak trees, although in
practice more will have
to be felled to meet the
requirement. A current
example is the search
for the 6-metre long,
1.2-metre diameter,
straight grained trunks
that are necessary for the
number 4 and 5 strakes,
the widest planks on the
ship. But here again Sean
is optimistic: following
a recent publicity
campaign the team has
received over 260 replies
from people who think
they may have a suitable
oak tree.
Uncertainties around
the project’s tenure
in the Longshed have
been a pressing issue
for the project for a
while, and so the news
about securing new
premises in Woodbridge
– Robertsons Boatyard,
which is both very close
IMT Newsletter Spring 2025 ... page 8
by and offers a number
of operational benefits
– is very good for the
project. For Ipswich
folk, that might be
mixed with a twinge of
disappointment, as there
are those that had hoped
the ship might find a
new home here, not least
because the Orwell is
probably better suited to
sea trials than the Deben.
But in reality it’s hard
to argue that staying in
Woodbridge, close to
its impressive base of
volunteers and close to
Sutton Hoo itself is not
a good outcome for the
project.
Meanwhile, back to the
launch planning. Matters
to consider include
crowd management (it’s
going to be popular!);
whether to launch
on logs or modern
rollers (authenticity
versus practicality
– a recurring issue);
and the appropriate
naming ceremony (and
indeed the name itself –
mindful perhaps of the
McBoatface episode, the
project plans to leave this
to the academics). Watch
this space.
Ben Good
Left: The 27-metre vessel
under construction, in the
Longshed on Woodbridge’s
waterfront.
Above: All the tools used on
the job, including this clamp,
have been specially made
to original Anglo-Saxon
designs.
News:
Nancy Blackett ... in bits
Nancy Blackett –
Arthur Ransome’s
‘best little boat’
and the original of the
Goblin in his We Didn’t
Mean to Go the Sea – is
undergoing some heavy
restoration work for the
second winter lay-up
in succession at King’s
Boatyard in Pin Mill.
The discovery of rot
in the port-side cockpit
coaming at the end of the
2023 season led to the
replacement of not just the
coaming but the entire side
of the coachroof, with a
single continuous piece of
Brazilian mahogany, plus
additional work on the
roof itself, which had been
leaking on the unfortunate
occupants of the saloon
bunk for some time.
This also led to discovery
of rot in the deck cross-
beam abaft the mast
aperture, and – perhaps
inevitably – similar
problems in the starboard
coaming and coachroof.
Fixing these, and
associated work, were held
over to this winter, and we
thought it wise to call in
our surveyor James Pratt
to carry out a preliminary
examination, ahead of his
next scheduled survey.
Among other things this
showed up some rot in the
stem and has indicated the
need for a more through
inspection in the near
future.
This is in fact the first
major programme of
restoration since Levington
resident Mike Rines
virtually rebuilt Nancy
after he discovered her a
near-wreck in Scarborough
in the late 1980s (James
himself, as a newly-
qualified boatbuilder was
involved).
Peter Willis
The Nancy Blackett
Trust was set up, with
around 400 individual
donations, in 1997, to
buy and maintain Nancy
and make her available
for sailing on her home
waters of the Orwell and
Deben, and elsewhere
– including several
North-Sea passages to
Holland, and a recent
return to Scarborough.
Costs are covered
mainly by membership
subscriptions and the
occasional donation and
legacy. New members,
particularly sailors,
are welcome. See www.
nancyblackett.org/join
for more details.
Heritage
Did you know that
engraved on the
America’s Cup is
the name of a yacht
built in Ipswich?
DES PAWSON MBE
reveals the story of
the yacht from the
shipyard behind
his former house in
Ipswich
Made in Ipswich,
immortalised by the America’s Cup
Few Ipswich people will be aware that engraved on The America’s
Cup is the name of a yacht built in Ipswich. The yacht in question is
the Volante, built at Halifax Shipyard near Bourne Bridge in 1851 by
Thomas Harvey Junior, the son of Thomas Harvey of Wivenhoe.
Commissioned by JL Craigie
She was built for John Livingston Craigie (1814-1864), a highly regarded
Surgeon Dentist of Finsbury Square, London. JL Craigie was a member
of the Royal Thames Yacht Club, as well as a fellow of the Royal College
of Surgeons. It would appear that Volante replaced an earlier yacht he
owned, the Diana, who in 1850, while racing, went ashore on the Leigh
Flat, where she remained for 20 minutes. She was towed off by a steamer,
but lost her chance of the race. This may have been why Mr Craigie
commissioned Volante.
The America’s Cup
Volante, a square sterned cutter rigged yacht of 44.25 gross registered
tons, took part, with others, on 22nd July 1851, in the challenge race
round the Isle of Wight against the yacht America. As America won the
prize, it is today known as The America’s Cup. At the start of the race
Volante was one of the local favourites, indeed after just an hour she led
the fleet, passing Noman’s Buoy with America two minutes behind. Sadly
a couple of hours later one of the other yachts, Freak, fouled Volante
and she carried away her jib boom. By then America had managed
to get through the rest of the fleet, and was just able to keep ahead,
finishing first, followed by Aurora a short while behind. It is not certain
if Volante retired or crossed the finish after the time keeper had retired.
Nevertheless her name was engraved on The America’s Cup, as part of
the fleet that took part in this historic race. Something for Ipswich to be
proud of.
Contraband
John Craigie raced Volante extensively around the UK in 1851, as well
as in 1852 when, on what appears to be on her way to laying up at
Wivenhoe (the owner not being on board), Volante was stopped and
contraband found. Various members of the crew were fined sums varying
from 10/- to £2 and in the case of two of them, perhaps the captain and
mate, £100 or imprisonment.
Victory for Volante
In 1853 Volante won a race held that year at the Royal St George’s Yacht
Club’s regatta in what was then Kingstown and is now Dún Laoghaire.
The inscription engraved on the trophy (right, middle) reads Royal
St George’s Yacht Club Regatta July 1853 / Won by the Volante J. L.
Craigie.
Sold in 1854
Volante was sold in early in 1854 to Henry William Birch, a solicitor in
Marylebone who was also a member of the Royal Thames Yacht Club. He
continued to race her, and in 1858 had her hauled out at Spencer’s Yard,
East Cowes, to be newly coppered, overhauled and refitted. Her rig was
changed to a yawl in 1873, perhaps when she was sold to Charles Maw of
London, who continued to race her and owned her, certainly until 1888.
Around 1896 she was sold, probably to France.
That was the last we currently know of this illustrious Ipswich-built
yacht. I feel that, given time, much more may be found about the career and crew of this Ipswich yacht Volante
Renovation project?
NB this prize-winning Volante should not be
confused with another Harvey-built Volante
which for many years lay as a houseboat at the
Orwell Yacht Club, for which there are hopes of restoring
TROPHIES: Far left: the
original Cup awarded
to the yacht America;
left, the 1853 trophy for
Volante, and below, an
America’s Cup replica in
Auckland, New Zealand,
in 2013.
Maritime Writing Competition
The Suffolk Writers’ Group set their
members the challenge of responding to
photos in the
IMT Image Archive.
Here are the winning entries.
Suspicion
by Nic Whittam
You said the camera fell in love
the shutter gave a crack.
I’ll add your name onto the list.
I’ll add it at the back
Hatches battened ready to leave,
but now we wait for you.
He’s pleased that you are interested
the dog sits nicely too.
“This is for the future”,
An opening I mistrust.
I see your eye’s dilated,
stumbled mumblings of lust.
My world resides across the sea,
my family are at home.
We have dreams and hearts desires
your camera leaves alone.
The economy of freight
and those who are involved
are not for you to gawp at,
our problems unresolved.
Are you noticing his scarring
and his mended clothing too.
These shoes are nearly soleless
and my trousers are not new.
We have little of our own
and yet you try to take
our dignity and story
but your interest it is fake.
You don’t know our names,
you don’t know our craft.
Your snapshot is just that,
an empty photograph.
Frobisher
and Jellicoe
by ANYA
PAGE
Frobisher and Jellicoe had
been afloat so long they
felt unsteady ashore. They
earned their sea legs when they
were whelps.
When his brother’s wife complained
there were too many mouths to
feed, the boy found a ship, its crew
unexpectedly short of a sailor, still
roistering ashore. He never looked
back when Swift cast off in the bleak
hour before dawn. His name was
Frobisher, but the crew called him
Boy, long after his soft hands had
grown calloused, and his stringy
arms became brawny from hauling.
Frobisher grew strong on the wild
and wintry sea, brine in his blood.
The stray was wharf side,
scavenging, not expecting to find
kindness. Frobisher gathered him
into the knitted folds of his jersey,
stowed him until land was just a
scar on the horizon. The Captain
had reservations about an extra
mouth to feed, but the thump of
the dog’s tail and his enthusiasm
were hard to resist. His name was
Jellicoe, but the crew called him
Dog, long after he showed how to
keep the rations safe from rats and
learned to predict imminent storms.
Jellicoe kept the crew safe.
Frobisher and Jellicoe, shipmates,
survivors, two of a kind.
Forever on the Waves
by Lucy Aikman
“Who’s this?” I stare down through the cracked glass of the frame at the
faded image.
“That’s private,” Grandad barks, his weathered hand pulling it from me. He
snaps his ‘odds and ends’ drawer shut. I huff and turn away but sneak a look
behind me, at him reaching to the top of the wardrobe.
Later, after tea, when Grandad’s busy with his pipe, I drag Grandma’s dress-
ing table stool over and climb up, groping in the dust. I wrap the treasure in
my cardigan hiding it beneath the bed in the little room where I’m staying.
That night, under the blankets, by the light of my torch, I take it in. A little girl,
definitely not my Dad, nestled between Grandad and Grandma. Who is she?
I toss and turn tangled in the sheets, waking hot to gulls keening, glad I’m
safe in bed, not out there lost on the waves.
I know who she is. I understand. Why Grandad never takes me down to the
water when I visit because,
“The sea is not a place for little girls.” Why Grandma squeezes me tighter
than my brothers, whispering,
“Little girls are a gift to be cherished.”
IMT at
Heritage Open Day
A celebration
of Ipswich’s
maritime
heritage
Saturday
7th September
2024
Getting hitched in Ipswich
Tying the
knot
suggests
a happy
union.
Telling
someone
to ‘get
knotted’
indicates a less than joyous
outcome. The knotting workshops
on board sb Victor, during last
September’s Heritage Open
Days, had visitors queuing up
for an experience somewhere in
between!
“There’s such a simple pleasure
in working with rope and crafting
a knot into something useful,”
reflects Jon Cobbold, IMT trustee
and one of the crew on Victor.
“Just as our forebears would
have done, on long voyages,
or whiling away time in port,
we encouraged visitors to get
knotting! Meanwhile, we were
drawing attention to our maritime
heritage - not just the words and
phrases that have passed into
everyday use, but the traditions
and trade upon which our ports
and harbours have flourished
over the centuries.”
Many of the visitors were
enjoying the opportunity to
explore a barge built in Ipswich
over a hundred years ago and
still trading. And while local
resident Andrew Halligan
was pleased his nephew
Isaac was so enthralled, for
him the old photos in the
exhibition in the Old Custom
House were a real highlight. “To
see some of the earliest photos in
the world, of Ipswich, and to have
the maritime artefacts explained
to us, was fascinating.”
The day began with a book
signing: the final edition (sequel)
of Band of Brothers, the definitive
directory of bargemen associated
with the port of Ipswich. Author
Barry Girling was joined by
Chalky Cooper (see photo, right),
whose first appearance in the
book (on page 14) shows him
at the age of 15 at the helm of
Marjorie … in 1958. Another
photo, (on page 120 in the early
1980s, by this time in colour),
has him at the wheel of Ardwina,
the last sailing barge laid down in
Ipswich.
The deputy mayor, Councillor
Lynne Mortimer, unveiled a
THE DAY IN NUMBERS
353 recorded visitors
100 cup cakes
40 bacon butties
Dozens of maritime artefacts and models
10 copies of Band of Brothers signed and sold
3 venues (Victor, Old Custom House; Window
Museum)
3 shanty groups (Shefarers of Pin Mill and
friends; The Orwellermen; Shotley Wailers)
2 knotting workshops
2 quizzes
1 painting competition
1 super-size Union Jack
1 Deputy Mayor (Councillor Lynne Mortimer)
new heritage information
board outside the Old
Custom House, sponsored
by Hudsons Signs, and
supported by All About
Ipswich and ABP.
This ceremony was followed
by an afternoon of glorious sea
shanties wafting over the water,
from The Orwellermen and the
Shefarers of Pin Mill, on board
Victor, and the Shotley Wailers
stationed on the steps of the Old
Custom House.
Many thanks to the IMT team
who contributed considerable
time and energy in dressing
Victor, setting out the exhibits
in the OCH, and chatting with
the crowds. Particular thanks
to Richard Hughes from The
Orwellermen, Jane Chevous from
the Shefarers of Pin Mill and
friends, and the Shotley Wailers;
to ABP for the use of the OCH;
to Wes and his crew on Victor;
and to Frances McGready for the
wonderful cup cakes, and her
neighbour for the very large flag!
PHOTOS clockwise from top right:
Councillor Lynne Mortimer unveils
the new information board; Cathy
Shelbourne takes a break; Frances
McGready baked the cakes; Phil
Hubert with an insurance document
for his ancestor; Chalky Cooper
(left) and Barry Girling with his
Band of Brothers book; Skipper
David Westwood; Orwellermen and
Shefarers; and the Shotley Wailers.
Heritage Open Days 2025
We will be celebrating Heritage Open Days this year on
Saturday 13th September and Sunday 14th September. Do
please put the dates in your diary now!
The theme of this year’s Heritage Open Days nationwide is
Architecture. We will be highlighting not just the historic buildings
around Ipswich’s Heritage Harbour, but also the people behind the
places and vessels: the naval architects, yacht designers, and boat
builders.
Suffolk has some extraordinary links with England’s maritime
past, and IMT will be delving into these associations, along with
other members of the Heritage Harbour network.
On the next page we introduce naval architect Thomas Slade,
buried in Ipswich, designer of many of Admiral Lord Nelson’s ships.
Below we examine Nelson’s own links with Ipswich.
And in our next issue, we’ll be following up the Journey of Words
new AR (augmented reality) trail around Ipswich, available through
the walking app Go Jauntly, with particular reference to Ipswich
Schoolboy Edward Ardizzone and his maritime connections.
Freedom of Ipswich
Admiral Lord Nelson,
possibly Norfolk’s most
famous son, and England’s
greatest naval hero, also had some
interesting connections to Suffolk.
He was awarded the Freedom
of Ipswich following his victory
at the Battle of the Nile in 1799,
and was made High Steward of
Ipswich in 1800, a position which
is held for life. Unfortunately, in
Nelson’s case, this was only until
1805.
Nelson visited Ipswich (with his
mistress Emma, Lady Hamilton,
and her husband Sir William) but
did not stay at Roundwood House,
the property purchased by his
wife Fanny.
Roundwood House was
demolished in the 1960s, and St
John’s primary school built in its
place. A collection of bricks from
the house, with a plaque, can be
seen in the school. And many of
the names of the roads nearby
have a Nelson connection: Victory,
Trafalgar, Roundwood, as well
as Hamilton House, and the old
Trafalgar pub on Spring Road.
Apparently, the Lord Nelson pub
in Fore Street changed its name
after Nelson rode through the
town. A bust of Nelson, and other
ephemera of the era, are kept in a
locked display case in the pub.
The Town Hall has a portrait
of Nelson (a copy of one
commissioned by Norwich City
Council) and various items
purporting to have come from the
timbers of the Victory, Nelson’s
ship at the Battle of Trafalgar, on
which he died on 21st October 1805
STILL TIME TO OWN A PIECE OF
HISTORY
This document, giving the grant of
freedom of Ipswich to Admiral Lord
Nelson in 1799, was auctioned in
London last November, guide price
£3-5k. Sadly, no one bought it.
Sometime Surveyor to the Navy
At the Battle of Trafalgar
in 1805, almost a quarter
of Nelson’s fleet, bearing
nearly a third of the fleet’s guns,
was designed by Sir Thomas
Slade, who is buried in Ipswich.
Thomas Slade was born in 1703
or 1704 to a well-established
family of Ipswich and Harwich
shipbuilders and probably began
his apprenticeship at Deptford
Yard, on the River Thames, in
1718.
He became the naval overseer
to the building of fourth-rate
Harwich in Harwich, in 1742,
and two years later surveyed
Sandwich Harbour and helped
the planning of improvements
to Sheerness, following which he
was appointed assistant master
shipwright at Woolwich. When
Thomas’ uncle, Benjamin, was
ordered by Admiral Anson, First Lord of the Admiralty,
to examine the lines of
some French prizes, he
commissioned Thomas
to make plans of them.
As a result Thomas
became the protégé of
Anson, and was moved
in turn from Plymouth, where he
had replaced his deceased uncle,
to Woolwich, Chatham and finally
to Deptford in 1753, from where
he continued to advise Anson.
In 1747 Thomas Slade married
Hannah Moore of Ipswich (died
1763) and they had one son, Thomas Moore Slade.
When, in 1755, the incumbent
surveyor of the navy, Sir Thomas
Allin, was taken ill, the Admiralty
appointed Thomas Slade joint
surveyor, with William Bately.
By this time Thomas Slade was
already designing ships and his
early designs included the first
British-designed 74s, which were
a new type that became the staple
of the British fleet until after the
Napoleonic Wars ended in 1815.
Slade started designing smaller
ships in 1756 and developed the
true frigate, which still comprised
two decks, but with an unarmed
lower deck, and with guns on the
upper-deck of a larger size than
those on previous ships of this
rating.
In 1756 Slade began work
on the design of his only first
rate, which was to become
HMS Victory. Victory was not
launched until 1765 but, whilst
having exceptionally good sailing
qualities, she did not see service
during Slade’s life. Slade was a
prolific ship designer, for which
he was knighted in 1768, but he
died in Bath in 1771. His designs
continued to be used until well
after his death, Victory being his
greatest memorial as she is still
preserved today, at Portsmouth
Historic Dockyard, but his designs
of many 74, 64, 32 and 28 guns
were also very successful.
Sir Thomas Slade’s body was
brought back to Ipswich and
buried in St Clement’s churchyard,
where a plaque commemorating
Thomas and Hannah is displayed
today - and a model of the Victory
can be seen inside the church.
Peter Turner
Editor: The Kedge Anchor
(Magazine of the 1805 Club)
SLADE IN IPSWICH
Above left: The
plaque in St
Clement’s
churchyard
commemorates
“Sir Thomas Slade,
sometime Surveyor
to the Navy, who in
that capacity was
responsible for
the design of HMS
Victory”[far left, at
Portsmouth].
Above: Slade Street,
at the back of the
Old Custom House.
From the archives
A true story from the Image Archive by IMT's Image Archivist Stuart Grimwade
We Did Mean To Go
To Sea
Having been an avid reader
of Arthur Ransome’s
books as a schoolboy, it
was my hope that it might be
possible to do more than continue
sailing about in old dinghies
at Woolverstone and Pin Mill,
something I’d nevertheless loved
doing from a very early age. My
chance came quite unexpectedly
one evening in Pin Mill Sailing
Club at the end of my first
term at university. At the bar
that night was Roddy Rodwell,
recently widowed and retired
from his London job. He told me
that before WWII he had been
a barge skipper. so had decided
to buy a barge and that he was
now planning to live on it at Pin
Mill. His plan was to convert the
barge to be his new home, re-rig
her, and enjoy sailing her around
the Thames estuary. He needed
a volunteer to help him do that –
was I interested?
With the prospect of at least
four years of free holiday time to
come I jumped at the chance, and
so began an apprenticeship like
no other.
By the early summer of 1966,
Millie was re-rigged, tarred
and painted and fitted with
what proved to be a rather
inappropriate second-hand bus
engine, while her newly created
state rooms were proudly
furnished from Roddy’s old
London home complete with
sofas, ‘standard’ lamp, and cooker.
Going to sea to explore Roddy’s
old haunts, the ‘swatchways’,
anchorages and pubs of the
Thames estuary, was my reward,
and he was most generous in
teaching me something of his
huge knowledge of these waters
and how to handle a barge safely
in them. He seemed not to need
any form of navigation aid,
claiming ‘I know where I am just
by the feel and look of the water’.
An old bargeman’s tale? Who
knows, but I had total faith in him,
and it says something about his
skill that the standard lamp never
needed tying down as it never
once fell over.
IMT Collection and Archive
The IMT’s amazing image archive is available online. Either browse the
entire digital collection on www.ipswichmaritimetrust.org.uk/image-
archive, or, if for specific advice or help, please contact image-archive@
ipswichmaritimetrust.org.uk.
Our collection of maritime artefacts has been photographed by
our volunteers, and catalogued on eHive, a web-based cataloguing system.
This can be viewed at ipswichmaritimetrust.org.uk/collection-and-archive/
If you can help with looking after these collections, or would like to submit
photos or objects relating to Ipswich’s maritime heritage, please contact us at info@ipswichmaritimetrust.org.uk
Talk
back
IMT
talks and events
in Autumn 2024
and Spring 2025
Maritime Photography with Anthony Cullen
Wednesday 2nd October 2024
It takes an artist’s eye and a
technologist’s brain to capture the
beauty of the Orwell. That seemed
to be the message of Anthony Cullen’s
talk on how to take pictures of boats
and waterscapes, and it reminded me
of the writer CP Snow.
In 1959, Snow delivered his famous
polemic, Two Cultures, decrying what
he saw as the damaging schism that
existed in British intellectual life,
between science and the arts. Today,
though, we are in a world where
science has so much to say about
the most pressing issues of our time
- think pandemics, climate change,
cyber warfare – that as a society we
have had to up our game. Thus, my
children tell me, (as they probably
would about anything from the ‘50s),
this notion of polarisation is rather
dated.
Certainly, the evidence of Anthony’s
talk would suggest that this is the
case. Photography is an obvious place
to bring science and art together, and
so it was in the juxtaposition of what
he said with what he showed us.
What he said was an informative,
occasionally technical, discourse
on some principles of picture
composition, on f stops and aperture
settings, on ASA and DIN numbers,
on burning and dodging. We learnt
about making rippled water look
glassy (use the right filter, a tight
aperture and a long exposure), and
the best way to capture the spray
around a boat (fast shutter speed,
illuminate the droplets with sunshine
from behind, if you can).
He explained how about leading
lines in picture composition, and the
appeal of an image split one third:
two thirds by a strong horizontal or
vertical line, (but not when a perfect
reflection in the surface of the water
is the point of the picture). He talked
about the planning he does for
certain shots, so that he can be ready
for the best combination of wind,
tide and sunlight. (There’s an app,
apparently, which will let you choose
on a map the side of a building that
you want to photograph, and it’ll tell
you the time when the angle of the
sun will best illuminate it).
He gave us his view of the etiquette
of drones, (let common sense and
common decency prevail!), and
reassured those of us unlikely to rush
out and buy expensive gear, that often
the best camera to use is the one we
all have in our pocket.
Then there was what he showed
us: his photographs, his art. Those
pictures spoke to us - or at least to
me - in a very different, non-technical
way. I read somewhere about the
research on the calming effect, in
our stressful lives, of the company
of pets, how people’s blood pressure
drops when they stroke their dogs.
And so it is for me when I look at
those pictures of Anthony’s. When
the day is absolutely calm, the grey,
flat water stretches away and blends
imperceptibly with the distant mist,
and there’s something hanging in
the middle distance - a rowing boat,
maybe, or a grebe, or a wooden
post - and it’s somehow hard to tell
whether it’s floating on the water or
in the air.
When I look at that - or perhaps
a shot of a group of barges barely
making a wake - the cares of the
world recede just a little bit. The calm
is calming.
Then there’s the thrill of a boat at
speed, the foaming briny at its bow
and streaming away from its stern.
For some, the thrill is greater when
it’s a newfangled craft blatting on its
foils across Alton Water at breakneck
speed. Me, I’m just as excited when
it’s one of our own barges ploughing
away at a sprightly six knots.
No matter: it takes artistry and
technical prowess to give us all those
moments, captured in time. And we
are very grateful to Anthony for his
mastery of both.
Ben Good
Oysterland screening with Matthew Harrison
Wednesday 6th November 2024
I daresay Roman Emperor Vitellius
and Matthew Harrison’s gran
don’t have much in common, but
one thing they do have is a love of
Colchester oysters. We know about
the former because he had them
carried from Mersea Island to Rome
packed in ice. We know about the
latter because of the extraordinary
gusto with which she slurped through
a pile of them in the middle of
Matthew’s film, Oyster Land.
One of the great pleasures of our
time, with its great production values
and Late Period David Attenborough,
is to watch faraway places brought
to our screens with extreme clarity.
An even greater pleasure, though, is
to see our own backyard similarly
brought to life. And, whilst the Colne
and the Blackwater may be the wrong
side of the Stour for some of us, we
could nonetheless see much of our
own experiences in Oyster Land’s
depiction of mud and workboats,
and cold hands and the grey melding
together of estuary mud and skies.
Matthew, a recent graduate of
Norwich University, spent two years
with the oystermen, their boats and
their waters, to create a film which
has fully absorbed their culture and
sense of place, a place with which he
too has strong family connections.
Thus, the film is much like oysters
themselves - they are also uniquely
of their local marine environment: as
I am sure Matthew’s gran would say,
it’s not just the tang of the sea she is
savouring, it’s the tang of Mersea.
The Roman poet Lucilius put it
IMT Newsletter Spring 2025 ... page 20
thus:
“When I
but see the
oyster’s
shell, I
recognise
the river,
marsh
or mud
where
it was
raised.” So it was with Oyster
Land.
Oyster harvesting is - I hadn’t
realised - an interesting hybrid of
farming and fishing. Its long history
includes times when oysters were
very much the food of the commoner
- in 1864, 700 million of them were
eaten in London alone, (quite who
counted is unclear) - and Matthew’s
film featured one weathered
fellow who is his family’s seventh
generation of oystermen.
But the film also took us away from
the water, to see how the nobs of
Colchester celebrate the town’s long
oystering tradition, with their gold
chains and archaic intonations. It
did feel, looking at them in the town
hall in their finery, rather distant
from the reality of rubber boots and
woolly hats out on the chilly river a
few miles away. Not, I suppose, that it
was Matthew’s intention to call into
question those proceedings. For me,
though, a more authentic celebration
could be seen in his grandmother’s
slurps and the oyster liquor running
down her chin.
Ben Good
A Maritime Medley
Steamboat Tavern, Ipswich
Wednesday 4th December
The final event in the IMT
Sea Hear season of events,
the Maritime Medley was
a wonderful evening of singers,
shanties and maritime heritage,
led by Richard Hughes of the
Orwellermen, Jane Chevous of the
Shefarers of Pin Mill, and Claudia
Myatt and Julia Dansie from Quay
Notes.
All the shanties and songs were
chosen for their particular links to
our maritime heritage – especially
Nelson’s Blood (see box), or their
suitability for singing along to. Quay
Notes accompanied themselves on
harp and guitar, and gave us Herring
Girl, Sea Fever, and Sailor Girl – a
composition by Claudia highlighting
the perversity of a seafaring life for
women - as well as a few Celtic tunes.
The singers were joined by IMT
members Cathy Shelbourne talking
about Nelson’s connections with
Ipswich (see News on page 16),
and Chalky Cooper regaling us with
stories from his working days on the
docks (as featured at the Heritage
Open Days 2024, page 15).
Drunken Sailor is one of the few
shanties that the Royal Navy sang and
is probably the best known shanty.
It’s a ‘Stamp and Go’ or a marching
shanty following a marching beat. It
might be used for hauling sails. The
sailors would hold the rope in a long
line and march away, hauling the sail
as they went. Obviously this only
worked on large ships where there
was room to march!
The Orwellermen also sang
Marching Inland. Although not
strictly a shanty it is a song of the
sea telling the tale of a sailor who
has decided that it is time to stop
sailing and march inland carrying an
oar over his shoulder. It makes many
historic references to the great sea
heroes of Britain, and finishes with
the warning “Never cast your anchor
less than Ninety miles from shore,
There’d always be the temptation to
be off to sea no more!” Perhaps the
grass is always greener on the other
side and sailors secretly want to leave
the hard life of the sea behind and
settle down ashore!
To finish the evening, everyone
sang Leave Her Johnny. This is very
often sung by shanty crews at the end
of an evening of song, referencing the
return to port, taking your pay and
enjoying the pleasures of home.
Many thanks to the staff at the
Steamboat Tavern.
Cathy Shelbourne and
Richard Hughes
Nelson’s Blood
Legend has it that Admiral Lord
Nelson’s body was placed in a
barrel of spirits after his death at
Trafalgar in 1805, and transported
thus back to England. Apparently,
holes were drilled in the sides and
the liquid drained, the assumption
being that the sailors drank his blood
during the voyage back home.
Should you want to try some
Nelson’s Blood yourself, the recipe
includes Pusser’s Rum, peach puree,
cranberry juice, pineapple juice, and
Angostura’s bitters.
Or you can sing along to the shanty
A Drop of Nelson’s Blood (wouldn’t
do us any harm), describing what the
sailors would miss while at sea for a
long time. The shanty was sung while
carrying out certain jobs aboard
sailing ships.
The Wellermen
Ipswich’s very own Orwellermen
pay homage in their name to
‘wellermen’ - supply ships owned
by the Weller brothers, merchant
traders who settled in New
Zealand. More famously, the folk
song Soon May the Wellerman
Come, became a viral hit on
TikTok in 2021, and generated
huge worldwide interest in sea
shanties and maritime songs.
An Evening with the Museum
Wednesday 5th February 2025
Ipswich
Museum’s
management
team have
fascinating
challenges
before them as
they navigate its
multi-year, £11m
refurbishment.
The building
itself should go in
a museum. Built
in 1880, the Grade 2* listed building
is somewhat unusual in having been
built specifically for the purpose
of being a museum. It has had no
significant work on it in 40 years,
and so there’s a huge amount to be
done to secure it structurally, and
to bring it up to modern standards
of visitor experience, ambience
and accessibility. Amongst other
things, we were told by Alison Hall,
Museums Manager, Ipswich, this
entails so much scaffolding that if
the poles were lain end-to-end they
would go all the way to Felixstowe.
And although it would be obviously
more convenient to remove all the
exhibition materials while the work
is ongoing, that is too difficult for
some items. Thus, the big beasts - the
giraffe, the rhino and the gorilla -
have had special cages built for them.
That brings us to another major
challenge: how to do justice to the full
breadth of the collection - covering
anthropology, natural history,
industrial history, archaeology, etc -
whilst also telling a coherent story
about Ipswich? And more particularly
for the audience faced by Philip
Wise, Heritage Manager, Colchester +
Ipswich Museums, how to do justice
to our maritime heritage?
The answer is that our maritime
links are so fundamental to Ipswich’s
history that these references will
crop up all over the new museum.
Philip reminded us about the coins
from Byzantium (Istanbul today)
found at Anglo-Saxon Rendlesham,
demonstrating the Anglo-Saxons’
international trading activities and
thus Ipswich’s raison d’etre. The so-
Alison Hall, left, with encased giraffe and
rhino; and right, Philip Wise with the
Marshall Islands map.
called ‘Ipswich
comb’ is a Viking
relic, reminding
us of the
influence of those
international
seafarers. Philip
did, however,
share the
disappointing
news that our
‘Viking anchor’
is in fact more
likely to be late medieval (personally,
I thought that’s still quite impressive,
and he showed us a familiar drawing
of the (very) Old Custom House as it
looked in those times to go with it,
but anyway…).
Fast forward a few centuries, and
we enjoyed John Moore’s surprisingly
bucolic 1882 painting of Ipswich
docks. In turn, Philip acknowledged
the contribution of our own Des
Pawson in providing a number of
sail- and rope-making tools from
around Dock End Yard, and of Stuart
Grimwade, for the images from our
collection that will also be used.
It seems, too, we will be treated to
several fine ships models, including
an East Indiaman whose model was
used by an eminent Cobbold to raise
funds for shipwrecked sailors; a
fruit schooner built by Halifax and
Baileys for speed not capacity; and a
brig, a prize from the Crimean War
and subsequently used by Ipswich
merchants.
We look forward too to the old
navigational equipment that will be
on show. It’s fun to admire the bright
brass-work and fine craftmanship of
the 18ᵗʰ century sextant, telescope
and compass. But my favourite navaid
is the Marshall Islands sailing chart
of a similar era, made only with sticks
and cowrie shells representing ocean
currents and islands respectively.
Hard as the navigational challenge
is for the museum refurbishment
team, finding your way around the
Pacific Ocean with no more than a
driftwood lattice rather takes the
biscuit for me!
Ben Good
Heritage
Last year’s
Heritage Open
Days event on
the Ipswich
Waterfront
brought together
lots of people
– and their
memories.
BARRY GIRLING,
author of books
including
Ipswich
Memories of a
Special Town,
and Band of
Brothers,
pays tribute to
David Miller.
Remembering David Miller
Local residents who found
themselves under the spell
of the town whilst it was still
in its heyday in the 1950s, should
not be forgotten. This was an era
before the old traditional ways
gave way to decline during the
ensuing decade.
One such was David Miller
whose home in Levington Road
was very conveniently placed for
the great dock and all that went
with it. He took it upon himself to
record the shipping movements at
Ipswich and more besides.
By 1966 both David and I had
become members of the Society
for Spritsail Barge Research*,
as it was then known. The aim
of the organisation is to foster
and encourage research in all
its aspects and to build up a
comprehensive picture of such
vessels.
David thrived in such an
environment. In 1968 the
shipping registers held by the
customs authorities at an office in
Museum Street were examined.
This helped to establish a list
of Ipswich-built wooden sailing
craft.
The town was unique in
having a fleet of commercial
sailing vessels still operating in
the mid twentieth century, the
well-known proprietors being
Cranfield Brothers and R&W Paul.
David Miller at Southwold Lifeboat Museum
The town’s wealth of
engineering works, maltings,
mills and warehouses acted as a
magnet to seaborne traffic both
from the metropolis and further
afield.
From my own perspective, I
recall that it was easy to become
captivated by the local scene
which sometimes included
an element of pageantry. For
instance, Mr Cobbold’s brewery
drays, drawn by fine Suffolk
horses were a familiar sight at
many of the local hostelries. Not
to be outdone, Mr Ransome’s
dignified electric Orwell lorry
was another joy to behold as it
trundled about in the vicinity
of the Duke Street Works. Over
Stoke, the Locomotive Depot’s
steam extravaganza was clearly
visible from the bridge over
Luther Road near the entrance to
the tunnel.
In such a setting as this,
the young Mr Miller, who had
received a good grounding in the
Ipswich Sea Cadets, determined to
discover more. He sought out the
friendly skippers of the barges,
whether still under sail or those
which had been converted to
motor. At this time all the skippers
would have had experience of sail.
David was successful in arranging
several trips to the Thames
which gave him an insight into
the sailorman’s life. In doing so,
he became well acquainted with
Cranfield’s motor barges Ethel
and especially Gladys.
He would no doubt have
enjoyed the passage to London
with skipper Sidney Waters,
although it is recalled that David
considered that it was a hard life.
Invariably his camera was at the
ready and although he captured
many urban scenes, it is his local
maritime images that he is best
remembered for. Following on
from a long line of well-known
Ipswich photographers, David’s
visual records of the time are of
considerable value and a timely
reminder of a special way of life.
I for one have benefited greatly
from his photographic skills.
Some examples of David Miller’s
work are shown here.
With thanks to Angela Miller
and Don Wright.
Barry Girling
*NB Many of David’s photos are
held by the Society for Sailing
Barge Research https://www.
sailingbargeresearch.org.uk/ssbr-
archive/
A selection of David Miller’s photos,
including (below) Ethel under the
watchful eye of lock keeper James
Orvis. Right, (from top), taking a
bow: Gladys, Kimberley, Ethel, Beric;
(middle), a stern view, from left to
right: Beric, Ethel, Kimberley and
Gladys; (below) Dock End with a
backdrop of Ransomes & Rapier.
Book reviews
James Lawrence Sailmakers
Ipswich Maritime Trust
was lucky that we had
Jim Lawrence, who died
last year, aged 90, come
and talk to us a number of
times. In 2018 Chaffcutter
Books published London
Light, a Sailorman’s Story,
an autobiography in his
own words, covering his
barging life, which was just
like Jim giving us his talks.
Now comes his second
book, James Lawrence
Sailmakers, covering
his time as a traditional
sailmaker extraordinaire.
He speaks of the people and
vessels that he, and later his
team, made sails for.
It starts out with his
time repairing barge
sails in a fisherman’s
store in Brightlingsea,
Essex, and going on to
actual sailmaking, gaining
knowledge from Percy
(Jack) Gladwell from
Whitmore’s Sail Loft in
Ipswich. As he grew he
moved to more suitable
James Lawrence
Sailmakers
by James Lawrence
co.uk/product/james-
lawrence-sailmakers
£19.50
premises, a shop that once
sold prams, cots and baby
paraphernalia, and then,
as his business grew still
more, he moved to larger
premises on Tower Street,
Brightlingsea. Over the
years he made sails for
every kind of traditional
and classic craft, from
winkle brigs to smacks,
bawleys, barges and square
rigged sail training vessels:
vessels that are themselves
well known, some stars of
television and film.
The very existence of
his loft has meant that
the skills needed to make
traditional sails have been
preserved. Indeed, it could
be said that he also enabled
those traditional vessels to
sail as they always did. His
reputation was world-wide
and over the years he had
a number of people come
from other parts of the
world to work for him, who
have gone on to set up their
own lofts.
In this book, Jim speaks
as if directly to all those
people he worked with in
the loft: the owners and
characters, their ships and
boats that formed his life
as a sailmaker. All this with
many illustrations, a great
story, making a great book.
Des Pawson
The Sea Bird
by Rozelle Raynes
Published by
Golden Duck
£11.99
The Sea Bird The author’s very first boat was appropriately
named Imp: its owner has an impish sense of
humour, which irrepressibly sustains her – and
the reader - through this extraordinary tale of her
escapades at sea after leaving war service in the WRNS.
The Imp was a lifeboat converted into a cabin cruiser,
and Rozelle Raynes first made her acquaintance in
West Mersea.
“I shall never forget the unique and indescribable
thrill of standing on the Essex mud-flats gazing across
the still grey water at that funny little boat, so like my
childhood pictures of Noah’s Ark. She nodded to me in
the wash of a passing coaster and seemed to whisper,
“I’m just the sort of boat you’re looking for!”
But while Rozelle might have given observers the
impression that she was a novice – “What do you know
about navigation?” demands her hapless cousin and
crew as they go aground on the Maplin Sands – actually
she is as tough as nails, with an acute sense of the
absurd. “As we stumbled through the glutinous black
mud on to the Essex saltings, a policeman rose up from
behind a windswept tussock and ordered us to follow
IMT Newsletter Spring 2025 ... page 24 Naval Seamen’s Women in 19th Century Britain
This is a big book
(372pp) on a huge
subject (the lives of
women connected to the
lower deck seamen in the
nineteenth century), and
comes with a substantial
price tag: £95 for the
hardback or £19.99 for an
ebook.
Author Melanie Holihead
was the winner of the
Institute of Historical
Research’s Sir Julian Corbett
Prize in Modern Naval
History 2012, and the 2018-
19 Doctoral Prize awarded
by the British Commission
for Maritime History, and
completed her doctorate at
the University of Oxford.
In this book, she uncovers
the lives of the mothers,
sisters, foster-mothers of
motherless children, and
wives, through her research
into the allotment scheme –
by which men could convey
portions of their pay to
dependants at home – and
into civil, parish and local
data. She analyses the
differences between naval
and civilian lives of families
back home, and the impact
of long-term absence, and
also the changing attitudes
to such women.
But for me the most
interesting aspect
of the book is how it
highlights the absence
of acknowledgement of
women’s roles by the Royal
Navy in the nineteenth
century. Why was there
such little concern for
these women, who had
such an enormous effect
on the men’s morale
and performance, and
presence? When their wives
were so impoverished by
the meagre ‘allotments’, the
sailors would invariably
abandon sea service and
seek work ashore.
Dr Holihead alludes to
an interview with historian
Bettany Hughes (Why Were
Women Written Out Of
History? 2016) in which
Naval Seamen’s Women
in Nineteenth-Century
Britain
by Melanie Holihead
Published by
Boydell and Brewer
£19.99/£95
she says “women aren’t
allowed to be characters
in history, they have to be
stereotypes.” She maintains
that the stereotyping
of seamen’s women as
prostitutes – think of all
the cartoons, etchings,
ballads and jokes of the
time – has not only not
been refuted, but ignores
the individuality of women
and their unsupported lives
in which children had to be
fed and educated, loaves
baked, floors washed,
relatives cared for etc.
“It is the business of the
historian to plunge into
the deep waters of the past
and to bring up vanished
lives,” wrote Professor
NAM Rodger, historian
of the Royal Navy (and
her research supervisor).
Bearing in mind that the
mid-nineteenth century
Navy had around 38,000
men on its books (mainly
alive but some dead or
fictitious), most of whom
would have female (and
male) dependants, it is
astonishing how little we
know about them.
Until now!
Cathy Shelbourne
him. We were bundled into the back of a rural Black Maria
and driven swiftly inland to the Foulness police station.”
And in due course, their captor plied them with fried eggs
and bacon, and found a mechanic to restore the engine of
the stranded Imp.
Nothing appears to faze her. Setting out on a single-
handed voyage across the Channel she has a surprise
encounter with a heifer, slices some paint off a smart
Belgian motor cruiser, and with “mooring lines heaped
like grubby spaghetti,” advances stern first into the
harbour “trying to give the impression to everyone who
was watching that this was my normal method of entering
harbour.”
Further single handed sailing trips follow, including to
Russia – for no apparent reason, although the Series Editor
Julia Jones provides a clue in her perceptive Introduction,
that of a marriage breakdown – before she joins the
Merchant Navy as assistant purser on the Free Enterprise
car ferry and finally finds happiness, and double-handed
sailing, with a new husband. A very amusing read.
Cathy Shelbourne
Marine artist Claudia Myatt in her studio in Martlesham, with her
foreword to The Sea Bird, for which she also designed the cover,
from a sketch by Rozelle Raynes
Obituary
IMT member PAUL RIDGWAY pays tribute to Richard Woodman,
Trinity House staff and Board member, and acclaimed author
Captain Richard Woodman,
LVO MNM FNI
Photos © The Corporation of Trinity House, London
IMT Newsletter Spring 2025 ... page 26
Born in London in
March 1944, at
school Richard
Woodman’s great love
was sea scouting and he
recalled leaving his last
GCE examination to take
the Portsmouth train to
join the yawl Nordwind,
on passage to Oslo for
the 1960 Sail Training
Race. Returning home
he attended an Outward
Bound Course at
Aberdovey, a creditable
performance of which
saw him accepted as a
midshipman in Alfred
Holt of Liverpool’s Glen
and Blue Funnel Lines
with fast cargo-liners
trading to the Far East.
He obtained his Second
Mate’s Certificate in 1964
and remained with Holts
for a further two years,
during which he obtained
a First Mate’s Certificate.
Attracted by the smart
vessels of Trinity House
he approached them
only to be told there
were no vacancies, so
he spent a winter in
the North Atlantic in an
Ocean Weather Ship.
After big ships this
was ‘a transformative
experience,’ with ‘much
left to the initiative and
activity of the officer-of-
the-watch.’
In 1967 a vacancy
occurred in the Trinity
House Service and
Woodman joined THV
Alert, based in Swansea
and tender to the
adjacent waters. Two
years later he passed
for Master in Cardiff. In
1971 he was promoted
and moved to Harwich
from which port he was
to spend the remainder
of his career, first in THV
Ready and, a year later,
THV Patricia. This ship’s
duties were even more
varied than those of the
other vessels, ranging
from the routine tasks of
buoyage maintenance,
lighthouse supply and
lightvessel towing, to
carrying out inspections
with the Corporation’s
Board, and occasionally
escorting the monarch
when embarked in HMY
Britannia.
In 1973 Woodman
was promoted First
Officer, remaining in
Patricia, thriving on the
multiplicity of tasks his
ship was engaged upon.
In his spare moments he
had ‘begun scribbling’
and in 1980, the same
year that he was
promoted Commander
and took charge of THV
Winston Churchill, the
first of his Nathaniel
Drinkwater historical
novels, was published.
During the summers
of 1983/1984 he and
several colleagues were
seconded to command
chartered deep-water
trawlers acting as
guardships during the
sub-sea operation linking
the national grids of
the UK and France in
Operation Channel Cable.
For much of this time
Woodman was Guard
Commodore of three
ships whose presence in
the busy international
shipping channel was
not only vital, but proved
dangerously exciting.
L W
L W
ight upon
ight upon
the
the
aters
aters
The History of Trinity House
1514 - 2014
P R E F A C E B Y
hrh The Princess Royal
master of trinity house
F O R E W O R D B Y
hrh The Prince Philip
Duke of Edinburgh
Andrew Adams and
Richard Woodman
He
subsequently
commanded THVs
Stella and a new
Patricia (built 1982)
before coming ashore
in 1991 to join Trinity
House operational
management at Harwich.
His publisher, John
Murray, commissioned
him to write Arctic
Convoys, 1941 – 1945,
which was published to
critical acclaim in 1994.
He followed this with
Malta Convoys and The
Real Cruel Sea, a prize-
winning study of the
Merchant Navy in the
Battle of the Atlantic.
Several of his books
won prizes, others
such as Voyage East, an
account of a Blue Funnel
liner’s voyage to the Far
East, became a classic of
the genre. He produced
a five-volume history
of the Merchant Navy –
‘this country’s greatest
squandered asset,’ and
a magisterial history
of East India Company
shipping. This last he
published privately as he
did not ‘want any editor
cutting it down.’
In 2006 he was
elected to the Trinity
House Board, the first
staff member to be so
honoured.
He died on 2nd
October 2024 aged 80.
News
FROM THE COMPANY OF ROYALS TO THE MUD AT PIN MILL
News
The story of Mariquita
Our thanks go to Mark Emberton for
his generous gift of a sumptuous
book documenting the life of yacht
Mariquita.
She was built in 1911 by William Fife
as one of the new of 19 M class big racing
yachts, at a time when this was definitely
a pastime for the very rich, popularised by
the enthusiasm in particular of the kings
Edward VII and his son George V, the ‘sailor
king.’ The 19M were built both for speed and
hospitality – regulated class
specifications included "an ice
chest of not less than 25 cubic
feet" - but not very many of
them were built (and today
Mariquita is the last surviving
example). In a changing world,
their time in the sun was
quite brief. Appearances at
prestigious regattas
gave way to lower key
cruising, and finally
she was converted into
a houseboat in West
Mersea. Recalls one
observer: "the mast
Above: The hulk of
Mariquita in Ipswich
Harbour in 1991.
Below: The book set
now in IMT’s collection.
was sawn through just above the deck.... with
a groan and a shudder 96 '6" of mast fell
overboard."
She spent World War 2 in Woodbridge,
and by the 1960s was in Pin Mill, her 40 T
lead keel removed and an incongruous deck
house added. And there she would have lain,
slowly subsiding amongst her deliquescing
peers, just another old wreck barely noticed
by Butt and Oyster walkers.
But in 1991 she was rescued. She was
floated off the mud and carefully moved up
the river to Ipswich docks. Shotley resident
Johno Brett assisted with the operation, his
fishing boat acting as stern tug for the trip
up the Orwell. Johno remembers seeing a
lot of holes drilled through her frames for
gas pipes, which was to add significantly to
the work needed later. In Ipswich, she was
lifted onto a lighter and thence towed to the
Hamble for full restoration.
Fully restored by 1994 and back to her
former glory - 125' LOa, 582 m² sail area,
79T displacement - she is now a regular on
the posh yacht regatta circuit. Unfortunately,
she is not available for private charter,
so IMT will not be offering our members
cruises on her for the foreseeable future. We
can, however, let you have a look at Mark’s
wonderful book if you are interested.
Ben Good
Legacy giving
Would you consider making provision for Ipswich Maritime
Trust in your will?
When you look back over your life and your achievements,
on or off the water, and the enjoyment you experienced, and what our
maritime history has meant to you, how can you ensure that the next
generation can benefit too?
Ipswich Maritime Trust is launching a series of initiatives for
young people to get involved in maritime activities and careers. At
the same time, we will continue to promote our maritime heritage,
and run events for all ages. As discussed on page 6, we are also now
considering making an offer to buy SB Victor.
Can you help us help them, by giving a legacy to Ipswich Maritime
Trust?
For more information contact info@ipswichmaritimetrust.org.uk
We can point you towards sources of advice in making your will if
you need it. If you want to discuss a non-pecuniary gift, for example
of old documents or artefacts potentially of interest to IMT, we
would be pleased to talk to you as well. Many thanks.
Ipswich Maritime Matters is
written and designed by Sea
Shell Communications, and
published twice-yearly by
Ipswich Maritime Trust.
editor@ipswichmaritimetrust.
org.uk
Come on board!
New members are always
welcome: individual membership
is £20pa, family £30pa, youth
(up to 25 years) £5 single/£7.50
joint. IMT is a charity: these are
minimum suggested donations. If
you’d like to give more to support
IMT, please do!
Your subscription includes: free
access to our talks, regular e-mail
updates, twice-yearly IMT Matters
Magazine, plus the opportunity to
get involved in our projects and
campaigns.
We are always looking for
volunteers - including help with
our Window Museum, front of
house at talks and events, chatting
to the public on our stands at
events, tagging photos in the
Image Archive, and assisting with
our schools initiatives.
To join, please contact
membership@
ipswichmaritimetrust.org.uk or
write to us at IMT Membership
Secretary, Apt 610, 1 Coprolite
Street, Ipswich IP3 0BN
IMT Newsletter Spring 2025 ... page
28
Diary dates 2025
Please check all dates and venues before setting out!
IMT Talks take place in the Waterfront Building, University of Suffolk, at 7.30pm
Wednesday 5th March:
IMT Talk from the Maritime
Heritage Foundation
Wednesday 2nd April :
Women in Boatbuilding
IMT Talk by Belinda Joslin (far right
in photo), founder of the Community
Interest Company that supports and
celebrates the work of women who
work hands-on in boatbuilding and
related marine trades.
Friday 11th April: In the Wake of the Mayflower.
Talk by Cathy Shelbourne as part of The Hold’s exhibition Departures:
Exploring Emigration from Suffolk, until 31 May 2025.
21st-26th May: Dunkirk Little Ships 85th commemoration
See page 4.
Saturday and Sunday 13th and 14th September:
Heritage Open Days
Explore Sailing Barge Victor, moored up alongside the Common Quay,
and discover our amazing old photos and maritime models and other
artefacts, in the Old Custom House, from 10am-4pm each day.
Wednesday 1st October: IMT talk by Jane Stone, about her work as a
pilot at the Harwich Haven Authority.
Wednesday 5th November: tbc
Wednesday 3rd December: The Shipping Forecast, IMT Talk
presented by Andy Beharell. See page 3 for details.
NB there are no IMT meetings from May - September.
Getting out on the Orwell
Orwell Lady river trips begin at
the end of March, including Suffolk
Wildlife Trust on 6th April, Mothers’
Day buffet lunch on 30th April, Sir
Terry Waite on 18th May, and a
sunrise trip at 03.45 on 21st June.
Sailing trips with Sailing Barge
Victor start on Sunday 1st June. Picnic
cruises take place every Sunday
(bring your own picnic); and supper
cruises run from Friday 6th June and
include a two-course meal.
About the Trust
Ipswich Maritime Trust (IMT) is a charity formed in 1983 with the
objective of educating and informing the public of the long maritime
history of Ipswich and the River Orwell which dates back to before the
7th century.
IMT undertakes a wide range of activities, including commenting on
maritime issues, running a series of talks on maritime-related themes,
and outings on Sailing Barge Victor, curating our Window Museum on
Albion Wharf, maintaining an Archive, and supporting young people in
maritime projects.
We have around 300 members, and a dedicated committee. Volunteers
are always welcome, to help with the Window Museum, assist with marketing and generally furthering the aims of the Trust