South West Soundings by SWMHS

1 CONTENTS: NO. 120, June 2022 Edited by Maggie Watkinson and Clive Charlton EDITORIAL 2 SOCIETY MATTERS Change to Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) 3 The Members’ Survey 3 The new website 5 REPORTS OF MEETINGS Report of the AGM 6 Reports of the two AGM presentations 7 FUTURE MEETINGS AND OTHER EVENTS 9 ARTICLES Celebrations: The Nautical Institute 50th Anniversary Celebration Event. Paul Wright 10 The Big and Brutal Quiz Questions 1 10 Part One: Questions and Hints. Mike Bender 11 The Good Intent: a remarkably long lived West Country vessel. Gary Hicks 12 Answers to the Big and Brutal Quiz plus Illustrations. Mike Bender, Kay & Jo Harding 15 SWMHS new website the photographs: episode 1. Neil Hawke 17 Floating about Lyme Bay. Scavenger 18 Watchet Market House Museum. Maggie Watkinson 21 BOOK REVIEWS ‘Teignmouth and its Ships’. Reviewed by Maggie Watkinson 22 ‘’Rosy’ Wemyss Admiral of the Fleet: The Man who Created Armistice Day’. Reviewed by Jonathan Seagrave 23 75 Years of Steam on the Kingsbridge Estuary. Reviewed by Jonathan Turner 25 LETTERS, NOTES AND NEWS 27 OFFICERS and COMMITTEE Back page WEBSITE http://www.swmaritime.org.uk/ The Newsletter of the SOUTH WEST MARITIME HISTORY SOCIETY ISSN 1360-6980 OUTH WESTSoundings 120

Phew! The society has been extraordinarily busy over the last few months, and many important decisions have been taken which will help to keep the society ‘afloat’. One of the most important is the agreement by the membership for the society to change to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO); this will limit the financial liability of trustees in the event of any litigation. A new constitution will be drawn up as a result of this but services to members will not be affected.

Maggie Watkinson

A new website has been built and will provide a much better service to members, for a lower price to the society. For instance there will be new resources, updated archives, an improved news section, so members can find out what’s on in the south west sooner than waiting for information in Soundings (although this will continue); it is frustrating for me to find an event that members may be interested in only for it to happen between issues, for example.

Views expressed are the authors’ and not necessarily those of the society or editor.

Finally we have lots of news, now that more activities are taking place, and have three new members, all women (yippee) and I extend a warm welcome to them all.

The member’s survey also occurred and is reported on later in the newsletter; the full results will be available on the website (which may have already been ‘fired up’ before you receive this).

Please note the society cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of information on websites and that references in older editions may not be accurate.

WELCOME ABOARD Julie Williams Devon Maeve Roberts Devon Judith Ellis Norfolk EDITORIAL

Annual Subscriptions: Due 1st April. £20.00

For the first time in over two years there has been an Annual General Meeting; from a personal perspective it was a real pleasure for me to finally meet the people I have been working with since September 2020 face to face, as well as some of the members, although many of us felt we didn’t have enough time to talk to each other for as long as we would have wished. I also enjoyed the presentations enormously.

Many respondents also said they would be willing to write for the society, so please contact Clive Charlton, me or Mike Bender if you want to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboards).

The Member’s Survey in March was completed by 57 members (almost 25% of the membership), which is a high response rate and indicates a good level of interest in the society’s future. The details will be published in the members’ section of the new website, but the summary is that the results were encouraging in many respects: 1] Members were highly satisfied with the society, and believe it offers very good value for money. As a result, they would be very likely to recommend the society to someone with an interest in maritime history. Actions: ensure that all members pay the £20 annual fee. Ensure that all activities cover their 2.costs.Members were interested in a wide variety of topics, including commercial, social and military aspects of maritime history, across all periods, though with a bias towards the Victorian era.

Following the decisive vote by members in favour of converting the society from an Unincorporated Charity into a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (see AGM report/minutes) the trustees will now proceed to lodge an application with the Charity Commission. This process will take several months and members will be kept informed of progress. Service to members will not be affected by this change.

The Member’s Survey: Topline Results and Actions Arising

Mike Williams

SOCIETY

Change to Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)

MATTERS

7. Most members are male, over 55 years old, and have been members for more than 5 years.

Actions: encourage members to contribute, to make the most of the skills and knowledge in our 4.networkFewmembers use social media, although if they do, Facebook is the most commonly used platform. Actions: review the society’s Facebook page seek out a manager for the new Facebook page 5. MSW and Soundings are the most highly valued activities; the website and archive are least valued.

Actions: develop a webinar programme for 2022/23. NB Some training or familiarisation is required for 20% of members who don’t currently watch webinars.

6. Visits and lectures are much appreciated. 80% of members are familiar with webinars and members would be interested in this option, particularly those members living outside the South West.

Actions: update the website and make the archive easier to search (under way).

Actions: develop programmes and campaigns to reach new members. The committee will be developing initiatives to address these challenges, and will share them with members on the website and in the next issue of Soundings. Jonathan Turner Message from the editor of Soundings I have already received an offer to write an article for Soundings from one member; he doesn’t own a computer but reports that he has very legible handwriting. I am more than happy to type

3. Many members are interested in contributing to the society. For example a quarter of respondents would be prepared to write an article for publication.

Actions: ensure that the society publications and activities reflect this breadth of interest.

There is a dedicated area for members, which we can update regularly to ensure better communication to members. Members will also be able to check membership status and payment etc. much more easily.

Wanted! A Facebook Manager for SWMHS. We need a member who is interested in promoting the society on our Facebook page by posting relevant news items, about once a week, about activities in the South West held by us or other maritime organisations. Ideally, being able to post already is desirable, though we have expert outside help to train you up if necessary. If you'd like to know more, please contact Jonathan Turner: jonathanturner.1@outlook.com

We have introduced a new section on maritime resources, covering ports & harbours of the South West, museums with a maritime interest; and sources for maritime history research which includes journals & publications, and links to maritime organisations in the South West.

Latest versions of both blogs, ‘Floating Around’ and ‘Floating About’, are shown, with the full archive available.

We will be able to sell books and monographs through PayPal.

4] Members area

Jonathan Turner

3] News, Events & Reviews

We now have full control over the website and can post news items e.g. AGM minutes or members survey results, as well as events of a maritime nature in the south west, ourselves, easily and in real time.

5] Archive improvements

The content is now up to date: all MSW copies apart from No. 14 are on the site and all Soundings from 2018. This is all now searchable (including the posts and blogs) using a google type search of our site.

1] Some new elements

2] Our Blogs

5 his article because the knowledge he has is invaluable and a significant contribution to maritime history. If anyone else has concerns about spelling, grammar, or the construction of articles, for instance, which stops you from submitting them, or wish to find out if the subject you’re thinking about is relevant to the society, please don’t hesitate to contact me or Clive Charlton. Those issues can be sorted what we can’t do is know what you know, or what you’re thinking. I am certain there are many members who have stories to tell and ideas for topics that should be explored. Website update!

The new website build is in final stages and will be published soon. There are a number of changes and improvements that will benefit visitors to the site, including members.

6] E-commerce

Finally, we will own all the copyright to the text and images, and will not need to pay a monthly management fee to a website company, saving the society over £500 p.a. You will receive instructions and a new password to access the website shortly!

Eighteen committee members, trustees and members gathered in The Box in Plymouth for the Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 21st May 2022.

REPORTS OF MEETINGS Report of the Annual General Meeting of the South West Maritime History Society 2022

Mikeamount.Williams presented a Dartington Glass vase to Julia Creek in recognition of her service to the society, including a period as chairman. In Julia’s absence the bowl was accepted by Mike Bender who, with Martin Hazell, will make the presentation to her in person. Mike Williams also presented an inscribed paperweight to Martin Hazell in recognition of his contribution to the society and his long stint as chairman. Jonathan Turner reported the new website will be functional within two or three weeks of the meeting and described the additional features and retention of existing elements for members. In addition, non members will be able to access contents pages, paying for downloads. A saving of about £1000 will be achieved with the change of website service provider. Jonathan also reported on the results of the member’s survey.

As the committee structure will change after the transition to charitable incorporated status (CIO) there was no formal election of officers at the meeting; trustee nominations will be submitted for approval at the next AGM. The two objectives for the following year are the development and launch of the new website, in conjunction with a link to Facebook with the aim of attracting new and younger members, and the transition to CIO.

The Treasurer submitted financial reports and reported there is a profit after taxation compared to a loss in the previous year. He reported the financial situation is acceptable, although would benefit from an increase in the number of members, and there are some members who continue to not pay the full subscription of £20. MSW would now be limited to 240 pages and the cost stabilised. A special reference was made to the contribution made by David Clement’s bequest and a donation from his wife, Dina. The accounts as presented were put to the meeting and accepted unanimously.

Mike Williams presented a compelling case for the change to CIO status, which will not be detrimental to members and limit the financial liability of trustees in the event of a claim being made against the society. A new CIO bank account will be opened but existing accounts Martin Hazell (Photo: Jonathan Seagrave) Mike Williams (Photo: Jonathan Seagrave)

The Membership Secretary stated there are currently 234 members; she had nothing special to raise other than the amount of effort expended in ensuring members paid and paid the correct

7 retained, ensuring no changes to members’ payment arrangements. Mike was thanked for progressing the application and making the committee aware of its impact on the existing constitution, which will need to be updated. Jonathan Turner had conducted an online poll of members’ views on the proposal to move to a CIO; 51 members replied. The proposal was submitted to the meeting for acceptance; combining the in person and electronic votes gave a clear mandate to proceed, as there was a quorate number of members.

There were very few metal finds (only two musket balls), and one human tooth. 70% of the finds were crinoids and ceramics; about half of the latter were foreign imports with Portuguese courseware, a rare piece of Faience ware from Portugal, and tin glazed earthenware (similar to that from Delft) in the mix and predominantly came from the Mediterranean, Portugal and south west France. The star find was half of a Murano glass bead from Venice. The finds pointed to a seventeenth and eighteenth century three way trade to Newfoundland with salt and supplies to engage in fishing, back to Iberia with salt cod and then a return to Plymouth with mixed goods such as olive oil, wine and fruit, as well as the ceramics, probably as a side trade. We were later able to see some of the artefacts on display. I wondered what the people who dropped the plates and pots would make of the fragments of their carelessness being displayed under a spotlight, behind glass, as rare and precious!

AGM Presentations

Martin Read, a conservator and marine archaeologist from Plymouth University’s Marine Science Department, presented a fascinating talk about the earliest victualling yard for the Navy in Plymouth, located close to Commercial Wharf, the West Pier and the Mayflower steps at the entrance to Sutton Harbour. The emergency excavation was due to the sea wall bulging outwards and the consequent risk of collapse, causing severe damage to the road above. Because of the need for speed the fill between the outer and inner walls was rapidly loaded into skips; it was still stratified and seemed to be mostly discarded material between layers of pebbles and sand from the estuary and possibly offloaded ship’s ballast. The artefacts were retrieved using the ‘skip diving’ method!

‘The Lambhay, Plymouth: early victualling, warehousing and fishing; early findings from evacuations close to the Mayflower steps’

Jonathan Seagrave and Maggie Watkinson Skip diving (Photo: Martin Read) Some of the finds (Photo: Martin Read)

Maggie Watkinson, with thanks to Peter Skidmore for the minutes of the meeting.

Napoleon in Plymouth Sound

Following defeat at Waterloo in June 1815, Napoleon fled back to Paris, and thence to Rochefort, where he hoped to escape by sea. However, Bonaparte and his supporters (his ‘suite’) found their exit blocked by the Royal Navy. The main threat was the 74 gun HMS Bellerophon, captained by Frederick Maitland, detailed to guard the French coast in the vicinity of Rochefort. Napoleon determined to surrender to the British, in the hope he might be granted political asylum. After negotiations, he came aboard the ship on July 15 1815, and surrendered to Capt. Maitland. Napoleon’s arrival on the Bellerophon must have been truly sensational for the men on board. Several recorded their impressions of the voyage back to England, notably Capt. Maitland himself whose account is available online here: www.gutenberg.org/files/28934/28934 h/28934 h.htm. Maitland was acutely aware of his responsibility to get Napoleon away from France to security in England. Bellerophon set sail and on July 24, they arrived in Torbay, where word soon got out that Napoleon was on board. The ship was surrounded by small boats carrying hordes of sightseers. Fearing Napoleon might somehow make contact with sympathisers, the Bellerophon was ordered to Plymouth, where he could be more effectively guarded. She arrived in Plymouth Sound on July 26. The authorities were very anxious; it was clear that the illustrious arrival would attract immense interest. Despite years of propaganda against him as an ‘ogre’ and ‘destroyer’, not all those eager to glimpse him were hostile. However, he was not allowed on shore, and sightseers were kept at a distance by determined naval cutters and other deterrents; two frigates also lay as guardships on either side of Bellerophon. The ten days Napoleon spent in Plymouth Sound were sensational and dramatic. Vast crowds took to the water in the hope of catching a glimpse of Napoleon; it was estimated that as many as 1,000 boats filled the Sound on some days. This armada of anonymous small craft has long been forgotten, yet their sheer number and availability is surely an essential part of the maritime history of the south west. However, two vivid paintings still bring to life the remarkable scene in the Sound, one of which is ‘Napoleon in Plymouth Sound’, painted in the 19th century by Jules Girardet (based on eye witness accounts) https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/napoleon in plymouth sound august 1815 napoleon on board the bellerophon at plymouth 147691

The talk, delivered by Clive Charlton, focused on the ‘ten amazing days’ that Napoleon Bonaparte spent as a captive in Plymouth Sound on board HMS Bellerophon in 1815. It also outlined the background to the dramatic finale to Napoleon’s career as well as the distinguished career of the ship that carried him to captivity.

The enthusiastic reception given to the star passenger on Bellerophon added to the urgency of deciding his fate. The government decided to exile Napoleon on St. Helena in the South Atlantic. However, a stumbling block was the condition of Bellerophon; she was unfit for another long voyage. The 74 gun HMS Northumberland was hastily prepared as the substitute and, still protesting his fate, Napoleon and 28 of his suite were transferred. The ship left Torbay on August 9, where she had waited for the rest of the escorts and supply vessels to arrive, for the long journey south. Clive Charlton

9 FUTURE MEETINGS AND OTHER EVENTS

Thursday 9th to Saturday 11th June 2022. The Naval Dockyards Society is holding their 26th annual conference, entitled “Dockyards as nodes of naval architecture, maritime traditions and cultural heritage” at the Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth. The conference is sponsored by the Society for Nautical Research. The keynote speakers are Sir Neil Cossons, Professor Andrew Lambert and Dr Anthony Firth. Further information is available here: https://navaldockyards.org/conferences/

Sunday 17th to Tuesday 19th June 2022. The Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival and coinciding Falmouth Classics, Falmouth. The nautical music and song festival is free to attend as is the three day regatta of racing, parades and onshore events. For more information see: https://www.falmouthseashanty.co.uk/ and https://www.falmouthclassics.org.uk/

A free evening public event is being held on at the University of Plymouth in the Devonport Lecture Theatre of the Portland Place Building. It is being organised by The Maritime Foundation and supported by The Nautical Institute (as part of its 50th Anniversary Celebrations) and the University of

Friday 8th July 2022. One Ocean - Seven Seas. 1900 - 2030 hrs

Italics indicate an event of possible interest but not organised by the society

Tuesday 14th June 2022. Naming of a Train Commemorating the Falklands War at Plymouth Railway Station. The Great Western Railway is organising an event for the 40th celebrations of the Falklands War. The current plans are that an ‘in service’ train will arrive at platform 7 of Plymouth station at 1312 and depart at 1343. A service will be held after arrival and include the departure and be led by the Railway Chaplain the Reverend John Roe. The locomotive will have a special livery.

Sunday 26th June 2022. The David Clement Memorial Service will be held between 2 and 5 pm on the 80th anniversary of David’s birth. The Pride of Exmouth will leave from Exmouth Marina to enable David’s ashes to be scattered at sea (if the weather is inclement the voyage will be up the River Exe). All members of the society, particularly those who knew David, are invited to attend by Dina, David’s wife, and, if they wish, say a few words. Dina is hoping the Exmouth Sea Shantymen will provide a fitting tribute and Martin Hazell may also sing and play. Catering will be provided. It is essential that those who want to attend contact Dina on 07928362929 or via email: dinaclement@hotmail.co.uk

Saturday 25th June (Armed Forces Day). There will be a parade of Falklands Veterans in Plymouth during which they will be granted the Freedom of the City. The muster will be at 1300 at the Citadel and the march, lead by the Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines, will start at 1400, progressing down Citadel Road, Elliott Street and onto the Hoe. Further information is here: https://www.plymoutharmedforcesday.co.uk/

The South West of England Branch was one of the first two branches formally recognised by the new Council of The Nautical Institute in 1972. The inaugural branch meeting took place at RAF Mount Batten, Plymouth and focussed on the subject of modern sea survival techniques. Plymouth seafarers have been heavily involved in activities associated with the institute. Captain Roy Hughes, who later became Deputy Director of Plymouth Polytechnic and President of The

Celebrations: The Nautical Institute 50th Anniversary Celebration Event

The vision of The Nautical Institute is to provide inspiration, knowledge and leadership to maritime professionals around the world. Over this time the Institute has grown from a small UK based organisation into a worldwide professional membership organisation, with 56 branches and some 7,000 members in more than 120 countries.

Saturday 23rd to Friday 29th July 2022. Charlestown Regatta. See here for more information: https://www.charlestownregatta.org/

Friday 5th to Sunday 14th August 2022. Falmouth Week a sailing regatta with 200 yachts racing, as well as shoreside events. See here for more information: https://falmouthweek.co.uk/

10 Plymouth Marine Institute. The event will comprise of three speakers, each of whom will make a 20 minute presentation. The presentations will concern: Britain’s Dependence on the Sea and Seafarers; Safeguarding the Marine Environment, and Innovation and Autonomy in Maritime. For further information and to book a ticket see here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/one

Between July 6th and 8th the South West of England Branch of The Nautical Institute have organised a two day event including a Conference titled The Future Professional Mariner and a dinner at The Box, Plymouth to celebrate 50 years since the establishment of the Institute.

Saturday 23rd July 2022. An Evening of Cornish and Folk Sea-faring Songs and Shanties. Starts 6 pm. Tickets £25. Includes BBQ and dessert (bring your own alcohol). Booking essential: call the café. 01566 772839. Cowslip Workshops, Launceston.

Cost: £75 per person if 12 people attend (£90 per person if 10 people attend). Free car parking is available in Richmond Walk near to the marina and will cost £5 for parking in the marina itself. The barge will voyage with the tide as far as possible (probably Weir Quay) until high water (about 12.30 pm) and then make the return voyage to Mayflower Marina, arriving at about 4 pm. Please bring your own food and drink.

ARTICLES

ocean seven seas tickets 350474256937

Friday 15th to Sunday 17th July 2022. Bristol Harbour Festival. A music festival by the water. See here for more information: https://www.bristolharbourfestival.co.uk/

Thursday 21st July 2022. SWMHS voyage up the river Tamar and back, on the barge Lynher, boarding at 9 am at Mayflower Marina, Richmond Walk, Devonport.

The day sail on the Tamar barge Lynher will now not be a society event. It will go ahead as a private event with attendees paying the Lynher directly. If you are interested in joining, please contact Martin Hazell on 07941 603097 or to m.hazell7@btinternet.com for further information.

Some of you may be wondering vaguely what the answers were to the quiz, although you never entered. Perhaps it was too big and brutal. But Kay Harding and her daughter, Jo, had searched the Internet for the pictorial answers, so it would be a pity if they never saw the light of day. So here are the first 10 questions so you can scratch your heads or brains again and then turn to the separate page with the illustrations and answers.

5. We anchored in the roads and I went ashore to drink to a pirate? a. place? b. pirate? Hint: Where are ‘roads? and where might they link to pirates?

Paul Wright The Big and Brutal Quiz - Questions 1-10 Part One: Questions and Hints

The maritime industry and tertiary education have seen significant changes over the past 50 years and the future sees many challenges ahead. For further information please see: https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/whats-on/the-nautical-institute-celebrating-50-years

1. I’d never seen so many soldiers and knights in a small seaport. “Where are you all going?“ I asked one knight. “To fight the infidel!” he replied. And not just once but twice! a. the port? b. their destination? c. and d. the years? Hint: ‘Infidel’ crusade?

3. Which Irish saint came ashore and ended up living on the beach? a. Hint: Not that many saints live on a beach

4. And where did a saint get beheaded but, no sweat, put his head under his arm and sailed back to Wales? a. saint? b. location of beheading? Hint: sounds more like the uncivilised north coast and easier to get back to Wales.

Nautical Institute (1984 87), inspired many of his staff to become founding members. It now has a membership of about 230 persons and maintains links with its roots, those who are involved in the control of seagoing craft. The branch provides a sense of belonging and through technical meetings and other activities gives opportunities for members to undertake continuing professional development.

2 The church was built among sand dunes and for many years was so covered by them that the vicar climbed in through the roof twice a year to claim his stipend. a. Where? Hint: Sand dunes, so north coast

Hint: Smuggling could be from Ireland, but more likely from France and the Channel Islands, so on the south coast

6. He worked a nice scam. He said he would transport convicts to Australia but in fact unloaded much nearer home. a. Who? b. Where did he land the convicts?

Hint: If further east, could be Belle Tout, which had to be replaced by Beachy Head, but in this region, only one answer

8. Name the village where smuggling or free trading was so rife it had its own banker and b.a.insurer.thevillage?thebanker?

Hint: Where might one safely land convicts without going too far?

10. They built it far too high so half the time the ships couldn’t see the light. a. where? b. and c. what two lights replace it?

The answers are on page 15.

Mike Bender and Kay Harding The Good Intent: a remarkably long-lived West Country vessel In 1789, George Washington became the first President of the United States, the French Revolution began and King George III and Queen Charlotte paid a visit to Plymouth, based at Saltram House. In the same year, a few men worked anonymously under the direction of a master craftsman somewhere on the shores of the four rivers emptying into Plymouth Sound to create a remarkably long lived little ship. On the 14th March of the following year William Bligh returned to England with the first news of the Bounty mutiny and within weeks of the breaking of that astonishing story, our little vessel was launched. She may have been launched ‘all a-tanto’ and ready to sail away, or perhaps her single mast had still to be stepped and rigging completed, but the men who built her and her new owners were justifiably proud of their creation. While they left her head unadorned, without figurehead or scroll work, they carved below her taffrail the first phrase of verse 5 of Psalm 95: “The Sea is His and He Made it”, which she carried throughout her long life.

9. We were moored up in the harbour and I was getting ready to join the natives in their festival when a Race Relations Officer came aboard and advised me against it. a. the town? b. the festival? Hint: So something to do with possible racism and a festival. Links with slavery?

7. Dai and I were having a pint on the quay when smoke started coming out of a chimney. Really acrid smell. “Contraband”, said Dai. a. which quay? b. name of chimney? Hint: Surely easy. Contraband and acrid smell - burning of smuggled tobacco

Whatever her state of completion when she entered the water, before she could begin to earn her keep, the new formality of registration (introduced in 1786) would have to be completed, as her owner intended that she should be able to trade outside the ‘inland navigation’ of the four Onrivers.28 May 1790, her first owner visited the Custom House in Plymouth to register her under the name Good Intent. There were, of course, fees to pay and he took with him her builder’s certificate, indispensable under section 20 of the 1786 Registration Act, certifying: the time when, and the Place where, fuch Ship or Veffel was built; and alfo an exact Account of the Tonnage of fuch Ship or Veffel, together with the Name of the firft Purchafer or Purchafers thereof” (the substitution of ‘f’ for ‘s’ here reproduces the archaic language of the then new Act of Parliament).

In addition the owner would have come prepared to swear an oath naming all the owners, confirming that they were the sole owners and that none had ever sworn any Oath of Allegiance to any foreign state and that no foreigner had any interest whatsoever in the vessel 1. The Tide Surveyor of the Customs would have surveyed the vessel, verified that she was British built and, measuring her maximum dimensions, finding her volume as if she were a rectangular box and then dividing the volume by 94, in order to calculate her Register Tonnage, in accordance with the 1786 Act. This required a certain skill in mathematics; after a later alteration, the calculation for the Good Intent was as follows: length 49 ft 10 ins x breadth 18 ft 2 ins x depth in hold 5 ft 8¾ ins ÷ 94 which gave her a Register Tonnage of 6471/94 tons. One surveyor at Plymouth frequently included fractions of an inch, perhaps as a demonstration of his arithmetical virtuosity.

During her long life Good Intent experienced several changes of tonnage arising from changes to where measurements were taken and the divisor, altered in 1836 from 94 to 3,500 and then to a more sensible 100 in 1854. Her builder, original owners and even her measurements are unknown, because no Register Books for the Port of Plymouth survive prior to the post 1824 registers held by Plymouth and West Devon Record Office 2 .

In order to envisage Good Intent more clearly it is worthwhile to compare her to the Tamar barge Shamrock both were ketch rigged and square sterned, their respective measurements being:

The paintwork of the Good Intent had barely lost its first shine when the French Convention declared war on Great Britain on 1 February 1793, but she avoided being taken as a prize or any other mishap. Her recorded history begins with a copy of a re registration on 3 June 1819, following unspecified alterations. These may have been quite minor alterations in her description, but could have been lengthening, by the simple sounding but technically exacting expedient of cutting her in half, drawing the severed sections apart and inserting a new mid ships section.

Her registered owners in the post-Napoleonic War boom were James Ayres of Calstock, William Gill and John Rundle of Tavistock (who, to re register her, attended the Customs House in Plymouth together and subscribed the oath referred to above). The other owners were John Hornbrook Gill and Nicholas Rundle, both Tavistock merchants and James Lamerton of Calstock, mariner; James Ayres was also her master. Benjamin Hooper, Tide Surveyor, took the measurements and made the tonnage calculation referred to above. The names of her masters are recorded on the register until 1854 John Pearne was appointed to follow Ayres in 1822, William Adams took command in October 1824, Thomas Petherick, June 1840 and Thomas Adams in June 1850, with only five masters in 35 years she seems to have been a well liked, kindly vessel.

On 10 April 1843 Nicholas Rundle transferred the whole of his shares to John Rundle and John Hornbrook Gill, co partners trading under the firm of ‘Gill and Rundle’ and on 20 November 1854

It would be easy to assume that the Good Intent was simply a barge, confined to the quiet waters of the four rivers, but this was not the case. This was a different age and vessels of small tonnage frequently made lengthy open sea voyages.

Fig 1. Good Intent was by then 101 years old and had been on the Plymouth Register for all that time, but her new owners decided to register her at Bridgwater on 16 June When1902. launched Good Intent would have been very much part of the everyday scene, one of tens of thousands of vessels trading under sail, but gradually the others died away and Good Intent became a curiosity an object to excite nostalgia, remarkable because of her age and survival and something to attract the photographer. This image, from a photograph in the author’s collection, shows her during this later period of her life, for when acquired it was found to be endorsed “Good Intent 1790 Bridgwater Dock 17/4/11”. One hundred and twenty years old when pictured, she is clearly being well cared for, her paint looks new, her wheel is covered and she has the refinement of a WC on deck, a luxury which would have been missing in her early years. There was one more move to Bristol where she was registered on 20 February 1920, with her owner thereafter Alfred J. Smith. In her Plymouth register she is described only as a barge, but she is shown as a sloop in both her Bridgwater and Bristol registers. However, the photograph above shows her rigged as a ketch.

On 1 May 1820 Ayres and Lamerton sold their 4/16 to their co owners and on 26 November 1823 William Gill sold 1/6 to John Rundle and Nicholas Rundle. On 29th December 1825 the Good Intent was re registered, as required by the 1825 Registration Act; that Act required all shares in vessels to be held only in multiples of 64ths. Her owners and their shares were John Rundle of Tavistock 22/64 and Nicholas Rundle of Beer Ferris (sic) 21/64, merchants, and John Hornbrook Gill of Whitchurch in the County of Devon, merchant 21/64.

John Rundle transferred his share in Good Intent to John Hornbrook Gill of Bickham in the parish of Buckland Monachorum, merchant. J.H. Gill continued to own her until he sold on 12 June 1861 to Alexander and George Hubbard of Stonehouse, merchants and contractors. The Hubbards were her last local owners, and they sold her eleven years later to William Hiscock of Bridgwater, who somewhat surprisingly was a gamekeeper; he died on 19 December 1879 and Good Intent passed under his will to his widow, Mary. Mary’s ownership continued until a sale was made on 22 December 1891 to Martha Jane Smart, the wife of William Smart of Bridgwater, master mariner.

Shamrock length 57.6’, breadth 18.1’ depth of hold 5.4’, 31.71 gross tons (initially) Good Intent length 49 ft 10 ins x breadth 18 ft 2 ins x depth in hold 5 ft 8¾ ins, 6471/94 tons

1] a) Dartmouth the 2nd and 3rd Crusades b) the Holy Land (the 2nd Crusade stopped at Lisbon to drive the Moors out of the city c) 1147 and 1190

1.Footnotes:Atthispoint, British goods could only be carried in a British built, owned and manned ship and the only acceptable evidence of this was the ship’s Certificate of Registration.

Perranporth beach

2. Now incorporated into The Box, Plymouth. Gary Hicks with some amendments by Clive Charlton Answers to the Big and Brutal Quiz plus Illustrations

4] a) Saint Decuman

b) John Betjeman buried there BUT take care in the middle of a golf course

Finally, her Bristol register was closed on 8 December 1926: “vessel broken up”. It is believed, however, that this may not have been the final chapter in the life of this grand old lady and that she was in fact unrigged, her masts removed and she was converted to a dumb lighter.

b) His hermit cell, near the present day church. The story of returning to Wales is just one account; and some think he did not die in 705 as this is too late for a Celtic saint St Decuman’s Church, Watchet and the Holy Well River Camel St Enodoc, Trebetherick

2] a) St Enodoc, Trebetherick

3. St Piran, the patron saint of Cornwall. Apparently died falling down a well - was fond of drink

16 5] a) Beer b) Jack Rattenbury 6] a) Thomas Benson, MP for Bideford in the 1740s b) Lundy, instead of Maryland or Virginia (we still owned America) 7] a) Custom House Quay b) King’s Pipe 8] a) Polperro b) Banker and insurer of free traders during the Napoleonic Wars, Zephaniah Job 9] a) Padstow b) ‘Darkie Day’, now renamed ‘Mummers’ Day’, every Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. While it might seem to have links with the Bristol slave trade, another explanation is that it is a traditional Cornish winter festival but the ‘black and white minstrel’ show makeup makes this a bit dubious Old Custom House Quay, Falmouth King’s Pipe Old Polperro Zephaniah Job Padstow Harbour Darkie Day celebrations

Some way inland from its well known waterfront, Plymouth has a little known ‘Mayflower Quarter’. In the suburb of Egg Buckland is a housing estate built in the early 1970s. Its main avenue commemorates not the Mayflower but the Speedwell, whose serious deficiencies forced the Pilgrims to turn back to Plymouth and thus accidentally gave the city its much celebrated claim to fame. Speedwell Crescent links a set of cul-de-sacs that are all named after Mayflower passengers. But they are a distinctly ‘random’ selection. Some bear the names of individuals who Lundy South Light from the sea High Light close up North Light South Light

The photograph was taken by Neil Hawke on 1st September 2018 at Bristol Docks and is an image of the Bristol tug John King. The vessel was built by Charles Hill and Sons Ltd in their Bristol shipyard in 1935 for John King Tugs Ltd. She is of steel construction and 68.5 feet long with a beam of 17 feet and a depth of 8.5 feet; her gross tonnage is Until49. 1970 the tug was used for ship towage on the river Avon. Her last assignment was manoeuvring the SS Great Britain into Bristol’s Great Western Dock. She was purchased by the Bristol Industrial Museum in 1995 and is currently used to take passengers on trips around Bristol Harbour. For further information and dates of trips see here: https://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/m shed/whats on/john king trips/ John King is listed by National Historic Ships UK: www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/register/1003/ john king For further reading try Brown, Paul (2010) Historic Ships: the Survivors, Amberley Press Neil Hawke A snippet: Mayflower memories in a Plymouth suburb

17 10] a) Lundy High Light built 1810 b) Lundy North and Lundy South which replaced the High Light in 1897 Mike Bender, Kay and Jo Harding SWMHS new website - the photographs

At the top of various pages on the new website there are photographs submitted by members; details of these were promised and here is the first.

18 became important figures in the infant colony in New England: Bradford Close (William Bradford, governor of the Plymouth colony from 1621); Allerton Close (Isaac Allerton, who became a successful merchant and fell out with the ‘Pilgrims’; John Alden (a cooper who was one of the Mayflower’s crew, but stayed on in New England to become one of the most important figures in the colony. The ‘Alden House’ is now a major heritage site). Other streets in the suburb recall less successful or more dissolute passengers, however. Four of them died before the end of the first winter in America: John Rigsdale (Rigdale Close); John Langmore (Langmore Close); James Chilton (Chilton Close); John Crackstone (Crackston Close). William Latham (Latham Close) was merely 11 years old when he crossed the Atlantic, but starved to death in the Bahamas some 28 years later. Billington Close has the darkest association, however, in recalling John Billington. By all accounts a serial rogue and a trouble maker, he had the dubious distinction of being the first English settler in New England to be executed; he was hanged for murder in 1830. Perhaps a reader can shed light on how this motley set of Mayflower passengers were chosen for memorialisation in a Plymouth suburb?

Clive Charlton Floating about Lyme Bay A very busy March, catching up with all the things I agreed to do, confident that they would never happen. One was giving a talk to 72 members of the Arthur Ransome Society. It’s a nervous making business, talking to people who knew all twelve of the books by heart and lots more details about him than you do; and resent your analysis getting in the way of their memory of Mummy reading to them at bedtime. But every cloud ... One of the top Ransome researchers, Ted Alexander, had the misfortune to sit next to me at the Gala supper (now, sadly, only a few in dinner jackets, but a lady was telling me how, some years ago, she had turned up in full ball gown! Infuriatingly, my wife had thoughtfully put my good jacket on the parcel shelf, but, since I only usually use it for marriages (rare) and funerals (sadly, more common), I had left it in a Park and Ride in south Oxford.) Anyway, Ted had worked his way up to a Master Mariners’ ticket, mainly in the Far East trade shades of Conrad. His progress was slowed by the public school boys, who had a head start because they had learnt navigation at school; and then, when it came to selecting officers, of course, preferred each others’ company. And, like I had heard from Alston Kennerley, by the time he got his Master’s ticket, there was so little of the British merchant fleet left that it was ‘dead men’s shoes’ and it would need a lot of dead men … After Oxford, I could have gone down to the New Researchers in Maritime History conference in Chatham to hear work in progress from PhD students. But a glance at the programme showed that the organisers had not understood what was needed after COVID, namely to re unite interested persons and welcome them back after three years. I despair of the British ignorance about group processes. So, the key event should have been a banquet, like the one some years ago in the first class dining room of the SS Great Britain. The programme indicated that only a buffet supper was on offer, and that suggested it would be no better than the glass of cheap red wine offered at the last gathering at Liverpool. It was short-sighted, as the cost of getting to Chatham and a hotel room meant the cost of the conference was relatively secondary. And the

I like the fact that it is a working port, exporting ball clay from the Bovey Basin on the River Teign, cruder stuff than the china clay exported out of Fowey; and if you are lucky, you see the pilots manoeuvring the large ships around the ninety degree bend round the spit into

doctorate students would have got a better deal, informally meeting the members of the audience who were interested in their work. Instead, I headed for a long term friend in Herne Bay. The pierhead sits out in the Thames, a long way from the stub of the pier. Two sections of the pier had been blown up during World War Two and covered by Bailey bridges, to prevent a German capture. This may have weakened the structure and the bulk of the pier was destroyed by a storm in 1978. In the morning, we walked out to Reculver Towers and Roman Fort. After much of the church was demolished around 1800, the towers were conspicuous objects and were maintained by Trinity House. The Thames is very wide here and rolls past in a muddy brown stream. It’s so wide that the Kentish Flats wind farms are in the river, not on the shore. Across the river you can see Southend. Up river is the Isle of Sheppey with the Swale entering past Whitstable. And it’s historic in literature. In Great Expectations, Pip encounters Magwitch in the graveyard of St James, Cooling, in the marshes north of Rochester, on the Hoo Peninsula. Conrad in Heart of Darkness imagines the Romans coming ashore here; and Marlow tells the story to his fellow sailors in the Nellie, off Gravesend. As I stare across the Thames, another memory stirs. On the 8th May, 1984, the Queen opened the new engineering marvel of the Thames Barrage. In order that she should see her loyal citizens cheering and throwing their hats in the air as she pressed the button, Newham Council hired the Woolwich ferry, only to find it could accommodate a great many people. I was instructed to round up as many ex mental patients and as many educationally disadvantaged persons that we had rescued from the large asylums, who wanted to go. They had to have a suit, which was no problem as they had been issued with these garments in hospital. And off to Silvertown we went. But in order to bulk the numbers further, I’m afraid that we also had to take along a load of social workers. And the problem here was that many of them the majority were women, dressed, as per instructions, in fine dresses or skirts. And this created a problem. The Woolwich ferries had plenty of urinals, but very few ladies’ cubicles. This posed no problem for the flexibly minded British seamen. They closed one set of urinals and posted a large ‘Ladies Only’ sign; and inside, above each urinal, they hung a rope, which the ladies could grasp. I leave the gymnastics involved to the reader’s imagination.

Easter Saturday: Salcombe to Teignmouth: lovely day, but then the mist came down. The only thing I could see passing Dartmouth was the Mewstone. Pleased to avoid Brixham-bound trawlers going across Torbay. I know Teignmouth well. When I was doing my part time M.A., the large amount of reading and essay writing did not go well with the needs of two daughters starting at big school. In a decision I now find a bit strange, I put the academic side first and took the boat up to Dittisham, but when I got back at night, there was not a light on in the village. The very rich second homers had sucked the life out of the place. So I moved up to Teignmouth and lived aboard for two or three days a week during term time. I could dinghy ashore, tie it up and walk to the station in twenty minutes and then stroll up from Exeter St David’s to the university; and work in the library as late as I Iliked.likeTeignmouth.

20 the river. The town was heaving, the fair on the Den in full swing. There was a bounce back feel. In the afternoon, in poor vis., to the Exe. I listen to the news of the Russian threats of using nuclear weapons. Memory of Cuban missile crisis, October 1962. I decided that, if it happened, I’d watch it from Parliament Hill on Hampstead Heath. The Starcross moorings are just beautiful at night. Once the jet skiers have gone home, peace descends, broken only by the sound of the trains, a few hundred yards away, serving the West Country, but that is a comforting sound, and gradually, as the light fades, across the wide expanse of the river, the long string of lights of Exmouth promenade light up.

The story of Crowhurst can be accurately called mythic, as it has inspired films, operas, novels etc. Only the Flying Dutchman and (The Rime of the) Ancyent Marinere, as solitary seamen, have elicited more cultural attention. In one of the years of my studying for a PhD, in 2006, the Dartmoor Film Festival put on a regional first, showing Deep Water, which unlike the film The Mercy, was compiled from actual footage, mainly from Television South West (remember that?),

Saturday: I peruse the June Practical Boat Owner while taking my morning coffee in the cockpit. The last Southampton Boat Show was deeply disappointing no chandlery, no books, no clothes, but I could purchase six months of the Practical Boat Owner for £18. I was dubious but the salesperson chucked in a large bottle of gin, so it made no economic sense to refuse to sign up. It, like the Yachting Monthly, each issue of which used to be the size of a small telephone directory, has shrunk to a pathetic size. It must surely be living on on line subscriptions? Anyway, under ‘Regional News’, I find that SWMHS stalwart of many a year, Julia Creeke, is quoted talking about the 21st running of the Eddystone Charity Sailing Pursuit, which she founded. The skipper has to name a chosen charity that you will give money to. One year, Julia decided that all the competitors would receive a copy of A New History of Yachting. Problem was the publishers wanted £15 a copy and Julia wasn’t prepared to go above £12. I had to write an e mail advising that she was an influential figure in these parts and it was inadvisable to cross her … she got her way. Now that was a post race gala dinner in style, in the shark area of the National Aquarium. I signed sixty copies. Bit nerve wracking as the sharks kept swimming up to the glass to have a look.

Easter Monday: Exmouth to Salcombe. Came out shortly after high water, so the sandbanks were no problem. Off to starboard lies Teignmouth. When I was studying, I always felt that the spirit of Donald Crowhurst hung over the place. He sailed from there in his catamaran, Teignmouth Electron, in his ill fated bid to win the Golden Globe in 1968 69. He prepared the boat at Morgan Giles’ boatyard, now a large block of flats. He picked up the new catamaran from an east coast yard far too late, got gale bound in Newhaven; and the last days before he had to leave to meet the October 1, 1968 deadline were total chaos, with simultaneous boat preparations and loading supplies. As a result, he made the decision to finish boat preparation at sea and that was fatal, as he found he had not taken the pumps for the hulls. That meant he correctly decided that he could never risk the Roaring Forties, hence the faking of the log. The workers in the yard thought he wouldn’t get past Dartmouth. Actually, although famous for faking his log, he sailed thousands of miles down to the east coast of South America, so in terms of catamaran development, it was a remarkable voyage. But he was in a race and he had mortgaged his house to take part. (For the best factual account, see The Strange Voyage of Donald Crowhurst, by Nicholas Tomalin and Ron Hall, 1970, a strange combination of authors: Ron Hall was an American poet. Nicholas Tomalin, a journalist, was killed on the Golan Heights, in October, 1973, covering the Arab Israeli war.)

AScavengersnippet

Clive Charlton Watchet Market House Museum Watchet has two museums which cater for those interested in all things maritime. The Market House Museum is in what used to be the market house, hence the name. The upper floor was converted into a mission church and is now the Holy Cross Chapel. The ground floor became a shop and then the museum in the 1970s. A Court Leet lock up remains at the back the museum. The building is somewhat diminutive but packed with displays, which change over time (I remember seeing some small model barges a few years ago, but they have been changed for other ship models); I believe the items not on display are safely stored because of the lack of room to display everything the museum owns.

There was a question and answer session at the end of the film. Simon Crowhurst, Donald’s son, and the directors, Louise Osmond and Jerry Rothwell, were present. One old fellow got up and said he was speaking on behalf of the pilot on the day Crowhurst left, who was now very ill and bed bound. But the pilot had very much wanted to tell the audience that when Crowhurst, having been towed out of the harbour, tried to raise his foresails, the jib sheets were attached to the wrong sails and were tangled round the buoyancy bag at the top of the mast. The pilot boat brought him back in to get them sorted them out. The pilot said to Mrs Crowhurst, “You must stop him.” And she replied, “I can’t”. To mourn

The exhibits include a wonderful array of nautical Picture by Maggie Watkinson, with permission from Watchet Market House Museum

A Nautical Trivia Website: among the websites offering nautical trivia, both humorous and curious, is ‘King's Strange Navy and Sea Tales’ compiled by Kimberly King, an ex U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer https://motomom.tripod.com/sea

21 put back together as, for some of the footage, the sound and the visual had been stored separately. Arriving at the old Teignmouth Pavilion, the place was packed and it was as if the audience was waiting to re-live its history. Crowhurst’s gent, Rodney Hallworth, hearing that Crowhurst had reached the Sargasso Sea, had had the town decked in ‘Welcome Home, Donald’ banners. People were expecting him any day. The film was watched in rapt silence. Like the line in ‘And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda’, they had come “to grieve, and to mourn and to pity.”

For example: ‘Admiral (Sir John) Wallop of King Henry VIII's navy gained notoriety after he and his ships were sent to the French coast (in 1513) to retaliate for the burning of Brighton (by the French fleet). He so thoroughly destroyed his enemies that his name now indicates a 'mighty blow'.’ See also: www.tudorplace.com.ar/Bios/ JohnWallop.htm

Books: Upton, P. (2018) Thomas Chidgey: (1845-1826) Marine Artist of Watchet, Paul Upton, Friarn Barnet, Over Stowey, Bridgwater, Somerset Maggie Watkinson BOOK REVIEWS Edited by Jonathan Seagrave Teignmouth and its Ships. David Fletcher. 2022. Pub: Mainline and Maritime, ISBN 9 781900 340977, £18.95

This book has at least one photograph of a vessel on every page; all of them are visiting Teignmouth, just leaving the port or are ‘parked’ in Lyme Bay. The photographs are presented in date order, commencing in 1993, and just under half were taken before the COVID 19 pandemic hit, with the majority having been taken since that time; lockdown has obviously provided the author with opportunities for taking some splendid pictures. All the photographs are good but there are very many spectacular ones, particularly the nocturnal, sunset and sunrise views. In addition to this feast for the eyes (and I’m someone who has never before found modern cargo vessels particularly attractive) the author has given brief but informative details about the ships and their histories, the cargoes and, where appropriate, pertinent historical facts about Teignmouth and its environs. It is notable that he has also provided advice on the best places from which to capture such wonderful pictures, so others can take their own amazing images. The vessels pictured are mainly cargo ships (Teignmouth largely exports ball clay) but fishing boats, cruise ships, the ocean liner Queen Mary 2, a tug or two, the lifeboat, the gaff rigged cutter Jolie Brise, a dredger and the topsail schooner Johanna Lucretia are all also included. In addition the odd rowing boat, yacht and a sea safari boat all feature and the sea comes out pretty well, too! I didn’t expect to, but I really enjoyed this book. It should appeal to local people, visitors to Teignmouth and ship fans alike, as well as budding ship photographers. I highly recommend it.

Maggie Watkinson

22 paintings, most by Thomas Chidgey (1845 1926), a master mariner from Watchet and a ‘pierhead painter’ who often painted ship’s portraits for their owners or masters whilst the ships were in the harbour at Watchet. The paintings in the museum include those of the Astra (Astraea); a topsail schooner built in Kingsbridge in 1860 and Kelso, a topsail schooner built in Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland in 1866 together with a view of the harbour before 1860. There is also a fine figurehead, from the schooner Coronella, on display.

The collections, besides the maritime ones, include fossils, prehistoric flint and stone tools and Saxon coins (there was once a mint in Watchet) and a huge collection of photographs of Watchet, some of which relate to things maritime. The museum has a winter talks programme and an online shop as well as a small number of items for sale within the building. It is well worth a visit. Website: https://www.watchetmuseum.co.uk/

‘Rosy’ Wemyss Admiral of the Fleet: The Man who Created Armistice Day. John JohnsonAllen, Whittles Publishing, £17.99. ISBN 978-1-84995-485-3

A while back I enjoyed and reviewed Mary Jones’ account of Admiral John Marx (SWS 70), so I thought I’d tackle this new biography of Wemyss too, another little known but significant figure. He was very much of the same period, and the account begins in the same way, time at Britannia, then the unchallenged supremacy of the RN showing the flag to the colonies, on HMS Bacchante, in Wemyss’ case alongside fellow midis the royal heirs to the throne, George and Eddy, both at Britannia and later. These trips involved much jollying, more extensive for the princes’ presence. Interestingly though, the instructions were very clear for the princes to be treated exactly the same as their peers whilst on board, despite the class distinctions of the era. The Navy was a leveller in some ways. They were lengthy trips; he was away for 2 ½ years, showing the flag and meeting and greeting. Wemyss rose swiftly; he was gregarious, diplomatic and capable as well as well connected, assisted by his spell on Osborne, the smaller royal yacht. His next appointment, to HMS Undaunted, a new armoured cruiser commanded by Beresford, started this climb up the ladder. It was his first ship without sails, a major jump in terms of fighting power, though she only lasted 20 years as technology moved on. After time in the Med he had his first command, a torpedo boat, in 1892. Later, as second in command when the Kaiser, in his British Admiral of the Fleet uniform, unexpectedly arrived very early on HMS Astraea. Wemyss tactfully defused the embarrassment of unreadiness, by pointing out that British admirals didn’t board before divisions. A stint on the royal yacht Victoria and Albert saw his promotion to commander. By the time he went to South Africa at the start of the Boer war he was frustrated by lack of action. His next big posting was the world tour with the Duke and Duchess of York in 1901 on HMS Ophir which honed his organisational and diplomatic skills. After return, he married quietly to Victoria, not Lady Constance Butler to whom he wrote often on the world cruise. She appears to never have married. I sense an untold story there. We aren’t told anything about Victoria; they

Towards the end of the war he rose swiftly. He wanted to be C in C Mediterranean fleet, a seagoing post, but instead became deputy First Sea Lord, then First Sea Lord. He didn’t like the politicians he had to deal with, but seems to have been very successful at getting on with them. As Germany began the final retreat, he managed to secure all the Allies agreement on the naval terms of Armistice, even more of a challenge. There is some detail on this, though it is doubtless covered elsewhere. He was one of the signatories of the Armistice in the famous

Before WW1 started he was on a regular annual trip to take the waters in Germany; he had friends there, and had to rush back as mobilisations started. His first wartime command was cruisers on blockade duty in the Western approaches, much like Marx. His next posting was Greece for the ill-fated Dardanelles operation. He recounts the chaos of a poorly thought through operation, with no or unclear orders, even at high level. He managed much of the planning for landing and all of it for withdrawal hugely complex logistical tasks, and I think the first large modern combined operation, and supported the creation of the first landing craft, the hastily adapted River Clyde. The evacuation, a mini Dunkirk, was a success with only one casualty on withdrawal, a huge contrast with the lethal fighting on land. The Navy, though, had had heavy losses too, especially from submarines, old battleships going down in minutes. Churchill and Fisher resigned as a result of the fiasco. He received the KCB for his efforts. As an aside, as a fifties schoolboy I visited an old man who had been at the Dardanelles. He recounted seeing a gun on one of the bombarding battleships peel apart like a banana, from a shell exploding inside the barrel. I imagine this recollection is at the very limit of personal, albeit second hand, witness.

Appointed to the East Indies station, which covered a vast area including Suez, Saudi and Iraq, he ensured the Navy did everything possible to assist TE Lawrence and the Arab revolt against the Turks, and was much appreciated by them. The book relies quite heavily on Victoria’s account of his life in her own biography, also on his own account of the Dardanelles, as well as several separate accounts of the royal tour. These may not always be impartial, and some anecdotes are challenged by others, but his private letters to Victoria show a leader always keen to praise his subordinates and team, whilst taking a clear eyed view of his superiors. He had character. It is said he declined the plum post of naval secretary to Admiral Fisher as he felt he would have to be a yes man, and he clearly wasn’t that. No doubt his comparative wealth and royal friendships protected him from any comeback. He twice offered to resign.

24 had one daughter, Alice, but she was the daughter of Sir Robert Morier, a diplomat. He set up Osborne College, a Fisher project, where both engineering and deck cadets learned side by side, so deck officers would become aware of how the engines and machinery worked, followed by command of a new cruiser, HMS Suffolk, in the Med. He seems to have greatly improved morale; he had a flair for leading men. After another royal trip to South Africa, he is promoted in 1911 to vice admiral and becomes a naval ADC to the new King George, his old midi companion on Bacchante.

The book lists extensive sources, including his own papers. It is printed to Whittles’ usual high

Itstandards.isaninteresting read about a most capable and attractive character; as with Marx I’d like to have met him. Marx was in command of a Q ship towards the end of the war, a most hazardous role, whilst the diplomatic Wemyss was climbing the final steps of the ladder. They both served their country extremely well. A recommended read for a level headed view of those fraught times. Jonathan Seagrave 75 Years of Steam on the Kingsbridge Estuary. Douglas Yates A.R.C.A. Published by Proteus Print. 128 pp, 8 x 12 ins, £18.99, available from Harbour Bookshop, Kingsbridge and Douglas Yates’ website (see below) 70 archive photos, and 18 coloured architectural drawings of key vessels and numerous illustrations of local life and stories, all by the author. This book is the culmination of 30 years’ research into illustrations, photographs and drawings of estuary steam vessels, and is a most welcome addition to the maritime and social history of the South West. The author’s training and qualification as an artist shines through the selection of vintage photographs, the magnificent, full page, coloured architectural drawings of the principal vessels, and his drawings of local life and incidents in the Kingsbridge estuary during the 75 years from 1857 to 1932. The book aims to show how the steamer transformed the local economy, and became an essential part of people's lives there. Until 1857, goods reached Kingsbridge from Plymouth by sea, since the local roads were poor and costs were expensive, but the local sailing vessels were obviously at the mercy of the tides and the weather and were therefore unpredictable and

This is the inevitable limitation of a biography written long after death without any direct personal input. I’d also have liked a few more dates or a timeline. It is indeed, very much a naval biography despite the last chapter on his unsuccessful involvement in business.

25 railway coach. There is only a little on his family life; his quoted letters to Victoria are mostly about the ships and job, and whilst it was clearly an affectionate relationship there is no detail, and none from her to him. There is nothing on Alice except a curious reference to the poison in her dwindling. He liked golf and hunting, and occasionally being part of onboard shows. With his monocle he must have been a stand out figure, but of his inner thoughts or religious beliefs, we learn little, though at one point he says “ my faith is that everything English must have a naval side”. Though keen for action, he didn’t ever really face fire and I wonder at his thoughts on that and also how he viewed his Scottish ancestry. He has a few chats with seamen from around Wemyss, his home village, but that’s all we are told.

Douglas Yates has created a book with the detail required for a reference book on this topic, but tells the story with approachable prose and a combination of illustration that is truly remarkable. In all there are 18 full page coloured line drawings (mainly of the steamers), 70 or so black and white photos and a vivid selection of the author’s own drawings of Victorian life in the estuary.

Notable events, accidents, collisions and rescues are interspersed through the chronological descriptions of the ships, all told in the words of the original newspaper reports and illustrated by the author with hand drawings. The impact of national events is described, such as the conversion of the Salcombe Castle to a supply vessel in 1914, when she moved to Plymouth to service the fleet there. In addition the evolution of regional transportation is covered with drawings and descriptions of the arrival of the Great Western Railway’s Primrose Line in 1893, and the motor carriage in 1909, which had a fundamental impact on the social life of the estuary, as well as contributing to the eventual demise of the steamers in 1932.

Jonathan Turner http://mordics press.square.site/ Harbour Bookshop, Kingsbridge: https://www.harbourbookshop.co.uk/

The book is structured around the 12 steamers that ran commercial services over the 75 years, with detailed, coloured line drawings and vintage photos of each vessel, together with their crew and passengers. The steamer’s technical specifications are recorded and the design evolution highlighted, moving from wooden paddle steamers to steel hulls and the introduction of single screw power in the 20th century.

26 unreliable. So, in 1857, a local business launched a cooperative with 32 fellow tradesmen: the Kingswear Steam Packet Company. It offered a regular, twice weekly service between Kingsbridge, Salcombe and Sutton Harbour in Plymouth, taking between 2-3 hours in most reasonable weather. The service was immediately popular and Kingsbridge benefitted from a better supply of sought after household goods and foods, such as sugar, soap, molasses, and coffee, as well as the heavier bulk cargos like coal and guano. In time the company advertised occasional day cruise excursions to the estuary, bringing visitors and their spending to Salcombe and Kingsbridge for the day.

Jonathan Seagrave A snippet A short article in the spring edition of the Westerly Owners Association magazine starts by the owner boasting how a 2 year old can steer. It then proceeds as follows: “To complicate matters further we have added a dog to our sailing team and none other than a Portuguese Water Dog. We chose the breed as we foolishly believed they would be good on a boat as that’s what they

The Schedules with David Clement’s book

In early May

Sent by Mike Bender LETTERS, NOTES and NEWS

27 were bred for. Absolute rubbish. On her first trip to Beaulieu (from Chichester) the cockpit sole was absolutely covered in vomit and poo the same on the return. She only has to look at a boat and the entire contents of every orifice are emptied. I should really get my money back but the kids love her.”

David’s books have been packed up by Dina, his wife, and are awaiting collection by the university but cataloguing will not take place immediately afterwards, as ever due to a shortage of resources. We will keep members informed of progress.

We have had proofs of David’s book, have done the final checks and it has now been sent to the printer. The schedules are meant to be read with the book and are referenced a number of times, but are far too extensive to print. We have been considering further how best to make these available. The total, 440 entries, is pretty overwhelming. We would still like to publish on Kindle, but at present we don’t have the time and energy to organise this, and no one has volunteered, so far, to finish off the entries that are not fully complete, which number around half. For the moment, it seems that publishing one or two complete entries electronically along with each edition of SWS will give readers some idea of the scope of these records. The first then, is Andromeda, which was eventually wrecked off of Falmouth; a sad tale. We are very open to suggestions for further entries, particularly looking for connections to the south west or areas of other particular interest. The Herzogin Cecilie and France II are on our list. It would, of course, take a century to finish! The full e-archive of the schedules is available in the University of Exeter, and will be in others in due course.

Jonathan Seagrave and Maggie Watkinson Falklands 40 2022 sees the 40th Anniversary of the Falkland War. The Falklands War saw the despatch of a Task Force which sailed from the United Kingdom to retake the Falkland Islands following their invasion by Argentina. The Task Force, which provided the means to regain the islands, was a significant maritime venture; it was made up of 114 ships; 37 from the Royal Navy, 25 from the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) and 52 ships taken up from trade (STUFT). The ships provided the transport and support to the forces who successfully recaptured the islands.

Dr Harry Bennett, Associate Professor of History at the University of Plymouth presented a paper ‘ The Invasion of the Falkland Islands and the Resignation of Lord Carrington’ and Dr Louis Halewood (Philip Nicholas Trust Lecturer in Maritime History) made a presentation entitled ‘Britain, the United States and the Struggle for the Falklands’. The presentations were made at an open public meeting (on Zoom) called ‘Beyond the Battlefront: Falklands + 40’.

A personal reflection about the Falklands War can be found on; ‘The Falklands War Remembered … sharing stories and memories 40 years on, based on local BBC Radio Broadcasts’. The collection includes two contributions by Dr Harry Bennett: ‘The Ship and the Submarine’ and ‘A Historical Perspective of the Falklands War’ and can be found on the BBC’s

The Falklands War remembered’ at https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0bxybws

‘

Paul Wright Sir Julian Corbett Professor Andrew Lambert gave a fascinating lecture on November 30th 2021 to Plymouth University on the life of Sir Julian Corbett, the subject of his new book. As a naval strategist and thinker the latter played a preeminent role in the years up to WW1, and was connected to a vast range of senior politicians, naval people, and soldiers. His view of the future Commonwealth was well ahead of its time. He espoused the value of history as a template for the future, wrote most of the official naval history of WW1, setting the template for other such exercises, and avoided its suppression by Churchill and Beatty. As a rich man he wasn’t dependent on patronage, but was socially adept and able to cross boundaries both political and personal. His breadth of interests gave him a wider view than many historians, but he was always focussed on the country’s future interest. He lectured widely, and led the Naval Records Society which became influential amongst officers.

Jonathan MayflowerSeagraveAutonomous Ship News

For your interest the Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS 400) (unmanned ship) which was to have replicated the voyage of the Mayflower in 1620 ... 400 years on, but failed on her first attempt in 2020, began a second attempt to cross the Atlantic at the end of April this year, and called in at Horta in the Azores for repairs. She was delayed for 7 days by the weather but on 20th May slipped her moorings to continue her westward bound voyage to America!

Paul Wright A snippet The Scottish barque Dundee Star was abandoned by its crew in a gale off Midway Island, and

Many other events to remember the War of 40 years ago are being held about the country including in Plymouth and Portsmouth where much of the work in preparing the Task Force for the South Atlantic took place. For example, on June 25th (Armed Forces Day) in Plymouth there will be a parade of Falklands Veterans at which they will be granted the Freedom of the City of Plymouth.

I shall be watching with particular interest as my name along with other crowd funders is being carried across the Atlantic in a capsule on board the MAS 400. This crowdfunding followed an initial attempt to develop the MAS 400 concept as a community project way back in 2016!! All being well the voyage will be completed before SWS is published ... but sometimes things don’t go quite as planned!

Written by Peter Holt & Mallory Haas, published in 2022 by The SHIPS Project, ISBN 978 1 7397053 0 5

by Mike Williams Maritime Media Awards

Bristol Harbour has, as usual, some ongoing interest. The decommissioned Lord Nelson has left,

Sites in and Around Plymouth Sound National Marine Park

29 drifted completely around the world in 4 years finally piling up in 1891 on Midway Island the very spot from which she started her phantom voyage.” Verification of this tall tale welcome! AircraftCharltonCrash

This book is a well illustrated catalogue of aircraft that crashed in the sea near Plymouth in the years between 1917 and 1986. The book includes a description of the loss of each aircraft along with background information and photographs where they are available. This is the first in a series of publications that highlight the maritime and aviation heritage contained within Plymouth Sound National Marine Park.

The Maritime Media Awards are organised by the Maritime Foundation, an organisation which promotes awareness of the UK’s dependence upon the sea and seafarers. During the two years of restriction (2020 and 2021) winners of the Maritime Media Awards have not been able to physically collect their awards. This will be redressed at the end of May by a daytime event taking place at the Drapers Hall, London. Of particular interest to members of the South West Maritime History Society will be the Mountbatten Award for Best Book. The award is made to the author of a work of literature published in English during the qualifying period that, in the opinion of the Awards Committee, has contributed most significantly to public awareness of maritime issues. In 2020 the winner of the Mountbatten Award for Best Book was David Abulafia, author of The Boundless Sea: A Human History of The Oceans (Allen Lane). In 2021 the winner of the award was Andrew Boyd, author of British Naval Intelligence through the Twentieth Century (Seaforth Publishing).

You can download the eBook for free (PDF 58MB), but a donation of £4 or more to The SHIPS Project would be appreciated. It is available for download from here: https://shipsproject.org/ Informationpublications.htmlprovided

2022 Awards: The public are welcome to make nominations for 2022. The closing date is the 15th July 2022. The qualifying period is the year to 30th June 2021. In addition to the Best Book Award other categories include; Best Journalism, Best TV or film Production and Best Use of Digital Media. For details please visit Awards Nominations 2022 Maritime Foundation. The 2022 Maritime Awards will take place on Wednesday 26th October 2022 at Drapers Hall, Throgmorton Street London.

Paul BristolWrightharbour activities

Clive

You may recall the photograph below, which was shown in the last issue of Soundings. One of Olga

In 1984 Olga was purchased by Swansea City Council for display at the Swansea Maritime Museum. In July 2019, Swansea City Council made an innovative five year partnership that saw Olga being loaned to Sailing Tectona CIC. For part of the year Olga is used by Mount Kelly School and others for Duke of Edinburgh Awards activities.

July 15th - 17th 2022: 50th Bristol Harbour Festival

Olga belongs to the National Historic Fleet, a subgroup of ships on the National Register of Historic Ships as she is considered to be of pre eminent national and regional significance.

Jonathan Seagrave

Paul Wright The Unidentified Student

The Bristol Channel Pilot Vessel Olga, operated by Sailing Tectona CIC has been invited to attend the 50th Bristol Harbour Festival. The festival will celebrate the heart and soul of Bristol in the unique setting of its harbour. Olga was built by John Bowden of Porthleven, Cornwall, in 1909, and served as a pilot cutter out of Barry until 1917. She was equipped with Appledore roller reefing gear which enabled her crew of two to reduce sail quickly and easily. Her first owner was Henry Edmunds, of Newport, who named her after his daughter. Henry Edmunds was pilot for the ports of Barry and Newport. The need for sailing pilot vessels diminished towards the end of World War 1 and for a year Olga changed her role to become a fishing vessel. She was later sold in 1918 to become a private yacht. She served in this capacity until 1984, at one time being owned by Lt Col Patrick Phibbs of the Royal Marines, Plymouth

The biggest draw is the super yacht/houseboat Miss Conduct moored just past the heritage fleet. Now owned by a pair of Bristol businessmen, somewhat coy as to their identity, she was built as a dining boat in NY harbor, then was rescued from near dereliction by them and converted with accommodation and an event space. Since mooring up in Bristol she has hosted monthly charity bashes, raising considerable sums. Unusually she is British flagged and boasts a helicopter although it’s not licensed to fly. A few yards further down, the houseboat de jonge has a vast number of painted rubber ducks on it.

the JST has had serious financial difficulties. The Balmoral has returned to the M shed slot, but doesn’t seem to be sailing this year.

Conrad Humphreys is a professional yachtsman and presenter, and alumni of the University of Plymouth. He has spent over two decades sailing in some of the most hostile places on the planet. Conrad has raced three times around the world and is the fifth British sailor in history to complete the legendary Vendée Globe. More recently, Conrad was the professional skipper for Channel 4’s historical recreation of Captain Bligh’s 4000-mile open boat journey, Mutiny.

I did try and contact Professor Dancy, with a view to sending him a copy of the newsletter and passing on the good wishes of members, but unfortunately he has not replied. At least one of the mysteries is solved, but no one, as yet, has recognised the unknown man also in the photo.

ConradEditor’s river journeys Walking with my dog Tess around the Mount Batten Peninsula, Turnchapel, I happened to meet up with Conrad Humphries. It was the first time we’d met up for two years following the imposition of the lockdown. It was good to meet up. Conrad described an activity in which he had been involved during this time. He had been asked by ‘History Hits’ to help produce a documentary series called Conrad’s River Journeys’. To date the series comprises of exploring three rivers in Devon, namely the Exe, the Dart and the Tamar. A fourth episode in the series looks at the Salcombe estuary.

“Sailing a traditional boat on these rivers has really helped me to understand just how much our waterways have shaped our history. It’s all too easy to think about the big round the world exploratory voyages that Captain James Cook and Robert Fitzroy undertook, but around the UK every river, estuary and harbour has made its own unique contribution to our prosperity, our way of life and our understanding of the world.” Conrad Humphries.

31 our members recognised the unknown student and identified him as Jeremiah Dancy, an American studying for his MA in Naval History at Exeter University at the time the photo was taken (2008). He is now an Associate Professor in the Joint Military Operations Department of the US Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island and has been published in various maritime history journals. In addition he has written a book entitled: The Myth of the Press Gang: Impressment and the Naval Manpower Problem in the Late Eighteenth Century.

Conrad explores each river from top to bottom in his replica of HMS Bounty’s ship’s boat, Bounty’s End. During the course of each episode he meets a myriad of interesting people who talk about the history of the rivers and the sailing boats that have shaped the local area. A second series focussed on rivers in Cornwall is presently under consideration.

To access ‘River Journeys with Conrad Humphries’ go to River Journeys with Conrad Humphreys History Hit. It is a subscription channel but a free trial offer is available. Paul Wright

Unknown to himself Peter Padfield, a maritime historian and author, encouraged my early interest in pursuing a seafaring life through his writing of the book The Merchant Navy as a Career in 1962.

Peter was born in Calcutta in 1932. At the age of thirteen he went to the Merchant Navy School HMS Worcester on the River Thames. On leaving the school he became a navigating cadet and later a deck officer with P&O. In 1957 at the age of 25 he was accepted to become a member of the crew of the replica Mayflower. The replica was built in Brixham, Devon for the recreation of the Pilgrim Fathers’ voyage from Plymouth, Devon to Plymouth, Massachusetts which originally took place in 1620.

Alston has written a biography which is a tribute to his memory and has also has verified many of Frank’s claims about life at sea; it is described as ‘elegant and highly readable’. Should any of our members wish to provide a review, please don't hesitate to contact Jonathan Seagrave (details on last page).

The building project was undertaken to commemorate the wartime co operation between the United States of America and the United Kingdom and reinforce the legacy of ‘freedom, trade, kinship and hope’. The trans-Atlantic voyage was led by Allan Villiers. It left Plymouth on April 20th 1957, and arrived at

The annual review for the trust has been published, in which the achievements and aspirations were discussed; the Heritage Harbours project has become more appealing, and working in conjunction with Historic England and National Historic Ships UK, the trust is making progress with the notion of preserving not just historic vessels but the context in which they operated and preventing the loss of important working heritage features, such as harbours.

PeterEditorPadfield - Naval and Maritime Historian 1932 - 2022

MaritimeEditor Heritage Trust

New book written by one of our members out soon One of our members, Alston Kennerley, is due to have his new book, entitled ‘Bullen’s Voyages: The Life of Frank T Bullen: Sailor, Whaler, Author’ published this June. Although Frank Bullen may not be remembered now he was a ‘superstar’ (he published over thirty books, some of which are still in print) at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries; his descriptions of the trials and tribulations of life for merchant mariners were praised by many, including Rudyard Kipling.

They have also developed a webinar programme (free to watch) and are in the process of becoming a CIO. It appears to be an organisation to watch, particularly as their interests are so close to our own, albeit with a national perspective.

33 Plymouth, Massachusetts some two months later on June 22nd 1957. In 1960 Peter ‘swallowed the anchor’ and established a career in journalism and writing. He wrote extensively, including more than 20 books on naval history. In 2003 Peter was awarded the Mountbatten Prize for his book titled Maritime Power and the Struggle for Freedom: Naval Campaigns that Shaped the Modern World 1788 1851. The replica Mayflower recently underwent extensive restoration and was relaunched in 2019 as part of the Mayflower 400 Celebrations. Today the replica Mayflower is displayed at Plymouth, Massachusetts. Peter Padfield maintained a lifelong interest in the Mayflower. One of his last publications was the Mayflower II Diary - Sketches from a Lost Age Peter died on March 14th 2022, at the age of 89. Paul Wright

34 SOUTH WEST MARITIME HISTORY SOCIETY Registered Charity No. 289141 (Updated August 2021) Acting Chairman Martin Hazell 124 Molesworth Road, Stoke, Plymouth, Devon, PL3 4AH Tel. 07941 603097 /01752 550768 Email: m.hazell7@btinternet.com Maritime SW Editor Mike Email:Benderm.bender@exeter.ac.uk SWS Reviews Editor Jonathan Seagrave 10 Woodlands Rise, Downend, Bristol, BS16 2RX Tel: 0117 9566127 Email: Jon.seagrave@gmail.com SWS Editor Maggie Watkinson 26 Golden Hill, Wiveliscombe, Taunton, Somerset, TA4 2NU Tel: 01984 623859 Email: maggiewat37@gmail.com SWS Assistant Editor Clive Charlton Tel: 01822 840497 Email: cliveacharlton1@outlook.com Secretary Peter Email:Skidmorepfskd@aol.com Treasurer Phil Northcott 9 Wallaford Road, Buckfastleigh, TQ11 0AR Email: treasurer@swmaritime.org.uk Membership Secretary Anne Email:Pondmembership@swmaritime.org.uk COMMITTEE Michael Duffy, Jonathan Turner, Mike Williams, Paul Wright

South West Soundings

Articles inside

Watchet Market House Museum. Maggie Watkinson

75 Years of Steam on the Kingsbridge Estuary. Reviewed by Jonathan Turner

LETTERS, NOTES AND NEWS

‘’Rosy’ Wemyss Admiral of the Fleet: The Man who Created Armistice Day’. Reviewed by Jonathan Seagrave

‘Teignmouth and its Ships’. Reviewed by Maggie Watkinson

Floating about Lyme Bay. Scavenger

The Good Intent: a remarkably long-lived West Country vessel. Gary Hicks

The new website

SWMHS new website - the photographs: episode 1. Neil Hawke

The Big and Brutal Quiz Questions 1-10 Part One: Questions and Hints. Mike Bender

EDITORIAL

Celebrations: The Nautical Institute 50th Anniversary Celebration Event. Paul Wright

Reports of the two AGM presentations

Report of the AGM