60 years of Falmouth sail training photos on show at the NMM Cornwall

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Above – a collage of images from the exhibition; below individual shots. I particularly like the one of the boy swinging under the bowsprit without a care in the world. Good for him! And good for him too, no doubt

A 60-year photographic record of sail training from Falmouth is to go on show at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall during October 2007.

By the way, I’ve asked Museum staff about the issue, and I gather that these days the youngsters aren’t allowed to do many of the things shown in these photos without safety harnesses.

This is the NMM’s press release about the exhibition:

60 years of photographic diaries go on display at Maritime Museum

Next month the National Maritime Museum Cornwall will be opening a new photographic exhibition, offering a charming glimpse of voyages aboard the Falmouth Sail Training Ships.

Opening on Wednesday 3 October, the new exhibition will be on show on the Temporary Exhibitions Balcony in the Museum’s Cornwall Galleries. Using 60 years of photographic diaries, it beautifully documents Falmouth Sail Training Ships’ journey from its inception in 1946 to the present day.

Falmouth Sail Training Ships has served our community for over 60 years and continues to give both boys and, more recently, girls the rare opportunity to crew at sea, using the training ship Hardiesse. Its aim is to promote sailing for young people and, through hands-on experience of sailing, to encourage the development of knowledge, teamwork and leadership.

The organisation was originally set up by local banker and ex-naval Lieutenant, Joe Feather in 1946. He bought a Bristol Pilot Cutter, Christabel, and trained local children to crew – eventually the Sail Training Association was formed and has since gone from strength to strength.

Unfortunately, the original ship, Christabel, became too expensive to maintain and so a charitable trust was set up to raise funds for the purchase of Shearwater in 1956. Then, in 1971, Joe commissioned Percy Dalton to design a purpose-built sail training vessel, the Hardiesse. This ship has continued Joe’s legacy, even after his death in 1988.

Carolyn Wilkins, one of the Falmouth Sail Training Ship’s directors, says: “As in the words of Sir Francis Drake: ‘I will have the gentlemen to haul and to draw with the mariners, and the mariners with the gentlemen, let us show ourselves one company’. Falmouth Sail Training Ship has always been ‘One Company’ and we are determined to keep this tradition alive for the future young people of Falmouth. We’re delighted to have this opportunity to celebrate and promote what we do at the Maritime Museum.”

The exhibition showcases over 400 original images and gives a tantalising insight into the fun and challenges for the youngsters aboard ship. It will be on show at the Maritime Museum until January 7 next year.