Month: April 2010

Two festivals: the Beale Park Thames Boat Show and Scottish Traditional Boat Festival

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Scenes from previous Beale Park Thames Boat Shows

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Scenes from the Scottish Traditional Boat Festival at Portsoy (last two supplied by the organisers, but I think taken for them by Kathy Mansfield)

Two of the most important boat shows featuring wooden boats are coming up – but for some reason this year I don’t seem to be hearing much about them from anyone.

The shows in question are the Beale Park Thames Boat Show from the 4th to 6th June  near Pangbourne on the River Thames (click here for information), and the Scottish Traditional Boat Festival on the 26th-27th June at Portsoy (click here for more information).

You exhibitors out there, why don’t you get in touch and tell me what you’re going to be showing and why you’re so proud of them, and why people should go along and see your stuff – and throw in a couple of photos while you’re at it? There’s still time, it’s very easy, I can be reached at gmatkin@gmail.com, and this site gets 800+ interested visitors a day. It should be a no-brainer…

Songs about rivers with Reginald Foort at the mighty cinema organ

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The Eton Boating Song sung by the Eton College Choral Society,  the Song of the Volga Boatmen with the Don Cossack Choir, Old Father Thames sung by Harry Compton and Ya Vass Lublu sung by Paula Grey. Marvellous nostalgic stuff, every bit of it, and it comes with some nice old footage of the Thames and its working boats, including people apparently playing and sunbathing on its beaches.

A Southwold memorial explained

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UK Home Built Boat Rally member John Lockwood has been in touch with a photo of the ship commanded by brave Captain David W Simpson MBE when he met his death.

Captain Simpson is today remembered by a memorial plaque outside Southwold’s Sailor’s Reading Room.

John writes:

‘I know you like following interesting threads. In connection with the memorial plaque included in yesterday’s post, I have attached a picture of the West Isleta, later the Empire Merlin, built in 1919 in Seattle, managed by Ropners Shipping, and torpedoed by U-boat U48 about 190 miles west of Cape Wrath.

‘The thought of a 70 year old captain working on that open bridge in the North Atlantic in winter makes me appreciate what a tough lot merchant navy sailors were in those days.  Incidentally Captain Simpson was previously Master of the SS Wandy, which attacked and sank a German U-boat in WWI.

‘Regards,  John’

I certainly do like a good story! Many thanks for the old photo and information John.