Pathé newsreels: the London Boat Show of 1967, and Blyth and Ridgway row the Atlantic

Boat Show London 1967

Two hugely nostalgic Pathé newsreels caught my eye today – at least, they are for me. Lots of other folks might think they’re interesting historical documents!

The first is about the London Boat Show of 1967 and the then-fashionable hobby of sailing dinghies, which were often home-built. I have a hazy memory of my father attending the show about that time, and it wasn’t long before I was up to my armpits in ply and goop building our own Mirror paid for on the then-new hire purchase system.

The second celebrates Chay Blyth and John Ridgway arriving in Ireland in 1966 after rowing the Atlantic.

Enthusiasm for rowing oceans in adapted dories does not seem to have gone away in the intervening decades – but where did all the sailors of little dinghies go?

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