Restoration and repair – Page 46

1885 ship’s signalling lamp made by Bulpitt’s of Birmingham

This splendid example of Victorian engineering is a ship’s signalling lamp made by Bulpitt & Sons in 1885, and restored in the last few weeks by John Armstrong, who trades as Boat Antiques.

I guess the lamp would have been used for Morse code, which would explain the cute switch on the side.

As usual, click on the images to see much larger photos.

Here’s what John has to say about it:

‘This Bulpitt & Sons signal lamp arrived in to our workshop in December.

‘The company was founded by Thomas Bulpitt in 1868 and was originally based at Northwood Street, Birmingham. Initially a brass founders, the company prospered and went on to specialise in lamps and kettles. Early in the 20th century it launched the brand name ‘Swan‘, which is still trading today.

The lamp arrived in a fairly sorry state of repair, but the fact that it was still here at all was a testament to the craftsmanship of her makers. The first job was to give her a really good clean out and rub down. Years of rust had left the surface terribly pitted, to sand out all of these craters would have meant severely weakening the structure, and as we had high hopes of her returning to full working service, this was not going to be an option. Instead once the initial debris and corrosion was removed we protected the metalwork with multiple layers of enamel, rubbing down between coats achieve an even finish. It was slow progress, and the lamp still has the odd battle wound that tells of its neglect in the past, but I’m sure you will agree that overall the difference is remarkable and hopefully the shiny new paint work will go some way to preserving her for the next hundred years.

‘Once the exterior was sorted it was time to turn our attentions to the mechanism and the lamp itself. Amazingly the lamp still had a wick and oil in it when it arrived, it even managed a small flame (for a while). All the workings were cleaned out and the old wick and oil removed. Although much less affected by the corrosion than the exterior, there was still some superficial rust and evidence of well worn paint, so the screen, stage, lamp and rest all got a brush up.

‘Last but not least the brass work. A lot of spit and polish together with a good measure of elbow grease, not to mention some Brasso, soon had her gleaming again. And what a sight she is now. This was clearly an expensive item in its day, all the signs are there from quality of the lens to the small bone handle that operates the shutter. The mechanics are beautifully simple and meticulously crafted, easily dismantling for inspection and cleaning. It truly is a joyous thing to handle and I am sorely tempted to keep it for myself but, alas, it appears in our shop even as I type and given its rarity is hardly likely to stay there for long.’

Signalling lamp before restoration:

PS – Visitors to the Boat Antiques website should check out the gorgeous Tumlaren restoration job on the company’s restoration page. We do like a Tumlaren, we do…

Rescue Wooden Boats starts restoration work at Morston

Rescue Wooden Boats is a fairly new charitable trust established in 2010 with the aim of restoring and use old wooden craft, and to teach people about their history and the skills involved in their construction, maintenance and use.

The organisation, which has premises at Morston, has acquired three boats:

Lucy Lavers (pictured above in her heyday, and as work began in December 2011), a single-screw Liverpool-type lifeboat built in 1940 for Aldeburgh Lifeboat Station. Her first service was the Dunkirk evacuation in the early part of World War II. She later served as a relief lifeboat at Wells-next-the-Sea and elsewhere along the East Coast. She was donated to Rescue Wooden Boats by the Dunkirk Little Ships Restoration Trust
Black Beauty, a North Norfolk crab boat built in 1950 by Emery for Dick Davis. She was donated by Andy Frary, who used her as a crab boat until the mid-1980s
Bessie, a whelker provided by Trevor Farman. She was built by Johnson in the mid 1930s for the Cox family who whelked with her out of Wells-next-the-Sea for three decades. Squeakie Bishop then bought her and used her for angling parties from Blakeney and then Gorleston, where she continued to be used as a pleasure and fishing boat. She is one of only a few remaining Johnson-built whelkers but is said to be in reasonably good condition

As is the way with these things, the Rescue Wooden Boats folks need members, donations of money, materials and skills. They are currently searching for an original canopy for the Lucy Lavers – if you know about one, please contact them!

TV film about schooner sailing and racing on the coast of Nova Scotia

Here’s another nice film, this time about schooners, schooner racing and the people who build, maintain and race these fabulous working boats along the coast of Nova Scotia.

It’s a touch schmaltzy for British tastes, but takes me straight back to the times when I dreamed of working on these boats as a young teenager. By that time, of course, the days of working schooners were already long gone but no-one had told me, or if they did I wasn’t listening…

Thanks to Mike Goodwin for letting me know about this one.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: