Category: Steam power

News from my inbox: SS Shieldhall appeal, crossing the Atlantic by raft and surfboard building

SS Shieldhall on the Clyde 2005

Government grants for historic ships have dried up and the SS Shieldhall urgently needs £80,000 if she is to continue sailing

Just a few items from my inbox today.

Historic steamship SS Shieldhall needs £80,000 to keep sailing

One of the country’s most important historic steam ships has launched and appeal for survival, amid ongoing concerns that Britain’s maritime heritage is in decline.

Registered charity The Solent Steam Packet is appealing for £80,000 to secure the future of SS Shieldhall, a historic steam-driven cargo and passenger ship that some time ago was named ‘Flagship of the National Historic Ships Fleet’. In spring 2011 she will require dry-docking, which is necessary if she is to continue to sail – however the cost will be £80,000 to £100,000.  The charity says that budget cuts mean that grants are no longer routinely available to pay for maintenance work on heritage ships, and that our seafaring nation now risks losing many of its most significant vessels.

I sincerely hope they’re overstating the case or we could be in big trouble where some very important vessels are concerned.

Antiki – crossing the Atlantic on a raft made of plastic tubes

People try to cross bodies of water in a variety of craft both crazy and otherwise.

On this occasion part of the twist on this occasion is that the skipper, author Anthony Smith, is in his mid-80s and the vessel is made up of industrial plastic tubes tied together. The link above goes to the expedition weblog.

As you’d expect from the writer of the best-selling book The Body (The Human Body in the US), this silly-sounding voyage has several serious aims, including raising money for Water Aid, studying plankton in the age of global warming, and as a reminder of the dreadful bu often forgotten losses suffered by the merchant navy during World War II.

Surfboard building

Paul Reisberg has written to say that he’s hosting a three-day workshop by Rich Blundell on how to build a hollow wooden surfboard in Pembrokeshire at half-term this month – if you’re going to have a little time on your hands around then, love surfing and woodwork this might be for you. More information is available from the link above, and from Rich’s website.

More information emerges about Jantje’s sails – but what about Nordhorn’s anchor?

Nordhorn anchor from Byers foundry, Sunderland

Nordhorn anchor from Byers foundry, Sunderland Nordhorn anchor from Byers foundry, Sunderland Nordhorn anchor from Byers foundry, Sunderland

A little more information has emerged about the source of Jantje’s sails. Hans-Christian Rieck has written to say that the sister of the previous owner, the late Mr Struik, has volunteered the information that they were purchased second-hand from a Frisian sailmaker. Now the Graf Ship Association’s volunteers are trying to find out which sailmaker was involved in supplying the steilsteven or sailing tjalk’s sails.

They’re also close to overcoming the last bureaucratic obstacles to obtaining a certificate to allow Jantje to work as passenger ship on her home waters.

However, it seems the good folks of Nordhorn have another question. It seems a local businessman gave an old anchor to the City as a display item for its now historic quay. The anchor was found in mudbanks of the mouth of the River Schelde near the port of Rotterdam during dredging works.

It’s clearly of British origin, as on one fluke it is possible to read the name of Byers and the place name Sunderland, and a serial number that is now impossible to decipher. The other fluke bears the code ‘VV’.

It seems clear that it was cast by a foundry named Byers, but is there a way of discovering which ship lost it in the mouth of the Schelde? Can any reader help? My guess is that it’s likely to be listed as an insurance loss somewhere, or on the foundry ledgers, if they still exist.

From its shape local experts think the anchor dates from the late 19th or early 20th century, and that it must be from either of a British or at least a British-built ship because at that time of overheated nationalism there is every reason to doubt that a Dutch, French or German shipyard would buy foreign parts for the ships built on their own yards.

There’s an interesting listing of Sunderland-built ships here.

PS – I’m grateful to Ian Wedderburn for writing this weekend to point out this link at the England’s Past for Everyone website, which is about a very similar looking anchor that’s now outside the maritime museum at Palermo, Sicily. Thanks Ian!

http://www.englandspastforeveryone.org.uk/Counties/Durham/News/Mystery_of_the_Sunderland_anchor?Session/@id=D_ke2YxeRe5gVh7J4uDkpD

150 years of Falmouth Docks exhibition at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall

150 years of Falmouth Docks exhibition

The Cutty Sark under repair in Falmouth Docks in about 1930

150 years of Falmouth Docks exhibition 150 years of Falmouth Docks exhibition 150 years of Falmouth Docks exhibition

150 years of Falmouth Docks exhibition 150 years of Falmouth Docks exhibition 150 years of Falmouth Docks exhibition

British Realm, the first vessel to enter No 2 dry dock (Queen Elizabeth Dock) in May 1958; construction of No 4 dry dock 1928; dockyard worker cleaning sections of a tanker engine circa 1960; dockyard workers fitting new boiler tubes; major repairs to tanker circa 1950; workers removing the propeller from the 100,000 ton tanker British Admiral circa 1970. All photos courtesy of the David Barnicoat collection

A new exhibition celebrating the 150th anniversary of Falmouth Docks opened some days ago at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall.

Falmouth has been used as a harbour for over 2,000 years and the docks have been an industrial hub since their creation in the mid-19th century, and Falmouth senior pilot David Barnicoat and museum staff have worked together for months to create an exhibition including models, films, objects, paintings and photography.

Museum exhibitions development manager Milly Newman is particularly pleased to include a model of the docks. ‘In the heart of our exhibition is a beautiful model showing their scale and impact. It’s a real jewel amongst the many objects we have supporting the exhibition,’ she said.

‘Five generations of my family have worked at the docks. My great-grandfather helped build them, I worked in the fitting shop from the 1950s and my son works there today. You could say it’s in our blood,’ retired dock employee  Frank Eva said proudly. ‘This exhibition not only tells the story of the docks but in some ways tells a part of my family’s and other family’s histories and I’m very proud it’s being celebrated.’

The exhibition will remain on show until the 30th March 2011.