Tag: beach boats

Traditional beach boats at Dungeness, November 2017

My son and I dropped by a little before sunset. As well as the boats we found half a dozen largely solitary photographers with the same idea…

Photos from Looe Lugger Regatta

[ad name=”intheboatshed-post”]

Looe luggers regatta

I’ve just found this page of photos from what must have been a magnificent event down at Looe last year. I haven’t found any evidence of anything similar in 2010, but it would be great to know whether there are any plans for the future.

In the meantime, there are three web pages that are particularly interesting in relation to the boats themselves that the Looe folks invited, including some celebrated craft:

PS – Here’s a link to the 2013 regatta and a nice gallery of photos.

Southwold’s Sailor’s Reading Room

[ad name=”intheboatshed-post”]

southwold, sailors, reading room, models, photos, fishermen, coastguards, museum, boats, ships, beach boats, harbour

southwold, sailors, reading room, models, photos, fishermen, coastguards, museum, boats, ships, beach boats, harbour southwold, sailors, reading room, models, photos, fishermen, coastguards, museum, boats, ships, beach boats, harbour

southwold, sailors, reading room, models, photos, fishermen, coastguards, museum, boats, ships, beach boats, harbour southwold, sailors, reading room, models, photos, fishermen, coastguards, museum, boats, ships, beach boats, harbour

southwold, sailors, reading room, models, photos, fishermen, coastguards, museum, boats, ships, beach boats, harbour

Southwold’s famous Sailor’s Reading Room was built in 1864 in memory of a Captain Rayley, who had been an officer at the Battle of Trafalgar, and had died the previous year.

I knew the building as a boy and remember thinking it was as fabulous then as I think it is now. It really hasn’t changed in close to 50 years, and the only sadness is that photography is forbidden and I can’t show you how splendid it really is.

What I can say without fear of contradiction is that the old reading room is packed with a huge variety of treasures, including photos, models and other memorabilia of the local fishermen, sailors and coastguards of years gone by.

Often generations of brothers, fathers, sons and cousins worked at these trades at the same time, and because they so often bore the same name they were often given colourful nicknames – I particularly like the name of one bearded old salt whose photo appears on the Reading Room’s walls.  He must have gloried in his handle of ‘Crikey’ Rogers!

Of course, many of them were also lifeboatmen, and since we’ve been to the old town recently in a day or two thanks to some great local friends I’ll add some photos of the restored local lifeboat now on show in a new home near the beach, and some shots from the harbour – including the wonderful Leila. Make sure you come back!

Sign up to start receiving the weekly intheboatshed.net newsletter: sign up here