Tag: boats

Woodbridge: a dockside stroll in photos

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Woodbridge from along the estuary

Woodbridge from the head of the estuary. Click on the thumbnails for much bigger photos

Woodbridge mill Woodbridge mill from a distance

Woodbridge tide mill

Woodbridge motor cruisers Woodbridge liveaboard Woodbridge liveaboard 3

Woodbridge liveaboard 2 converted lifeboat

Liveaboards at Woodbridge

Woodbridge outstanding shed Everson's Woodbridge cruising club wind vane Woodbridge Deben Yacht Club wind vane

Eversons’ splendid sheds; wind vanes belonging to Woodbridge Cruising Club and the Deben Yacht Club

Woodbridge Arwen Woodbridge Arwen 2 Woodbridge Arwen 3

The intriguing and delightful Arwen

Woodbridge motor boat

A very sweet little motorboat

Woodbridge Lowestoft smack LO136 Woodbridge Bawley LO136 2

Bawley Good Intent, with a London port designation

Woodbridge interesting small yacht Woodbridge pretty small yacht Woodbridge yacht 2

Woodbridge dinghies

Pretty yachts and picturesque dinghies

Woodbridge wall detail 2 Woodbridge wall detail 1

Wall details from the old quayside, which is now set well back from the river

The banks and boats of the Deben at dusk

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A dreamy set of shots taken at Bawdsey Quay, littered with
fishing boats, tall-masted yachts and tenders. I hope you
find them suitably atmospheric. Click on the thumbnails for
much larger photos

Mouth of Deben Tenders at the mouth of the Deben Mud at the mouth of the Deben

Buoy at the mouth of the Deben

Dusk at the mouth of the Deben Anti tank blocks at the mouth of the Deben

Julie and I are just back from a few days in Suffolk, during which we took some photos, visited grand old churches and spent several very happy hours among the singers and musicians of The Ship at Blaxhall.

If you don’t know it, The Blaxhall Ship, as it always seems to be called, is a fabulous old fashioned singing pub where folks still get together on a Monday afternoon, every third Thursday and at other times announced via the pub’s website. There’s a well recorded history here too – read all about it at the Musical Traditions website.

I dare say more photos will follow…

Southwold’s Sailor’s Reading Room

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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!

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