Gavin Atkin's weblog for the sort of people who like looking inside boat sheds. It's about old boats, traditional boats, boat building, restoration, the sea and the North Kent Coast
Some more favourite local boats seen around the Swale – and mostly photographed using one hand! As usual, click on the small image for a much larger view.
The little white-hulled boat from Paglesham is just the cutest thing, isn’t she?
This may not look like much to most folks – but it shows the brickie barge Westmoreland returning to Lower Halstow a few days ago.
The next step in bringing her back to life is to put in a bid for a Heritage Lottery grant – but in the meantime the trust looking after her could do with some donations to help pay for towing her to her new berth, and the insurance the job required.
Built in 1900 in Conyer (just a few creeks away off the Swale), the sailing barge worked from Lower Halstow for 60 years, taking bricks up to London. She’s also Kent’s last brickie barge – generally small barges these were built specifically for the job.
The aim of the Westmoreland Trust Community Interest Company is to restore the barge and to use her to tell the story of the brickfields and barges that carried the bricks used to build London.
Read more about the SB Westmoreland here and here.
‘With both staysail classes starting together, it was quite congested but Edith May found herself at the front of the pack charging to the line at the Sand End buoy. With official stop watch operator Clare Curling counting down the seconds to the start gun and the barge doing about 8kts, it was difficult to judge if the barge was going to be a few seconds early or late and mainsheetman and mate encouraged skipper Geoff to check the barge a little to be sure.
‘Just as she was seconds from crossing the line, the smoke from the starters gun billowed out from the committee boat – a perfect start!’
A romping description of how SB Edith May won in the staysail barge class. Click here.