Show Us Yours

[Timbo]

Ooh Sir! Suits you Sir! Ahem.

Yes...well...blame Janet Anne for making a request to see blow ups of peoples avatars. Anyway. Here's mine.

A life belt featuring Hunsett Mill which Royal Tudor passes from her moorings, Swallowtail Butterflies, the heron one of my favourite birds...after the Great Crested Grebe and the original yard pennant for Royall's Boats when they were based in Norwich which Nigel Royall kindly gave us permission to fly from the bow of Royal Tudor. Made up from various pastel sketches I make while we are out and about on Royal Tudor along with some devilment in GIMP.

[ChrisB]

Mine is the Beaulieu River at Bucklers Hard. One of my favourite destinations when our boat was at Wareham.

My cover photograph is Siddlesham Quay in Pagham Harbour. In the sixties I sailed my Mirror on the Harbour and was a member of the local Wildfowlers Association who met just round the corner of the brick building in The Crab and Lobster.

Pagham Harbour is now an RSPB reserve so all that has gone. Pagham Sailing Club do get permission to sail up to the quay on springs once a year for a pint in the Crab. Sadly I don't know anyone I could crew for as I would love to do the trip for old times sake! 

There are still a handful of boat licences for the harbour but these are held on an individual basis, not a boat or a property and are not transferable so die with the holder.

[JennyMorgan]

The Beaulieu River, I remember it well. Used to regularly take youth groups up there on a 44 footer, under sail. Lovely place, good memories. By the time the youngsters had tacked all the way up the river they had very definitely mastered sail handling! 

[grendel]

mines fairly predictable - me and cats, only 2 of these still alive, the old boy Boo at 23 and Ingrid the sandy burmese, who is now blind, and must be 16 or 17

[JawsOrca]

Here's mine.. Orca last year I think it was Oulton Dyke. We mudweighted on the broad if I remember correctly.

[Regulo]

Sunbird on Barton Broad, August 2013.

[Wussername]

My grandfather was the skipper of a Lowestoft trawler, owned by his father.

When he sold his boatyard in Norfolk he purchased a cruiser, the Silver Crest. He required a bell for his boat.

On holiday, in Cornwall, at a chandlers, he purchased a bell. Covered in mud and dirt. It was subsequently cleaned by Delf's garage in Beccles in the early 1930's. The bell was given to my mother who passed away, aged 90 some 10 years ago.

She gave the bell to me.

 

[BroadScot]

Our national bard, Robert Burns,. I was brought up but two miles from Alloway, Burns Cottage, in Ayr.

Iain

[JanetAnne]

 

I just knew these Avatars would have brilliant stories behind them. Sadly mine are not as interesting though I will put some serious thought into the next one!

My first one, that escaped with the hoards the other day was of me being shoehorned into my current home. As you can see the doorway was a bit tight and had lead to lots of references to chocolate consumption and actually fitting through the frame again when I come out!

Eventually they got me lined up

And in!

The second Avatar is of the crew, professional as always! The piece of oak had just come out of the steamer and been clamped into shape ready to fit. It's 16ft long!!

And ended up here,

 

 

 

 

 

[BroadScot]

5 minutes ago, JanetAnne said:

 

I just knew these Avatars would have brilliant stories behind them. Sadly mine are not as interesting though I will put some serious thought into the next one!

My first one, that escaped with the hoards the other day was of me being shoehorned into my current home. As you can see the doorway was a bit tight and had lead to lots of references to chocolate consumption and actually fitting through the frame again when I come out!

Eventually they got me lined up

And in!

The second Avatar is of the crew, professional as always! The piece of oak had just come out of the steamer and been clamped into shape ready to fit. It's 16ft long!!

And ended up here,

 

 

 

 

 

Well seen JA that your crew never watched Blue Peter. Some sticky back plastic, paper mashie and you would have been back on the Broads by now! 

Iain

[JanetAnne]

5 minutes ago, BroadScot said:

Well seen JA that your crew never watched Blue Peter. Some sticky back plastic, paper mashie and you would have been back on the Broads by now! 

Iain

On or in?

[grendel]

5 hours ago, BroadScot said:

Our national bar, Robert Burns,. I was brought up but two miles from Alloway, Burns Cottage, in Ayr.

Iain

freudian slip?

[JennyMorgan]

8 hours ago, Wussername said:

My grandfather was the skipper of a Lowestoft trawler, owned by his father.

When he sold his boatyard in Norfolk he purchased a cruiser, the Silver Crest. He required a bell for his boat.

On holiday, in Cornwall, at a chandlers, he purchased a bell. Covered in mud and dirt. It was subsequently cleaned by Delf's garage in Beccles in the early 1930's. The bell was given to my mother who passed away, aged 90 some 10 years ago.

She gave the bell to me.

 

Surely not from the ship of that name? Whatever, an excellent heirloom. Just curious, Old Wusser, is there a story about that boatyard?

[grendel]

one wonders at the provenance, the ship was built in 1869, but the bell residing in the museum shows the date as 1870

but the page does say the bell was stolen in 1903

Apparently, the ship’s bell was stolen around 1903 when the ship was under the Portuguese flag by an officer who had once served on Cutty Sark. The Portuguese crew then stole the bell of the nearest ship, the barque Shakespeare. When Cutty Sark was bought by Captain Dowman in 1922, the culprit offered the original bell back, taking Shakespeare’s bell in exchange.  
Read more at http://www.rmg.co.uk/discover/behind-the-scenes/blog/object-focus-cutty-sarks-bells#53f5VXP7eh0M7JBh.99

 

[Wussername]

58 minutes ago, JennyMorgan said:

Surely not from the ship of that name? Whatever, an excellent heirloom. Just curious, Old Wusser, is there a story about that boatyard?

Several stories Peter.

My great grandfather John Jenner purchased Town House and started Jenner's Boatyard. He then gave the house and the boatyard to his sons Jack and William. Jack had little interest in the business and was bought out by my grandfather William Bramwell Jenner.

Andrew

[Wussername]

1 hour ago, grendel said:

one wonders at the provenance, the ship was built in 1869, but the bell residing in the museum shows the date as 1870

but the page does say the bell was stolen in 1903

Apparently, the ship’s bell was stolen around 1903 when the ship was under the Portuguese flag by an officer who had once served on Cutty Sark. The Portuguese crew then stole the bell of the nearest ship, the barque Shakespeare. When Cutty Sark was bought by Captain Dowman in 1922, the culprit offered the original bell back, taking Shakespeare’s bell in exchange.  
Read more at http://www.rmg.co.uk/discover/behind-the-scenes/blog/object-focus-cutty-sarks-bells#53f5VXP7eh0M7JBh.99

 

You are absolutely correct Grendel, there is a lack of provenance. There is no doubt that the ships bell which you have illustrated was indeed one of the Cutty Sark's bells and was referred to as the ships bell.

However it is my understanding that in those days bells were used to communicate with the crew for all manner of reasons. Underway in stormy seas the vessel would have been very noisy with wind howling through the rigging and the flapping of sails and the sound of the seas crashing through the boat.

This very small bell, to my mind would not have been practical and in this respect I prefer the story that the bell graced the master's table when in port and entertained his guests.

The bell in question, the bell which I have, was not the main working ships bell, but I like to think that it was used somewhere, at sometime, on the Cutty Sark. Who knows?

Andrew

[grendel]

maybe the first master did not like the bell provided with the ship and bought his own, better looking better engraved, and tossed the old one into a scrap yard somewhere, and yours is in fact the one provided by the shipbuilder originally, its a nice thought, but I suppose we will never know.

[BroadScot]

10 hours ago, JanetAnne said:

On or in?

Both! 

[donnygeoff]

I came a close second in the audition for Skyfall.....

the bloke stood next to me got it....

 

 

[RobRiley]

I read that the main bell of the Cutty Sark which was on the monkey fo'c's'le  was a 50lb-er but there was another on the stern.

You all know where the term, "It's 8 bells" comes from, don't you?

[JennyMorgan]

You mean that there were eight bells aboard a sailing ship and once in every twenty four hours the crew would ring a plain bob minor?

[RobRiley]

The crews generally did a four hour 'shift' and the bell was rung once every half hour, 8 bells signified the end of the stint.