Arthur Ransome

[Guest woody]

Does anyone remember enjoying his two titles based on the broads, Coot Clud and The Big Six? Loved them as a child and still read them now!

[Guest urchin]

yes thats what led me to the broads in the first place i was about 12 when i watched the film on tv and loved it we had always had boats my dad sugested we take my boat urchin down for the week and stay on a house boat at stalham. we had a great week and imagine my surprise when on the first day i sailed into stalham and found the death and glory boat that was used in the film tied up at the staith!!! i think i broke the speed limit abit racing back to tell my mum and dad. my dad came back with me and took a few pics of me and urchin next to her, that was 1987 i think does anyone know what happend to her? i will try and find the pic out and post it on here if i can work out how oh and im 36 now and still have a copy of the book and the dvd.

[Brian]

Fantasic Stories,

In fact this thread prompted me to buy the DVD for my 6 year old Daughter ( Swallows and Amazons )

She hasnt watched it yet, weel watch it as a family on Saturday Evening

Cant wait.

[Guest woody]

I have no idea what happened to the death and glory used in the film, but that led to me eying up an ex life boat which had very similar lines to a wherry and doing the same but I wasnt allowed

[Guest]

Glad you enjoyed your holiday, the Broads are a great place for holidays for all ages.

Jen

[Brian]

We all watched Swallows and Amazons Forever on Saturday Evening.

What a lovely Film Clare really enjoyed it ( shes only 6 ).

She hooked now, and i managed to find The Big Six on DVD on ebay last night at a bargain price.

Have you seen the price of the Original Books ? £ 125 !!

[Brian]

Havent had the chance to Watch Big Six yet.

Did find this site interesting

http://www.arthur-ransome.org/

[NeilB]

The Death or Glory was moored up at the old Belaugh Boats yard back in April this year. Not sure if it's still there as the water was too high to get under Wroxham bridge last week.

Hopefully be up in a few weeks so may try again as we will be in a G Smith boat so should fit under!!

Neil

[Brian]

Would be great if you could take some pics for us if its still moored there

[NeilB]

Will do Brian. Last time I was there was back in April after scattering my dads ashes at Coltishall so I did not have my camera!!

Neil

[johnm]

Just found this thread.

For those not in the know, the yacht used for the Teasel is the Hunter's Yard Lullaby. The 'Titmouse' is also in the shed at Hunter's. The yacht with the very droopy bowsprit that the message for 'Miss Farland' is passed from was moored at Phoenix the other week (to my embarrasment I can't remember her name)

[Labrador]

Hi Johnm,

I think you're talking about Buttercup restored and owned by Patrick Richardson of Phoenix yard. he sailed her for the filming dressed up of course.

[johnm]

JR,

I do indeed mean Buttercup - who could miss that fantastic 'droop snoot'. A beautiful boat

[Speleologist]

My exploration of this section of the forum led me to theis ancient thread, 14 years old! I am well familiar with the role of Lullaby in the film, and also with the Titmouse ( a one-time lifejacket store at Hunters Yard.) Those who remember the detail at the end of Coot Club may recall the twins, Port and Starboard, joining their father for a race against the winner of the regatta. The winner that they took on (and beat,) was a boat called Grizzled Skipper. This is a White Boat (Yare & Bure One Design) that was, a few years ago, and maybe still, owned by a former commodore of HSC. The boat the twins raced was Flash. I have saled a boat called Flash. At the time it belonged to a a then member of another forum. It had been built at Coldham Hall, where Arthure Ransome of then stayed and it is likely that it was the inspiration for the Flash of the book. It's even possible that Ransome once owned it. Having also sailed Lullaby, I can claim a fairly close association with the boats of the books.

As an aside, I am very distantly related to Arthur Ransome. In certain sections of the family he was known as "The Undesirable Cousin" because of his association with the Russian Revolution and Communism.

[JennyMorgan]

When the 1970's film was being made I was working at a sailing school in Bosham near Chichester. One morning I arrived to find a clinker built dinghy parked outside the office. Once in the office I found that my services were required, me being a Broads sailor and that the Broads was still a home to lug rigged dinghies. The young actor who played 'John' was a Bosham lad and I had the pleasure of showing him, and a producer, how to rig and sail a lug dinghy. 

[HEM]

Coot Club was the first AR book I read at the age of 10 - a well-worn hardback in the classroom library at junior school.

I have the entire collection - most being hardbacks bought as new during the 1960s.  Unfortunately I was not able to inspire my own children with the books as they have German as their primarly language (speak English reasonably well especially my son who is in IT).

[grendel]

I have several different versions of each of the books, including the old green cloth covered hardbacks of Coot Club and Big Six that generally come with me when I am on the boat. (plus I have them all on audio books too.

[Speleologist]

One of my copies, Pigeon Post, was my mothers when she was a child It must be a pretty early edition as she was born in 1929 and the book was published in 1936. Most of my other copies are hardbacks from the 60's. Over the years I've also had the good fortune to both sail on several Swallows and Amazons related boats and explore the settings of many of the adventures.

In addition to the Broads and the Broads boats mentioned earlier, I have explored The Walton Backwaters, and the rivers Stour and Orwell (Secret Water). I have been on board Pudge, the Thames Barge that was the model for Welcome of Rochester (Coot Club) I have sailed Thames Barges, but not Pudge. I've sailed on Lake Windermere and have explored the Coniston Copper Mines, both underground and above (Pigeon Post). I've seen, but not been aboard the Nancy Plackett (Goblin in We Didn't Mean to go to Sea.) One day I really should sail the crossing from Harwich to Vlissingen (Flushing).

Another interesting fact relating to Arthur Ransome dated from before Swallows and Amazons. When he left Russia he settled for a while in Riga, where he built a boat and went sailing. His first trip is described in his book "Racindra's First Cruise." It's a delightful read. The interesting thing from the point of view of offshore sailors is that when he returned to the UK and settled in the Lake District, he sold Racundra. She was bought by K Adalrd Coles who found fame as the author of "Heavy Weather Sailing" This has become the definitive textbook on storm tactics for offshore sailors and is now in its 7th edition. All the editions contain a section of real storm experiences and in early editions one of them is Adlard Coless describing the storm he encountered bringing the newly purchased Racundra (Now renamed Annette II) back to the UK from the Baltic.

[grendel]

yes it is a good read, I always liked the passage when AR was sailing in a storm and they had 2 flasks of hot tea, and decided not to bother saving one for later as they might have sunk by then. that always struck me as a rather fatalistic view of matters.

[TheQ]

Grizzled Skipper  Yare and Bure Number 56 , built 1938, was sold recently, It was listed for £12,000, But whether they got that, I have no Idea.. I don't recognize the the names listed as the current owners, so whether it has been sold out of HSC I don't know..

[LizG]

3 minutes ago, TheQ said:

Grizzled Skipper  Yare and Bure Number 56 , built 1938, was sold recently, It was listed for £12,000, But whether they got that, I have no Idea.. I don't recognize the the names listed as the current owners, so whether it has been sold out of HSC I don't know..

It was being sailed at Barton in ?2019

[Speleologist]

An additional conundrum: I had always assumed that the Grizzled Skipper referred to in Coot Club was YBOD number 56. However further investigation on the YBOD class website shows that Grizzled Skipper was built in 1938, several years after Coot Club was published in 1934. Furthermore it appears that YBOD 56 was known as Papilio between 1938 and 1958, only receiving the name Grizzled Skipper some 24 years after Coot Club was published. I have also been unable to find any record of an earlier White Boat having been known at one time as Grizzled Skipper.

It seems likely that Ransome had a White Boat in mind, since the name follows the class tradition of being named after butterflies and moths. Was it a fictional name? Was an earlier White Boat known as Grizzled Skipper at one time. Was the boat a real boat called Grizzled Skipper but not a White Boat?

Does anybody have any further information on this conundrum?

[LizG]

11 minutes ago, Speleologist said:

An additional conundrum: I had always assumed that the Grizzled Skipper referred to in Coot Club was YBOD number 56. However further investigation on the YBOD class website shows that Grizzled Skipper was built in 1938, several years after Coot Club was published in 1934. Furthermore it appears that YBOD 56 was known as Papilio between 1938 and 1958, only receiving the name Grizzled Skipper some 24 years after Coot Club was published. I have also been unable to find any record of an earlier White Boat having been known at one time as Grizzled Skipper.

It seems likely that Ransome had a White Boat in mind, since the name follows the class tradition of being named after butterflies and moths. Was it a fictional name? Was an earlier White Boat known as Grizzled Skipper at one time. Was the boat a real boat called Grizzled Skipper but not a White Boat?

Does anybody have any further information on this conundrum?

This is one for Jamie Campbell if anyone wants to contact him. He is on FB....

I'll see if I have anything saved?

 

[LizG]

I've looked up Grizzled Skipper and as you say built in 1938 and originally named Papilio - Papilio machaon is a Swallowtail!  However there is already a White boat built in 1914 (launched 1917) called Swallowtail and that name has never changed.

Grizzled Skipper has been the recognised butterfly name for many years unlike some others where names have changed. What I like are names like Wood Argus number 43 which is the old name for Speckled Wood and Marsh Ringlet which is a Large Heath.

Am I right in thinking that Ransome never used real names for his boats so maybe he picked up on White Boats, realised they were generally named after butterflies and just picked a butterfly at random which wasn't listed as a White Boat??

Should anyone be interested to know what they look like - here are two I photographed a few years ago.  They are very small! Compare the size of a Forget-me-knot and the one roosting

 

 

 

[Boaters]

Been a Ransome fan since a kid ,we hired a boat in th seventies.and was on Breydon when they were filming  Coot Club we  stil  have the video on VHS got the DVD and have just read them both on Kindle as the original books are fragile.Just read TITYS  Book of her time filming Swallows and Amazons  on the Lake District on Kindle.