Hampton Safari - Dawncraft 26

[GregAfloat]

I am researching the history of Hampton's "Safari25" and in particular the version "Dawn-Craft (Wroxham)" built, often referred to as the "Dawncraft 26".

There are a couple of things that are unclear:

1. What is the name of the business?
I have seen it referred to on the Web as "Dawncraft", "Dawncraft of Wroxham" and even "Dawncraft Boats Ltd". But these all date from the 1990s onwards twenty years and more after the boats were built.

I recently came across a builder's plaque photographed on a standard "Safari25" Mk2. that spells it "Dawn-Craft (Wroxham)" and I would assume, as it was created at the time the boat was built, would be more likely to be an accurate representation of the business name.

2. Who built the first "Dawncraft 26"?
Internal data in the "Boats of the Norfolk Broads" database records the first two as being built by "Dawncraft of Wroxham" and launched at R.& C. Bondon at South Walsham in 1972. Further examples were not built until 1975 and all went to the Brinkcraft fleet. These later boats differ in a number of ways, e.g. they have an additional small porthole aft of the main windows. So were the first two really fitted out by Dawn-Craft (Wroxham) or were R & C Bondon the builders and they have mistakenly been classified as Dawn-Craft boats as they look similar?

You can read more about this and see the builder's plaque at:
https://hamptonsafari.uk/builderdawncraft.php
and
https://hamptonsafari.uk/dawncraftvariant.php

[ChrisB]

There is/was more than one builder called Dawncraft. There was one in Kidderminster and Stourport who first built in Marine Ply then GRP, mostly narrow beam for canal use. I believe that their 25 was offered as wide or narrow beam.

[GregAfloat]

You're right about the very different Kinver/Stourport company.

If you follow the builder link in my original post, you'll see I do mention it and note that has nothing to do with the Wroxham business, or "Dawn-Craft (Horning)", which I suspect may well be related to the Wroxham business.

[Vaughan]

5 hours ago, GregAfloat said:

I have seen it referred to on the Web as "Dawncraft", "Dawncraft of Wroxham" and even "Dawncraft Boats Ltd".

I shall try to cut a long story short and I emphasise that this is just from my memory, without reference to any historic documents.

Dawncraft was an old established business on the Broads, building wooden varnished cruisers, some of which looked a lot like the Jack Powles craft of those days.  Some said they had been copied - which would not be the first time on the Broads!  In the early 60s they also built a few large aft cockpit craft looking much like the Hampton Classic Safari - quelle surprise . . . 

In the early 60s the Broads was in one of its recessions and yards were selling boats to each other all over the place, so it was difficult to tell who had built what, just by the name of the yard in Blakes Catalogue.  Dawncraft was one of the hire fleets (including Landamores, Windboats and others) which was sold to Jenners of Thorpe in 1968, by which time their fleet, under the name Dawncraft, had boats built by Porter and Haylett, Brinkcraft, Newsons, Fowlers and a few others!

The company in Wroxham still existed with its premises and was bought in the early 70s by John Clabburn  to design and fit out GRP hire boats.  John was (is) a naval architect from Vospers and was one of the designers of the Solar 37 - now known as Bounty 37 - of which Dawncraft built the early ones before they were fitted out by yards all over the Broads.  I didn't realise he also fitted out Safari 25s but apparently he did.

I don't know where the Bondons connection comes in as Alec Hampton and Ray Bondon were sworn enemies who would never have done business together.  That is another story and a very sad one, since many believe it may have contributed to Alec's death from drowning on Oulton Broad.

The Safari 25 first appears in Blakes catalogue of 1970, as Hampton's own boat, presumably built the year before :

 

 

[GregAfloat]

Many thanks, Vaughan! Really useful stuff!

For a start, given the 1968 drawing, I had assumed the Safari first appeared in the 1969 Blakes catalogue, so I'll check what I've written on the site and correct that. I know the database does say Surprise Safari was built in 1969.

You can pick up a lot of what you describe about the early 1960s from Craig's database,

After finding the builder's plaque photo I searched at Companies House for any limited companies using "dawncraft" or "dawn-craft" in the name but failed to find any. That maybe because both the Wroxham and Kinver companies were wound up before the records were put on line.

I also failed to find John Clabburn's company, but I did find his name listed as a director two companies, one wound up. I called the other, leaving a message that I was researching Safaris and asking about contacting John. He was born in 1945 so I presume not heavily active in day to day concerns. However, I've not had a response.

I was unaware of any dispute between Bondon and Hampton, or the nature of Alec's death, but was aware that they had some very similar design in their wooden hire fleet days. Your news suggests that Bondon did not have access to the Mk1 moulds and they are slightly more likely to have bought their "Dawncraft 26"s from Dawn-Craft. Perhaps the very fact they had them caused a fuss and that's why no more were built for several years?

I wonder if anyone has a 1972 or 1973 Blakes brochure that might supply some kind of confirmation about Bondon's fleet at that point - particularly the point the Shorebase site says about twin not a double bed in the aft cabin.

Is it habit that you spelt the name "Dawncraft", or a feeling that the plaque doesn't tell the story I think it might. I also remain curious about the here-today gone next year nature of the business the database calls "Dawn-Craft (Horning)" Any memories of that? It appears to be one of those outfits that was buying up the fleets of others and failed to last.

Given your memories of boat building in the 1960s you might be interested in this little snippet:

Quote

When we arrived at the yard we were a little worried to be told that we needed to be careful as there was still wet varnish about. It was true that some surfaces were a little tacky and the boat still had the smell of new paint. Mum, however, was mightily impressed by the vase of flowers on the saloon table and generally the boat was immaculate.

Dad was a senior civil servant, then serving as secretary to the Geddes Committee. This was to report the following year on the future of the ship building industry. I learned much later that he had given some kind of speech at a meeting at which many Norfolk boat builders might have attended. It was Dad's theory that they had made a special effort on account of his name on the booking form. The idea has some merit, no other boat seemed to have got the treatment that ours did for what was, effectively, the last week of the season.

It comes from: https://gregafloat.org.uk/broads/1965siesta.php

[Vaughan]

9 minutes ago, GregAfloat said:

For a start, given the 1968 drawing, I had assumed the Safari first appeared in the 1969 Blakes catalogue, so I'll check what I've written on the site and correct that. I know the database does say Surprise Safari was built in 1969.

You are no doubt correct, in that a boat "in building" would have had a line drawing in the Catalogue, which would have been printed before the boat was finished.  As the 1970 catalogue shows a photo of the boat I assume it was built the year before.  It does not appear in the 1968 catalogue.

[Vaughan]

15 minutes ago, GregAfloat said:

Your news suggests that Bondon did not have access to the Mk1 moulds and they are slightly more likely to have bought their "Dawncraft 26"s from Dawn-Craft. Perhaps the very fact they had them caused a fuss and that's why no more were built for several years?

Perhaps I had better tell the full story, for clarity.

In the mid 60s the Broads was in recession owing to water pollution, which the authorities blamed on boat sewage.  The boatyards responded by fitting pumpout toilets on all their boats.

A mobile pumpout machine on wheels, for small boatyards, was developed and made by Jim Topliss of Topcraft, whilst the first fixed installation running round the boatyard quay was installed at Hearts Cruisers by my father, in conjunction with Sykes Pumps.  Meantime Alec Hampton designed and produced the "Safari Toplet" holding tank toilet, which was fitted by the boatyards, as it could go into an existing toilet compartment, without having to re-design the whole boat! They were basically a Thunder Box, with a counterweighted flap in the toilet bowl and a sink pipe in the bottom, for pumping it out through the deck fitting.  It had a Whale hand pump which simply circulated the water in the tank (!) and you knew it was full when the flap touched the liquid underneath.  Those were the days!!

 In fact we owe Alec Hampton a great debt of gratitude for getting the business out of what was a disastrous problem at the time.  We were all able to convert our boats to holding tanks, without spending the kind of money that might well have put us out of business.  That, may I say, was what the Blakes co-operative was all about, in those days.

Problem was that Ray Bondon stole Alec's design and started making them and selling them himself, although Alec started legal proceedings against him.

I attended Blakes AGM  (and big lunch!)  in 1966 as a guest of my father, who was retiring after 8 years as chairman. During the meeting, we were all astounded when Alec stood up and denounced Ray Bondon, to his face, in public, in front of all the members of Blakes, calling him a thief, a liar and a fraud.  For his part, Ray Bondon sat there and said nothing.

This, you will note, was before the Safari 25 was designed and built.

One night, about this time of year, all the staff went home in the evening and Alec stayed behind to do some more work on one of the boats on the moorings.  It was a sharp frost and it was assumed he had slipped and fallen in.  His body was found in the broad the next day and the verdict was "accidental".  Knowing the strain he was under at that time, there are many of us who knew him, who still wonder.

 

 

 

[webntweb]

8 hours ago, GregAfloat said:

1. What is the name of the business?  I have seen it referred to on the Web as "Dawncraft", "Dawncraft of Wroxham" and even "Dawncraft Boats Ltd". But these all date from the 1990s onwards twenty years and more after the boats were built.

I recently came across a builder's plaque photographed on a standard "Safari25" Mk2. that spells it "Dawn-Craft (Wroxham)" and I would assume, as it was created at the time the boat was built, would be more likely to be an accurate representation of the business name.

The 1963 Blakes catalogue has three different styles of name for the company:

Their auxiliary yacht Golden Dawn; The "Months" class April Dawn etc and Fleecy Dawn are listed under:  Dawn-Craft Ltd., Wroxham.

Silver Dawn is listed under: Dawn Craft Ltd., Wroxham.

The "Colours" class and Radiant etc are listed under: Dawn Craft (Wroxham) Ltd.

This is possibly either a copywriter or printers error, or could it be for financial reasons?

[GregAfloat]

3 hours ago, Vaughan said:

You are no doubt correct, in that a boat "in building" would have had a line drawing in the Catalogue, which would have been printed before the boat was finished.  As the 1970 catalogue shows a photo of the boat I assume it was built the year before.  It does not appear in the 1968 catalogue.

I may have confused you there. The drawing I'm referring to is not in the catalogue, but the one first uploaded by Paul to the Shorebase site after his interview with Heather Hampton. I cleaned up Paul's scan and it's now available here:
https://hamptonsafari.uk/techdrawings.php
As you'll see it lacks a location for the engine and other details. The drawing you show in the 1970 catalogue is another Paul obtained but only in a Hampton Brochure, that I date 1973, only because it has reference to a boat that joined the fleet that year. See:
https://hamptonsafari.uk/brochures.php

But now you mention it I do recall the days when the brochures would show line drawings for boats still under construction when the catalogue went to print.

[Broads01]

This has become a fascinating thread, gents. I always like reading about hire boat history covering the years before my time. 

I've always admired Hamptons. I only hired one once, now over 30 years ago but I've always considered them to be an elegant design well before their time. When I visit now, I'm always struck by how many are still around. It seems like they're literally in the hundreds, almost all ex-hire I think and all of them 45+ years old.

I remember Hamptons boatyard quite well from the 80s and 90s with it's various "...Safari" classes and it's distinctive pea green colour scheme. Pacific Cruisers still have two of their boats in their original colour and there are privately owned ones still around in that colour also. I didn't realise that Hamptons were once with Blakes as I only ever remember them with Hoseasons.

[GregAfloat]

2 hours ago, webntweb said:

The 1963 Blakes catalogue has three different styles of name for the company:

Their auxiliary yacht Golden Dawn; The "Months" class April Dawn etc and Fleecy Dawn are listed under:  Dawn-Craft Ltd., Wroxham.

Silver Dawn is listed under: Dawn Craft Ltd., Wroxham.

The "Colours" class and Radiant etc are listed under: Dawn Craft (Wroxham) Ltd.

This is possibly either a copywriter or printers error, or could it be for financial reasons?

Thanks for that! It adds a good deal of weight to my assumptions.

Whether it's limited or not, and and it is hard to believe it was not, one thing is fairly certain. It was not the single word "Dawncraft". I'd suggest the catalogue writers/typesetters were probably a little lax in their diligence, and to be fair, it wasn't critical to them to present the full legal name correctly, just indicate the yard where the boat was to be picked up. For them the order of the "Ltd" and "Wroxham" and whether there should be any brackets was inconsequential.

I'm still inclined to believe it was hyphenated. because no one seems to challenge the Horning branch's spelling and I'm still guessing that was a related company.

Perhaps John Clabburn was just saving a few pennies on a per letter charge for the sign by leaving off the LTD for the Dawn-Craft bit when constructing the boat now known as 638H Osprey.

[Vaughan]

7 hours ago, GregAfloat said:

I'd suggest the catalogue writers/typesetters were probably a little lax in their diligence, and to be fair, it wasn't critical to them to present the full legal name correctly,

I don't suppose it really matters that much, does it?

"That which we call a rose, by any other name, would small as sweet".

I don't want to disparage John Clabburn as he happens to be one of my oldest friends, but after a year or two he moved the business to a unit on the Airport industrial estate in Norwich.  He had a lot of finance problems and went out of business shortly afterwards, which was when Bounty boats became the main builder of the Solar 37, which they fitted out in large numbers for small boatyards who didn't have the facilities (or the money) to build their own.

I suppose it is fair to assume that it was at this point that Bondons started to use the mould to build the Safari 26.

[NeilB]

1 hour ago, Vaughan said:

I don't want to disparage John Clabburn as he happens to be one of my oldest friends, but after a year or two he moved the business to a unit on the Airport industrial estate in Norwich.  He had a lot of finance problems and went out of business shortly afterwards, which was when Bounty boats became the main builder of the Solar 37, which they fitted out in large numbers for small boatyards who didn't have the facilities (or the money) to build their own.

I suppose it is fair to assume that it was at this point that Bondons started to use the mould to build the Safari 26.

My manager told me his grandfather was born on a Wherry and that his uncle was something to do with boat building in Norfolk.  I’ll have to have a more detailed chat when I see him next as his name is James Clabburn……!

[Vaughan]

10 minutes ago, NeilB said:

My manager told me his grandfather was born on a Wherry and that his uncle was something to do with boat building in Norfolk.  I’ll have to have a more detailed chat when I see him next as his name is James Clabburn……!

That means he must be the son of Jimmy Clabburn, who is twin brother of John?  or maybe of their elder brother, Ken?  Their father, Jimmy Senior, may indeed have been born on a wherry as I remember that they owned one, moored in Brundall.  I shall have to think of the name . . 

Jimmy senior grew up in Guild house, which is the large White House on the Norwich side of the old rectory, on the Yarmouth Rd in Thorpe.  Jimmys' father, W.L. "Bay" Clabburn was well known on the Broads as one of the founder members of the Norfolk Broads Yacht Club.

[NeilB]

I know his father now lives in the Southampton area and his uncle has a boat at NBYC!  Need to interrogate him next week!!

[GregAfloat]

15 hours ago, Vaughan said:

Perhaps I had better tell the full story, for clarity.

That is a sad story! I had no idea!

It also explains the reference to the "Safari Toplet recirculating marine toilet" in the Hampton advert that you see at:
https://hamptonsafari.uk/theboats.php

The info is worth having a page devoted to it on the site. I don't suppose you know of any photos that show one being installed or before and after images?

[GregAfloat]

16 hours ago, Vaughan said:

That, may I say, was what the Blakes co-operative was all about, in those days.

I'm trying, and so far have failed, to find a detailed image of the Blakes badge that was seen on the bows of every boat booked through them.

I recall that wording on the belt that wrapped around the "A flag" said something like "Norfolk Broads Boat Owners Association", so I was always aware that they were more than a London based booking agency by the early 1960s.

[GregAfloat]

15 hours ago, webntweb said:

The 1963 Blakes catalogue has three different styles of name for the company:

Their auxiliary yacht Golden Dawn; The "Months" class April Dawn etc and Fleecy Dawn are listed under:  Dawn-Craft Ltd., Wroxham.

Silver Dawn is listed under: Dawn Craft Ltd., Wroxham.

The "Colours" class and Radiant etc are listed under: Dawn Craft (Wroxham) Ltd.

This is possibly either a copywriter or printers error, or could it be for financial reasons?

And leaving aside the Dawn-Craft (Wroxham) side of, there's Dawn-Craft (Horning) to consider. They had a similar pattern of naming their boats. The motor boats all including "Coral" in their name and yachts "Reed/Reedling".

As Vaughan says, it seems they were all bought in, en masse, from others yards, and sold on again, a couple of years later, to A.G. Ward when that business ceased.

However, I'm not planning to pursue that avenue as it's not related to the Hampton Safari and Dawn-Craft (Wroxham)'s building of their variant.

Paul (of Shorebase) has told me in an email that he got the spelling of "Dawncraft" for the Wroxham business from Bill Maxtead of Rivererine Boatyard at Loddon. Having been away from the local forums for some time I don't known if he is still contributing to them, but I assume it accounts for Paul's name "Dawncraft 26". I also guess Bill would know why there there is the name "Dawncraft 26" and it's not known as a Safari and whether it might more properly be referred to as "Dawn-Craft 26" to avoid any confusion with boats built by the Kinver-based company, many of which were also named by their length.

[Vaughan]

17 minutes ago, GregAfloat said:

As Vaughan says, it seems they were all bought in, en masse, from others yards, and sold on again, a couple of years later, to A.G. Ward when that business ceased.

Wrong.

If that is the sort of info that you wish to add to Craig's website, I suggest a lot more research first.   Perhaps starting with my posts on the thread "legal battle over Thorpe Island" on this forum, about 6 years ago.

[GregAfloat]

5 hours ago, Vaughan said:

I don't suppose it really matters that much, does it?

"That which we call a rose, by any other name, would small as sweet".

For many purposes you're right, but sometimes the correct name matters.

My wife bought, on line, some Milk Parsley to plant in a couple of sites around our house. We'd been told by members of the local Butterfly Protection group that there was a chance that, along with the reed we have, providing their food might help us with our bid to get sighting of the Swallowtail.

Turns out there are three different plants that go under that name and we'd bought the wrong one! No chance of Swallowtails!

My aim is to begin to build an accurate history of the Hampton Safari, so I think accuracy is helpful for any who follow in their further research. But you're right, if all participants in a conversation know that the term "Dawncraft" represents, a norfolk-based boat builder, all remains understood. But clearly there's a recognised possibility of confusion with the canal boat company of Kinver and in forum with national participation finding a name that avoids any possibility of confusion is useful.

So as a one time owner of the local company is known to have referred to it as Dawn-Craft (Wroxham) I'm going to try always to spell it that way.

[GregAfloat]

1 minute ago, Vaughan said:

Wrong.

If that is the sort of info that you wish to add to Craig's website, I suggest a lot more research first.   Perhaps starting with my posts on the thread "legal battle over Thorpe Island" on this forum, about 6 years ago.

That's the info in the database at the moment, not something I'm adding. I had remembered that Dawn-Craft (Horning) had only been around a couple of years (according to Craig) so I just looked up a couple of entries before posting A.G. Ward, because, after your mention of Jenners being involved in mass moves between fleets, I wasn't certain of to whose fleet they had gone (according to Craig).

Craig did absolutely sterling work in even attempting to record all boat movements between fleets, but it's a task that would defeat anyone to maintain with complete accuracy. That's why I support the current plan to ensure that in future a small team can take on that task and not leave it so one can update it.

[Vaughan]

47 minutes ago, GregAfloat said:

I recall that wording on the belt that wrapped around the "A flag" said something like "Norfolk Broads Boat Owners Association", so I was always aware that they were more than a London based booking agency by the early 1960s.

The wording was :

Norfolk and Suffolk Broads Yacht Owners' Association.

Which explains the "A" in Blakes flag, which stood for Association.

The London based booking agency that you mention was started in 1908 by Harry Blake, who was already the holiday booking agent for the London and North Eastern Railway. He teamed up with John Loynes and others to form a co-operative of boatyards, with his agency doing the marketing. This agency eventually became Blakes (Norfolk Broads Holidays) Ltd., which was a non-profit company doing the marketing for the boatyards' association.

I hope I have their exact company title correct to your satisfaction, as I was a director of Blakes during the 1970s.

 

 

[Vaughan]

6 minutes ago, GregAfloat said:

That's the info in the database at the moment, not something I'm adding. I had remembered that Dawn-Craft (Horning) had only been around a couple of years (according to Craig) so I just looked up a couple of entries before posting A.G. Ward, because, after your mention of Jenners being involved in mass moves between fleets, I wasn't certain of to whose fleet they had gone (according to Craig).

You clearly know nothing about Jenners, how it was set up and how it passed on later to the Caister Group, before being sold off again.  This was a most significant period in the history of Broads hire boats and before attempting to tinker with Craig's website I suggest you do a great deal more research of your own.

[GregAfloat]

1 minute ago, Vaughan said:

I hope I have their exact company title correct to your satisfaction, as I was a director of Blakes during the 1970s.

Ah! I see my Asperger's is causing upset in others again!

My symptoms include a complete failure to take offence at anything. I just wonder why someone feels that way when I detect they are trying to make a particular point. It's fine for me! I live in blissful confidence I'm doing or saying the right thing!

The trouble is it also means I have no understanding of how what I say will be received by others. I often describe it as transmitting in grey. There's no colour in what I say, just my understanding of the position. But it seems others see or add colour that I was not aware was in my transmission. Often that colour is red and they rage at me. Mmmm! I wonder why they feel that way. I just don't understand.

Please forgive me if I rile or offend you. I truly don't mean to!

[Roy]

This is a very interesting thread thanks. 
 

im hoping to be a Hampton Safari owner at some point ? They are certainly an interesting boat with heaps of room inside I’ve always wanted to own a Safari from the age of about 6 so thirty years on it’s still an ambition of mine.