Just a quick post today to show you that the guys have now finished the poly tunnel – the cover is on! These two pictures were taken by Skipper Ian Ruffles and posted on FB by Dave Brooks. This was mainly to try out the cover and make sure they could make it work. It is actually only going to be on for a couple of weeks as we will then be headed for the dry dock and raising the gear again ready for the new season, but at least we know we have a working poly tunnel for the 2014/5 winter. Well done the winter re-fit team and thank you for sharing the pictures.
Category: Blog (Page 4 of 27)
Read all about it! Read all about it! Sorry for sounding like some Cockney paperboy hawking the latest edition in a black and white movie from London, but the latest edition of our Newsletter is now ‘out there’. The paper ‘hard copies’ have been printed and are in the post, so should either be with the off-line group of Members, or will be there very soon. Meanwhile, you can read the document as a PDF file downloaded from our link in this website – look under News, Latest Newsletters. I hope you enjoy it. You should know though that producing this has completely scraped out the bottom of my barrel of material – I have absolutely nothing to put in the next edition. If you have an inkling to see your journalistic skills in print and would be good enough to send me any news, gossip, anecdotes, historical pieces, comment, suggestions or anything else, I will be very grateful but also almost certain to include it in the next newsletter. This can be in any format, even hand written – we will happily transcribe it into the f0rmat we need and you will, of course, be fully attributed.
Spars through wall. Cambria’s mizzen gaff and boom stashed below decks
Meanwhile a nice pic by Basil Brambleby of how the smaller spars are stashed below decks for storage through the winter. They sit neatly on top of a main beam at one end and get wedged into the aperture let into the wall of the new cabin at the for’d starb’d corner of the main hold. I had thought when I saw this hole it was some kind of ventilation but I guess our shipwrights know exactly what they are doing and have lots of experience of barges, so would KNOW that you need somewhere to stash these smaller spars so that you do not trip over them. Clever stuff, lads.
Westmoreland Just Giving page by Claire Curling
This is a story we, and probably you too, have been following since the hull of the Westmoreland was rescued from the mud of Standard Quay just before I moved from Kent to Ireland. Our frequent contributor David Rye has tipped me off to the most recent stage, following the Council at High Halstow having now given tentative permission for the hull to be moored there for her restoration pending gaining Lottery Money.
David sends me a link to an article in Kent On Line as follows
http://www.kentonline.co.uk/sittingbourne_messenger/news/dream-of-returning-barge-to-12382
where you can read all about the project. As they say
“A berth has been offered for the next 25 years by the parish council to allow the restoration and operation of the vessel provided the trust, which was set up to oversee the £1m project, is successful in its bid for Heritage Lottery funding.
Until then it only has a temporary lease of 27 months during which volunteer members of the Westmoreland Trust Community Interest Company (CIC) must submit their application.
As a result she will remain in the creek on a mooring until it is approved.
A total of £2,000 was needed to move her from Otterham where she had been moored for the last couple of years.”
The main reason for the post today, though is that…..
THEY NEED YOUR MONEY!
Any amount you could spare will help them reach their target of £2000 to pay for the move. This is dead easy nowadays, if you are on line, as it is working through the ‘Just Giving’ website at https://www.justgiving.com/yimby/Westmoreland
The way this works currently is that you go in and pledge your cash, giving debit card details, but no money is taken yet, till they see if they will reach their target.
Get in there and give generously; help save this fine old Conyer Brickie and former Faversham mud-wallower.
Moored alongside Faversham, Cambria has now taken delivery of our new poly tunnel, our winter cover which will keep the barge snug and safe from the weather while our volunteers get on with jobs such as cleaning and painting, which we are getting few opportunities to do as this succession of powerful anticyclones spiral through; another is due overnight with its predicted lashing of coasts by wind and rain and tidal surges. We are , of course, hunkered down in Standard Quay, miles up the Creek from any of that violent wave action but we still get the wind, rain and scary tides threatening to lift us high enough for us to sneak a chine onto the quayside concrete. Happily the tides have not recently come ‘that’ high – we draw 2-3 feet even when empty, so the tide would need to be 3 feet above the concrete – and also we moor where there are massive baulks of timber leaning up the wall from the Creek bed, we rise gently up these ‘fenders’ and slide back down into the Creek as the tide goes out. That’s the theory, anyway but out here in Ireland, 500 miles away, I am always pleased to know that we have Skipper Ian Ruffles checking our warps and SB Greta’s Steve Norris keeping an eye out from his own barge moored nearby.
The polytunnel is currently being built in situ by Ian Ruffles. Mick Nolan, Basil Brambleby and Maggs Casey Kelly, and it is from Maggs that I have been sent these fine pictures of the work. Thanks you Maggs.
Bob Roberts with Chris Chattaway during BBC filming on deck in the 50’s.
Dave Walsh brings us news of the sad passing away of Chris Chataway. As Dave puts it, “Rest in peace Chris Chataway, first patron of the Cambria Trust. What a life you led. Pacemaker for the first four minute mile, presenter for BBC and ITV and politician. And of course you sailed on Cambria with Bob Roberts”
Wikipedia has more of course in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Chataway but he has his own special celebrity to us having been involved in the 1956 BBC series “Away From It All” (Episode 2 “Into the Backwaters”) in which he nosed around in the Essex backwaters looking up people who still worked the old traditional ways. You can buy this footage from our shop – it is the first piece on our DVD “Cambria – The DVD (Cambria Restoration Group”. Bob (plus Mate) and Chris visit Ted Gager raking white weed from the sea bed, Herbert Smith fishing for prawns (and dredging for coal), Douglas Mussett who fished oysters and Bill Linnet (Lynott?), the last of the wildfowlers. It’s a fascinating film to see and, of course, contains plenty of Chris Chataway interviewing them all.
Chris Chataway from the BBC series
It was on the strength of Chris’s interest in the Cambria that he was invited to be the Trust’s first Patron, the role now filled by David Suchet.
Basil Brambleby assists with lowering the gear. Picture by Maggs Kelly.
I have some more detail around the AGM in January as follows.
Annual General Meeting
To be held on Saturday 18th January 2014 at 1200
At London River House, Royal Pier Road, Gravesend, DA12 2BE
AGENDA
1. Welcome and Apologies
2. Adoption of the Agenda
3. Approval of the Minutes of the 2013 AGM held on 21st April 2013
4. Chairman’s Report
5. Operations Manager’s Report
6. Treasurer’s Report
7. Adoption of the 2012/2013 Annual Report and Accounts
8. Appointment of the Reporting Accountant for the financial year ending 31 March 2014
James Ruddock-Broyd, FCA, the current Reporting Accountant has indicated his wish to stand down but it is proposed that he be re-appointed until his replacement has been agreed.
9. Election of Directors
To elect Guy Peto to serve as a Director following his appointment by the Board on 2nd November 2013. He retires at this AGM in accordance with paragraph 29 of the Articles of Association.
The following Directors, having resigned in accordance with paragraphs 24 and 25 of the Articles of Association are eligible for re-election if willing:
Rob Bassi
Basil Brambleby
Frank Spice
10. Special resolution to approve the changes in the Trust’s objects and powers as agreed at the previous AGM and subsequently approved by the Charity Commission:
Memorandum of Association existing Clause 3 to be replaced by:
3. (a) To advance the education of the public as to the historic and cultural role of Thames sailing barges in the seagoing heritage of Great Britain including making available Cambria for the purpose of the instruction of all classes of boys and girls, students and other young and/or disadvantaged persons in the principles of discipline, loyalty and good citizenship by means of educational cruises and instruction in seamanship;
3. (b) to preserve and maintain in good condition the Thames sailing barge Cambria for the public benefit as part of the heritage of Great Britain;
Memorandum of Association existing Clause 4.(1) (a) to be replaced by:
4.(1) (a) to raise funds. In doing so, the Charity shall comply with any relevant statutory regulations.
11. Any Other Business
B J Brambleby, Hon. Secretary 10th December 2013
Our man, Boss of Volunteers, Basil is pictured above in this rare shot of him taken by Maggs Kelly of St Katharine Dock fame (above)
These AGM details will also be emailed to everyone on our current list as soon as I have had a chance to update the emailing list on that email account.
2013 gear down, Photo by Basil Brambleby
Our gear is down. I have these nice pics from Boss of Volunteers Basil. You can see that the bowsprit is now inboard (left of pic), the mainm’st and topm’st are lowered within their tabernacle and propped aft by the main horse, while the mizzen mast drops forward and is leaning on a prop by the crab winch near the photographer. The smaller spars (mizzen gaff, mizzen boom and the tops’l headstick) are stashed below decks along with huge piles of sails and ropes. It is a big job but now it’s done, its all down and we can get at everything for servicing, stripping and repainting, oiling or varnishing. We are obtaining our own poly tunnel to keep out the weather while we work.
Meanwhile, a date for your shiny new 2014 diaries, that’s the Cambria Trust AGM on Saturday 18th at the same venue as this year, London River House in Gravesend at 12:00 noon. Please do attend if you can make it. It is the members’ and subscribers’ main chance each year to hold the Trustees and ‘Management’ to account, to give them good feedback if you like or don’t like how the barge is being used and run or you simply have suggestions for how we could do things differently. It is also a good chance to ‘network’ and meet plenty of other barge-folk, to chat and yarn
2013 gear down 2; photo by Basil Brambleby
Finally, I am on a mission to bring our e-mail ‘mailing list’ up to date. We have apparently failed to send the normal email to everyone advising them that there is a new newsletter. I will obtain a list from our Membership Sec (Cathy Chapman) and compare it to the list of users on the CambriaTrustSecretary account and sort out any discrepancies. I will then send an email to everyone and see what replies we get. In the mean time if you suspect that your email address is not on the list or it is incorrect, please email to CambriaTrustSecretary@live.co.uk including your real name.
Thank you for that. Have a good run in to Christmas.
Painting by Lesley Everatt: Copied from Lesley’s Facebook Feed with permission
You may recall that back in August I posted on the subject of artist Lesley Everatt who had created a rather superb picture of the crew of the sloop ‘Spider T’ who were on board for the run up the Thames to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee River Pageant. That was the first time we ‘met’ Lesley. I have since got to know her better through the Facebook feed and have learned that she is (among other skills) a superb artist of both military aircraft – we have seen some lovely Spitfires, Lancs, Vulcan bombers as well as modern aircraft – and of maritime stuff. The latter particularly includes many traditional sailing work boats but had not, as far as I know, yet included any sprit-sail barges. Well, now she has. This is a lovely picture of Cambria coming up into the Thames followed by a Humber Keel. So far only the original is for sale and there are no plans to produce prints. You can follow Lesley on FB and contact her that way or ask here if interested.
Meanwhile, Cambria is now back in Faversham, moored on Standard Quay. She is being divested of her rig so that she can be covered for winter maintenance. The foresail and mizzen sail have been removed and Basil tells me they have been having some fun playing with main spars, with photographer Mr Brooks on hand. I am hoping for some good pictures to posts here. The bow sprit has been unbolted from the bitts up front and dragged inboard using the fors’l halyards to take the weight. The mizzen mast has been stripped of its boom and gaff poles and these are now stored below decks. A tackle on the sprit end was used to assist here. The Mizzen mast itself is in a forward opening tabernackle, so gets dropped forward onto the main hatch again using the sprit as a derrick to take the weight. We have fashioned a mast prop to give it a secure resting place. Finally the main gear will be lowered.
Work this winter will possibly also include the replacement of the old, cast Seager leeboard winches with modern galvanized steel ones. We have apparently been suffering from the brittleness of the cast sprockets on our existing gear and have in some cases had to sail with one or two teeth missing which is never a good idea – the winches tend to lose grip over the toothless bits, skid and crash violently into the remaining teeth, risking breaking those too, and, with having no engine, we obviously rely heavily on all our sailing equipment to get about and it’s not easy to beat to windward with a leeboard disabled. As I said, some pics of all this work as they become available.
Rick Martin clambers out along the Bowsprit Net, Pic provided by Rick
Like any other business we have to keep our customers happy so I am delighted today to be able to bring you some good feedback right from the sharp end. One of the lads on a recent Rotary sponsored, sail training charter has very generously written us the piece attached describing his adventures. He is Rick Martin (12) and he has also emailed us some nice pictures, one of which I used in a post recently and this one of Rick himself clambering out along the bow sprit nets (brave man!) I am using today. The article is, I am sure you will find, a brilliant piece of work and I am going to let Rick speak for himself.
Rick Martin writes…
“I was looking forward to going on board SB Cambria on September the 27th because I live near the river and see lots of ships coming and going but I had only ever been on a ferry and knew it would be a lot different. I enjoy outdoor activities and being away from home isn’t new for me.
When we arrived I finally saw how big SB Cambria actually was and I thought it was MASSIVE and had itchy feet desperate to get on board. Within the first few minutes on board I was learning new things like going down the stairs backwards. From there on I was learning non-stop. Some things were more important than others like how Skipper Ian likes his tea (every 20 minutes, milk and no sugar!).
Sorting out and adjusting life jackets was a very IMPORTANT job. To start with it felt weird with the life jacket on but I soon got used to it. Next job was wet weather gear, this was very funny as everything was too big for me – the only large things about me are my mouth and appetite! However on the positive side after all it would keep me dry.
My first meal on board was dinner and it was very tasty. It was nice to get to know everyone as we sat around the table to eat. Then we had to muck in washing and drying up, this was no problem to me as I have to help out at home with the chores. The tide was not right so we set the sails so we could set sail in the morning, this was challenging and hard work but lots of FUN. After that is was bedtime.
I woke up and had to pull SB Cambria along the pier wall so we could finally set sail. It was very challenging even with 7 of us but we had to all work together otherwise it was not going to budge. As we headed out into open water it was breakfast time (mmm bacon baps) and tea for the first time we felt the movement of the water beneath us, I thought we might have heard the water lapping against the sides but we didn’t, instead the peace was broken by Skipper Ian shouting orders!
During the next few days we did some fun things and some things that were vital to make the boat move. Some of the fun things were climbing the mast and out to the very front (both were a long way when I only have little legs), being in the row boat – rowing (phew hard work but only going round in circles !!!) and using the motor (mmm very nice !!!!), using spare tear-drop shaped rubber fenders as space hoppers, a knot race and Playing cards. The jobs we were encouraged to do were “Leo” (turning) and then tacking, steering (quite hard), raising and lowering the sail, raising anchor (hard work and messy hands), listening to the radio (shipping not music), looking out front for buoys (not boys) to avoid. There were some jobs we had to do like washing the decks. My favourite thing was “Leo” (turning) and then tacking because it was a lot of fun and you had to be quick. My least favourite thing aboard was washing the decks even though we used fire fighter hoses. I was determined to prove being smallest was not a problem and do everything on board as I wanted to make the most of my time on SB Cambria. I saw some AMAZING sites like seeing the Montgomery with its 2 rings of buoys around it. The first ring acted as a warning ring but the second as an offence ring because of the amount of explosives on board. We were lucky with the weather as it gave us lovely sun rises and sun sets.
I was sad to go home but made the most coming back to shore by dough-nutting in the little boat as I was given the chance to drive it. All in all it was a FANTASTIC weekend and I would love to have the experience again but do more sailing instead of as many activities. I am really grateful to all who give their time to make sure SB Cambria is available to allow others like me the experience of being on board. It really is a truly amazing experience. Thank you all.”
Thank you, Rick!
Rick Martin sunset
Well, we finally made it. The September 2013 is now in the careful hands of the Post Office, so I have posted the website version on here. Just hover your cursor over the word ‘NEWS’ in the black bar and click on the word ‘Newsletters’, then scroll down to the new one and click on that. It is PDF format so should open really fast for you.
I hope you like it – it is the first one from my good lady and myself, over here in Ireland. I would be grateful for any feedback and comment, positive or negative. I would be even more grateful for any contributions for the next one which should be out in January 2014.
Meanwhile, I have Rick Martin to thank for this gorgeous sunset as seen through our rigging. Rick was aboard on a recent charter and obviously knows his way around the camera. I particularly like that he has the mizzen boom in shot angled to collect a few reflections, rather than just have all the gear in silhouette. Thanks very much for that, Rick.