Tag: Faversham Creek

Mark (Nozz) Boyle, RIP

Mark Nozz Boyle

Mark Nozz Boyle who passed away Weds 19th Dec 2012 (on the left here with Basil Brambleby) , Picture by Matt Care (Feb 2011).

I am sorry, once again, to be the bearer of sad news. Too soon after the tragic loss of Catherine De Bont, we hear that Cambria Shipwright, fine brush-work painter, caulker, volunteer and rigging expert, Mark (“Nozz”) Boyle sadly passed away yesterday, Weds 19th. We will miss him. He was often down at the Cambria helping out through the renovation, even when he was not being paid as a Shipwright, doing his deck caulking with the molten pitch or what ever task. He’d be down there as a volunteer helping us out. He was the skilled painter who did all our fine sign-writing, the “three dimensional” lettering on the transom, the gold scroll work and names at the bow and the gold streak along each rail. He was always there when any rigging or de-rigging would take place and you only had to listen to him chatting away to be in awe of his knowledge of all the halyards, down-hauls, stays and vangs.

 

The name ‘Nozz’ apparently comes from a black 30’s Jazz singer who was nicknamed “Nozmo King” (=No Smoking) although I was never quite clear on how Mark came to be so named. He used to be a font of such stories – I remember he once told me that “Frog” (another famous current barge-man) got his nickname because he “first came up Faversham Creek in a boat named Frog. He may have been teasing me!

 

He’ll be missed, for sure. All of us associated with the Cambria extend our sympathies to Mark’s family and friends. We are thinking of you at this sad time.

Sluices at Faversham Creek

Faversham Creek Trust have today published the following news story and some pictures about the ongoing work to improve the Faversham Creek and to keep it open and navigable.

http://favershamcreektrust.com/author/favershamcreektrust/

Picture by Faversham Creek Trust

Picture by Faversham Creek Trust of the Creek Gut-way with the surge of water released from the new sluices

“Thanks to work recently completed by Medway Ports, the sluice shutter on the Creek Bridge gate is now opening automatically at each low tide, sending a surge of water down to purge the gut-way of the Creek. The effectiveness is being monitored by Medway Ports to establish whether a second shutter should be used to increase the flow. At present, the flow moves across to the Town Quay side, before straightening up down the gut, but a second shutter, on the other gate, might straighten this up. By alternating the shutters, it might be possible to purge the wider area here. Medway ports are also planning for the gates to be opened in time for the Nautical Festival, 21-22 July.

That has all got to be good news for Faversham Creek. The Creek Trust are also involved in a campaign to convert a disused riverside building (The Purifier Building) into workshops and an educational facility for apprentices in the Maritime Trades.

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