Southwold: herring, sprats and a battle, 1672
Many coastal towns and villages of the east coasts of England and Scotland are steeped in the history of the herring industry. In this extract,… Read More »Southwold: herring, sprats and a battle, 1672
Workboats
Posts relating to the work and subsequent leisure use of traditional workboats powered by sail, steam or diesel
Bristol Channel pilotage
The fact that theirs was a tough life can be appreciated by this photo of Pill pilots and ‘Westernmen’ taken around 1880. In the challenging… Read More »Bristol Channel pilotage
Changing times for Harwich
In this post, we return to the 18th century to find Daniel Defoe’s description of the port of Harwich and its extensive harbour accommodating colliers… Read More »Changing times for Harwich
Bricks to London by sailing barge
This short clip provides a glimpse of the building boom of Victorian London, with millions of bricks being brought from Kent by barge. The last… Read More »Bricks to London by sailing barge
Dutch eel boats in the Thames, 1931
This fascinating old silent movie footage from the Pathe archive is subtitled “A glance at the old Dutch Schuyts”. The intertitle explains that for nearly… Read More »Dutch eel boats in the Thames, 1931
From oyster-bed to London table, c.1909
This silent documentary archive captures the story of the oyster, from the smacksmen’s baskets in the ‘Pearl of Kent’ to a plate with champagne in… Read More »From oyster-bed to London table, c.1909
Red Sails aka Sailing Barge, 1947
View archive footage of an English sea-going barge in this Pathé newsreel which opens with the commentator saying ‘the tall mast of a ship is… Read More »Red Sails aka Sailing Barge, 1947
Thames barge ‘Growler’, March 2019
We’ve been following the progress of young boatbuilder, Ash Faire-Ring, based in Norfolk, England as he restores the Thames barge, ‘Growler’ with the aim of… Read More »Thames barge ‘Growler’, March 2019
Demise of a Dutch botter
We bring the second part of Fritz van der Mark’s research into the demise of a Dutch botter. The article is primarily a reconstruction of… Read More »Demise of a Dutch botter