Presenter Tom Cunliffe

New Registrations Ten more craft have joined the National Register of Historic Vessels since August: Admiral (narrow boat), Beroe (gaff cutter), Catherine Clarke (dredging barge), George Elmy, (lifeboat), Hermione (pinnace), Isa (ring netter), Knocker White (tug), Semper Vigilo (police launch), Shellfen (barge), Spithead (landing craft) and Valiant (barge).

City of Adelaide crisis continues

The Advisory Committee on National Historic Ships has expressed deep concern over the Scottish Maritime Museum’s invitation to contractors to deconstruct the ship. The Committee points out that consultation with ACNHS and compliance with the deconstruction guidelines published on the National Historic Ships’ website must be undertaken to meet the planning conditions imposed by North Ayrshire Council.

The ship hit the national news in September when Peter Maddison, a councillor from Sunderland (where the ship was built), boarded her at Irvine as a protest against the threatened loss of this ship. The leader of the Sunderland Council, Paul Watson, told the Scotsman, ‘We would welcome the clipper’s return here, but we simply don’t have the money to take forward the restoration.’ Hope for a

solution for keeping the ship intact seems to be ever-more forlorn. Director of the Scottish Maritime Museum Jim Tildesley stated ‘We’ve never had a serious offer over the years’.

Preserving sections of the ship may be the last resort, but speaking for ACNHS, director Martyn Heighton said, ‘We will continue to seek solutions for

this ship through other parties taking her on and removing her to a place where she can be conserved and presented for public benefit. However, we must recognise that this might not happen and if in the end deconstruction is the only way forward, we are determined that this process is carried out to the highest standards.’

6th issue, Christmas 2009

Historic Ships TV series Watch out for a new TV series on BBC Four next year: The Boats that Built Britain. Presented by maritime author and lecturer Tom Cunliffe, it will look at fishing, fighting, trading and leisure vessels and it will of course feature some of the best examples in the National Historic Fleet.

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Newsletter

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Grant awards

In March 2010 we will be launching a photographic competition, focussing on the theme of historic vessels in the UK, to raise the profile of Britain’s maritime heritage and to heighten awareness of all the vessels on the National Register of Historic Vessels.

Announcements will be made about the categories, prizes and judges in March and the closing date will be in the summer. We are giving you advanced notice so that, if you wish, you can capture that perfect winter image.

In the next few months, look out for a propulsion category on the Reg-ister, improved maps showing all the National Historic Fleet in a par-ticular region, more details on the major builders of vessels in the Register, an expanded glossary, a downloadable form for grant appli-cations (to be used for the June 2010 round onwards) and a ‘Watch List’ of vessels which currently do not fit the registration criteria, mainly by being based abroad or are too recently built, but which may meet them in the future.

In 2010 we would also like to de-velop an education section. As well as being a resource for younger readers, we would like this to in-clude a directory of what individual vessels offer to encourage teach-ers and parents to plan visits. For example, do you have education packs or do you have sleepovers on board? If you would like to be included in the directory, please get in touch.

Very shortly, all vessels on the Register will be sent the new look registration certificates. The Reg-ister is only of value if it contains up-to-date information, so please respond to the request that will come with the certificates and let us have any changes to details. We will be asking for telephone numbers and email addresses, but no personal information is put on our website or divulged to third parties.

Keeping the records straight

Hannah Cunliffe and Paula Palmer visited three vessels re-cently – the Maldon-built barges Edith May and Ethel Maud, and the World War I armoured land-ing craft Spithead. But the Na-tional Historic Ships team were not the only ones visiting vessels in the National Historic Fleet: at Southampton Princess Anne was seen on board the J Samuel White boats Rosenn and 199 while the Queen herself went on board the Thames steamer Alaska.

Out and about

Her Majesty on board Alaska

Photographic Competition – advance notice

National Historic Ships has distributed £38,650 so far this financial year to support vessels on the Register. The awards are:

Aguila Wren £2,000 for remedial works, Boleh £2,000 towards the apprenticeship scheme (see article on the following page), City of Adelaide £3,500 for a laser scan and £5,000 towards the cost of a hydrographic survey, Collie £100 towards a banner, Concord £2,000 for restoration work, Conservancy £2,500 for repairs, Fat Old Sun £2,000 for slipping, caulking and remedial work, Garethe £350 for a staff member to attend the ICMM conference, Gay Archer £2,000 towards a new engine, Kathleen & May, £1,000, for attending the Bristol Festival, Kerne £2,000 for an ultrasonic survey, Kimberley £2,000 for hull repairs, Our Boys £1,250 towards a new engine, Pembeth of Clyde £1,500 for restoration work, Princess Royal £600 towards a survey, Rosenn £2,000 for refurbishment, Saturn £1,400 towards the cost of dry docking, SS Shieldhall (Flagship of the Year) £1,000 towards a detachable canvas side, Speedwell £1,250 for remedial work to the cockpit, Swallow £700 towards the gearbox and Western Belle £2,500 towards her deck replacement

We are keen to distribute grants as quickly and fairly as possible. We will only consider requests put to us in a letter. Please help us by studying the Grant Conditions and Guidelines – especially the checklist of what your letter must cover.

The closing date for the last round of applications for 2009/10 is 2nd January 2010.

Please note that we cannot give grants towards work already completed.

Ship Preservation Network: update

Grass Roots Fund towards set-ting up and running the appren-tice facility and have received Apprenticeship Training Bur-saries from Hampshire County Council. The Council, with the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund, has designated the pro-jects as a Host Centre for Indus-trial, Maritime, Aviation, Trans-port and Technology (IMATT) training in recognition of the quality of the training and super-vision offered and the high level of craftsmanship involved.

vessels of national importance from those of more regional significance. The Designated Vessel list also included important types of vessels of which there were examples already listed in the Core Collec-tion. Although differentiation between Core Collection and Designated Vessels was a useful model at the outset of the Register, it has become a more

artificial distinction over time. Director Martyn Heighton commented, ‘In practice, vessels and projects are always judged on their individual merits, and membership of one list or the other has little direct influence. Our task is to aid the preserva-tion of a representative range of vessels, which we believe is better served by creating a single National Historic Fleet.’

The Advisory Committee on National Historic Ships is merging the Core Collection vessels and Designated Vessels to form a single National Historic Fleet within the National Register of Historic Vessels. The distinction between Core Collection and Designated vessels was originally devised to differentiate the most important

people in the Portsmouth area. The uniquely-designed yacht Bo-leh (Malay for ‘can do’) is under-going extensive restoration and this is an opportunity to develop an extensive apprenticeship scheme for marine engineers and boat builders. The project is working with a National Training Provider, to ensure that appren-tices gain the hands on experi-ence required for their NVQ. They have received generous help from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Community Fund’s

Following the article in the last issue of the Newslet-ter on ap-prenticeships, National His-toric Ships is par t i cu la r l y pleased to

award a grant to Project Boleh to assist with offering work place-ments to marine engineering ap-prentices as part of a community programme to support young

Project Boleh

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The National Historic Fleet

On 17 September, National Historic Ships held an update meeting for the Solent area on board its flagship SS Shieldhall in Southampton. This was attended by a good cross-section of repre-sentatives from boatbuilding companies, training & education facilities, insurance groups, heri-tage projects and historic vessels in the area. The Solent Ship Preservation Net-work will be launched by National Historic Ships in Spring 2010. It will be followed by Networks in the Mersey, Bristol and Medway, which, like Solent, have been

chosen because they demon-strate a natural grouping of facili-ties or skills and a high concen-tration of historic vessels. National Historic Ships will shortly be revealing the official name and logo for the UK ship preservation network and is currently working on a dedicated website, which will cover the whole country, as well as provid-ing pages for each pilot area. The ship preservation network offers a unique opportunity for vessel owners, businesses, heritage organisations and all

those with an interest in high quality maritime craftsmanship to communicate with each other. It will provide a marketing framework for the sector, as well as forging partnerships between those with similar aims, thereby promoting funding opportunities and achieving results in a way that would not be possible on an individual basis. If you have skills or services which could contribute to the Network, please sign up for a free entry in our online Directory of contacts on the National Historic Ships website.

Between 1909 and 1963 more than 80 redundant vessels were beached on the bank of the Severn near Purton as an erosion protection measure to prevent a breach of the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal which runs parallel to the shoreline. These included schooners, barges, concrete lighters and one of the last Severn trows, the Severn Collier. The Purton hulks are the largest collection of derelict historic vessels in the world, a magnet for photographers, historians, marine a r c h a e o l o g i s t s a n d s h i p enthusiasts. Since the 1940s people have been removing bits of these vessels but in recent years vandalism has increased: timber is being removed for barbeques and iron fastenings taken as souvenirs.

Paul Barnett and the Friends of Purton have researched the vessels thoroughly and have raised a 1,000-signature petition to protect the site. As it lies in a no-man’s land between the marine and the land environment, English Heritage is unable to become involved until its national strategy is completed next year. However, awareness of the importance of the site continues to grow – particularly after its appearance on the BBC Coast series. Not long after it was broadcast, the Rt. Hon. Margaret Hodge MBE MP, Minister of State for Culture and Tour ism v is i ted the s i te , accompanied by local people determined to preserve the hulks, Professor Mark Horton of Bristol University (a presenter on the Coast series), and Martyn

Heighton, Director of National Historic Ships. Martyn commented, ‘Purton is a hugely important, both as a historic site and as a public amenity. We cannot allow these vessels, several of which are candidates for the National Register of Historic Vessels, to be destroyed through vandalism and neglect. It is yet another example of the inadequacy of current protection legislation.’

Campaign for Purton Hulks gathers momentum

Dunkirk 2010

which will include the stories behind several vessels on the NRHV. However, the BBC has not been able to find any surviving men who crewed the vessels. If you were one of them, or know someone who was, please get in touch with us or with Linda Sands at BBC Belfast on 02890 338 270 by email at: Linda.Sands@bbc.co.uk

14th May 2010 will mark the 70th anniversary of the evacuation of a quarter of a million Allied Servicemen from Dunkirk. Commemorative events planned include the stopping of all channel traffic, a mayoral reception and service and a ‘Poppy Drop’ by the RAF.

The BBC is producing a documentary Dunkirk – Little Ships to be broadcast in May,

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And finally…. As it is the season of goodwill, we thought we would print this edition of the Newsletter, instead of you reading it at your computers.

A merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year to all of you from all of us at National Historic Ships.

Flagship of the Year

Applications for Flagship of the Year will be accepted from 1st January to 31 March 2010. As well as broad pennant to fly, the successful vessel will receive £1,500 towards the cost of par-ticipating in a national or interna-tional event. Full details on how to apply are on the National His-toric Ships website.

In the cockpit of Trimilia, which rescued 2,800 men from the beaches of Dunkirk

RSS Discovery trapped in ice