Here we present the NEMT Collection.

TO SEE THE REST OF THE COLLECTION CLICK “PREVIOUS ENTRIES” AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BOATS PAGE.

The vessels detailed are those belonging to the Trust and associated vessels. “Associated Vessels” are members’ boats, boats whose owners have pledged that they will do their best to manage the restoration and preservation of the vessel in accordance with the “Barcelona Charter” – these vessels are indicated by an asterisk after their name. The owners have declared that their interest in each vessel is not for personal gain, other than the satisfaction gained in pursuit of its preservation, display and related activities. Though they do receive moral support from NEMT, they are entirely financially independent.

To see the photos enlarged just click on them once.

Christina is a sailing coble of the smaller “salmon boat” type. Though typical of the nineteenth century, she was built by Harrison’s of Amble in the 1970s for an enthusiast in South Wales. She was brought to the north east in 2003 and sails off the Tyne in the summer months.

Christina has no engine, in traditional manner, but can take an outboard motor in a well when wind is not co-operative.

Some places on the hull only one layer, the outside in this case, needs replacing.

The canvas which is sandwiched in the middle can be seen.

In the way of some of the fittings both layers have to be replaced.  In fact it appears that  the planking has rotted where there have been any fittings attached to the skin.

Ron Clarke with the  port inspection box.  It could be the starboard one as there are inspection wells on either side of the propeller tunnel.

Dave de Hart with the starboard inspection box (or port – see above).

Technically they are the inspection well plugs which will keep the lining of the prop tunnel smooth.

Editor’s Note : these are the details that I missed of December’s newsletter.

December Table Top Sale

Welcome to our Xmas newsletter which is again packed with NEMT’s latest information.
Soundings – restoration progress since the last newsletter.
Events – since last newsletter and in the future.
Members – new active members.
Waypoints – local interest.
Soundings.

Soundings – Henry Frederick Swan.

Tim cleaning up damaged skin.

In between other necessary activities – work progresses.  Tim West leads the programme of restoration.
The damaged areas of side planking have now been removed. This has necessitated both chevron layers being removed in some cases. (see pics).

Otherwise general clean-up has been constantly progressed by other members.

The BMC engine removed from the Lifeboat is almost fully overhauled, just awaiting the return of the fuel injection pump and injectors from specialists Auto Diesel.

< < After overhaul with fresh coat of paint

Lunchtime break at the stove manufactured by Dave Parker (on the right)

Contributions for future issues of the newsletter please to arthurhamilton158@btinternet.com
Events
Much needed Donations have been gratefully received from the following since the September Newsletter:

• Lightfoot Charity Family Trust (quarterly)
• Peter Arnold (monthly)
• Northumberland Fishing Heritage Trust
• Alec Renwick (monthly)
• MS Kington
• John Fogg

The trust has also held a number of events to help with raising funds:

• Friday 16th September – Gateshead Bridges 10 year celebration, sail past of a flotilla of local small boats. The trust was represented by the Rachel Douglas, Favourite and Sovereign (Seine Netter fishing boats).
• Monday 3rd October – Age UK promotion day at Temple Park Leisure Centre.
•  Tuesday 11th & Wednesday 19th October – Age UK open days at the workshop.
• Saturday 3rd December – “Table Top Sale” at the Trust. We eventually held our 2nd sale and this was once again very successful in raising much needed funds.

Members -  please see reminder for subs at page top.
Benefits of Membership – Quarterly newsletter
- Visit the workshop at any time Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Opportunity to take part in events

We have six new members during the last period including the four active members below:
John Fogg
Richard Schofield
George Richardson
Simon Ritchie
Additionally we have the ‘A’ Team of three enthusiastic teenagers, Luke, Leon and James, who manage to spend some time at the yard in between Sea Scouts activities.

Can you help?
Although the trust has gained a six members including four new active members this period we could do still do with some help.
An Electrician would be useful.

Waypoints  and Regional News
We are the North East maritime trust, so what is happening beyond South Shields? Can anyone contribute news of other things happening up and down our coast? What else is of interest that we are not covering? – Please let me know.

Arthur – arthurhamilton158@btinternet.com

Henry Frederick Swan
There is not a lot of visible change to the progress onboard the Lifeboat, but internal cleaning has virtually been completed by Charlie Lowden, Dave de Hart and Doug Miller, and the steel keel is now almost all cleaned-up and primer coated. This has been virtually a one man effort by Jerry Dudman. Thanks Jerry (with a little help from Ian Thomas and Dave de Hart).

New Bulkhead

Fitted bulkhead and stern bracket

Wonders of wonders we are now refitting some of the damaged woodwork inside the boat. A start has been made by making and fitting a new aft bulkhead for the engine room and the stern brackets in the shaft area have been painstakingly removed cleaned-up, primed and refitted.

The BMC engine removed from the Lifeboat is now currently undergoing overhaul. This was seized-up, but so far the only sign of problems has been a vast accumulation of gung and traces of water in the sump, which has generally gummed-up the engine bearings/shafting. The bearings have been cleaned-up and the engine is now turning freely. (note the technical engineering terms !)

Our newly established engineering department

However the reduction gearbox was found to also have evidence of water and the bearing is badly rusted and seized-up. The bearing and seals will have to be renewed.

Royal Diadem II

Checking shaft coupling alignment

The Royal Diadem II is now back in the water after a bit of touch-up of the anti-fouling and refurbishment of the reversing gearbox, which needed new bearings.
We have also fitted a more functional shaft coupling to provide flexibility.
Checking shaft coupling alignment
Arthur Hamilton with Dave Parker taking the boat for a short trip to check serviceability.
All now ready for Cullercoats Festival.

Foy Boat and Spring Tide

Daylight

A recent addition to the workload has been the repair of a Foy Boat with damaged hull planking.
Ralph Donnelly from the Foy Boat Association needed a repair to Foy Boat No.5
This was a rather wide beamed foy boat and needed some shifting of existing projects to provide space. Fortunately Peter, who is now becoming the expert in fitting new planks got to work and the boat was repaired and returned within the month, with four new sections of planking.
On Spring Tide the work progresses slowly – I think two more planks have been fitted by Peter Waugh in between repairing the foy boat and holidays.

Wreck Removed

Ex-Navel Pinnace and Rachel Douglas

For as long as the Maritime Trust has been established we have had the dubious pleasure of seeing the Hulk (complete with nesting seagulls) in the river alongside our own Royal Diadem II moorings. Well now it has gone!! Associate member Clive Taylor has taken part ownership of this pinnace with the intention of restoring it.

The Rachel Douglas (After its trip to Abroath) is seen here preparing to tow the Hulk to Tynedock.
Chains

Well this is the next part of the process of establishing moorings for the Trust’s boats. We have already put down marker buoys and now have the weights made-up ready for the first opportunity to get the moorings completed.

“Materialistics” Connection (Collection)
Continuing our association with the “Materialistics” (Ladies that knit and knatter) Dave Parker has built a ‘Hanzel and Gretal’ house for the ladies to cover with knitting for their latest project “Once Upon a Time” based on children’s literature. The full display will be in the gallery at the Customs House from 3rd Dec through to the end of January.

Events
Much needed Donations have been gratefully received from the following since the June Newsletter:
Tyne Foy Boats Association, Peter Arnold (monthly), Abroath Sea Fisheries Festival,  Alec Renwick (monthly), Dave Bell
The trust has also held a number of events to help with raising funds:
17 July – Tynemouth Lifeboat festival – unfortunately we didn’t find the time to get to this event. It is a pity considering the Henry Frederick Swan was a Tynemouth boat.
- Meeting with “Coble and Keel Boat Society” was a friendly convivial affair at a local hostelry, to talk about areas of common interest and the Trust is grateful to the Society for its welcome during the Cullercoats event.
Sat 6th August – The ‘Boatyard Bistro’ with various hot dishes (thanks to members of the Trust) and plenty of desserts (mainly supplied by the ladies of the Materialistics), proved to be a successful evening. (and the weather was kind) Thank you to all contributors.
Approx. 90 happy people enjoying the entertainment supplied by local vocalist / guitarist Jack Burness. There were many queries as to when we would do this again – so it looks like “a good time was had by all”.
Wed 10th to Wed 17th August
– Abroath, St Abbs, Eyemouth trip in Rachel Douglas and Favourite. I believe it was quite a successful trip received well by the different ports and with few hitches.
Satuday 17th August – Cullercoats day, with The Royal Diadem II. I believe this was quite successful
Saturday 3rd September – “Table Top Sale” at the Trust. This has been postponed until possible November / December due to commitments elsewhere.
Thurs 8th to Sunday 11th September – Heritage open days at the Trust. This was very successful and resulted in over 100 visitors and possible new members.
Friday 16th September – Gateshead Bridges 10 year celebration, where we took part with Rachel Douglas, Favourite and Sovereign.

Members
The trust now has membership totalling 93 with 17 actively participating in boat restoration.
Membership fees are due in October and membership could be boosted if all lapsed members (not included in above total) were to re-join and aid the trust. Tim West would love to hear from you all.
Benefits of Membership – Quarterly newsletter
- Visit the workshop at any time Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Opportunity to take part in events
We welcome onboard new active members: Brian Teale and Alex Thurkettle

Regional News
We are the North East maritime trust, so what is happening beyond South Shields? Can anyone contribute news of other things happening up and down our coast? What else is of interest that we are not covering?

Please let me know at:  contact@nemaritimetrust.co.uk

Arthur

At 10.00am there was a parade of vessels under the bridge and NEMT  starred with Rachel Douglas, Favourite and Sovereign.

Returning from the Arbroath Sea Fest, NEMT took the opportunity to call in at St Abbs.

It was Monday 15th August and this was the first visit of “Favourite” since she left the harbour five years ago. “Favourite” fished from St Abbs for the last 33 years of her working life and it was the first time former skipper and owner Peter Nisbet had the chance to see her. It was also a homecoming for “Rachel Douglas” as she also spent her last years fishing out of the pretty harbour. The harbourmaster and old crew members from both boats gave a warm welcome.

NEMT members had a sunny weekend at the Arbroath Sea Fest where they received a great welcome.

The old fishing vessels “Rachel Douglas” and “Favourite” motored up to the event by way of Eyemouth and arrived just as the festival was getting into swing at noon on Saturday 13th August. The second day of the event saw the arrival of our friends on the Scottish Fisheries Museum’s fifie “Reaper”. Already in the harbour was the old Humber sloop “Spider T” and zulu “St Vincent”.

Tabletop Sale

Soundings - restoration progress added since last newsletter.

Maritime Tales -(new feature) river /marine related stories..

Events – since la st newsletter and in the future

M embers – new active members

Way points - local interest

The Galley Slave - interesting recipes

The Resident Poet – Dave de Hart

Thank you for your continuing support

Soundings

Henry Frederick Swan

Tim West and Arthur Hamilton have removed the propeller and shafting, which is now cleaned-up and inspected. Similarly the drop keel and housing have been shot blasted, painted and all these items are now stored away for the time being. I think it will be a long time before we get around to refitting these items.

Additionally Tim and Arthur have extracted some of the bolts keeping the keel and base structure in place. This in itself was a large exercise as the stern copper bolts were up to 28” long and the keel steel bolts were badly corroded.

Engine Bearers

The internal copper sheeting surrounding the fuel tanks and engine casings has been stripped out revealing the woodwork, which has now been substantially removed. They certainly made a thorough job of building this boat – Copper nails everywhere and brass screws (every 2”) stitching all the woodwork together.

All this work has revealed the inevitable rotten bits of wood and almost non-existent steel brackets (especially in the hull bottom areas).

Charlie Lowdon soldiers on cleaning up the hull internal woodwork – a painstaking but necessary job.

Repairing the Whaleback

The stern whale-back with the ribs formed in the steam box and fitted by Brian Fenwick

The steel keel is currently being chipped of all rust scale and needle-gunned to a fine finish by new members Jerry & Ian, who look a bit like miners at the end of the day. Well they did say they came to the trust to muck-in!

The forward stem structure has been partly re-manufactured by Dave Parker and temporarily set in place to allow templates to be taken for the upper section.

So we carry-on and try to keep focused on the Lifeboat as a priority job, but other issues keep arising to keep us otherwise occupied.

Read on

Wren

A recent addition to the workload has been the tidying-up and painting of a sailing boat the Wren.

Wren rubbed down for inspection

Following a frantic workshop shuffle! The “Wren” was wheeled in.

Paint work below the water line was in a very poor condition and necessitated burning back to bare timber. Much of the original caulking had become loose and required hooking out and re-applying.

A full paint system was applied following International Paints specification resulting in a superb finish.

Fred was delighted with the job done and the fact that the Wren was ready for the bank holiday weekend sailing at Holy Island.

We hope to see her here again next year for a wash and brush-up.

Wren ready to go home

Contributed by Dave Parker

Spring Tide

Work progresses slowly – partly due to Peter Waugh being left mainly on his own to do the work while calling on help when he can get it. Great job Peter – don‟t weaken.

Sovereign Launched

The fourth of April saw the launch of Sovereign from Fred Crowell‟s South Shields slipway, after ten months of extensive rebuilding.

It had been a tremendous task getting the rotten vessel transformed into a smart and seaworthy museum piece. Over 5000 hours of work were needed to restore the boat after the ravages suffered in seventy three years of continuous work. Sovereign was so bad, it was amazing that she had not sunk.

Work included straightening and reinforcing the keel, replacement of 2000 4” spikes, new planking in several areas, recaulking, repair of rotten frames, overhaul of mechanical equipment (pumps, steering gear, pipe work, replacement engine etc.), deck repairs, almost complete new wheelhouse (only the windows and door survived), new capping rails, new masts etc. etc. Apart from the boat suffering from the usual wood rot, there were several areas suffering from infestation by wood boring beetles, many of them still happily munching away until the last ones (we hope) were discovered in March.

Fred Crowell has done most of the work, with the assistance of three regular volunteers. His patience has been sorely tried at times by the seemingly endless problems but he never lost his interest in the project, and was very understanding of the financial difficulties that developed after an expected grant fell through. He made every possible move to save money, scouring the area for good second-hand materials and finding new methods of working to save expense, but he would not compromise on quality.

Sovereign has been restored to her 1950s condition. Her pre-war condition as a varnished vessel would have been beautiful but the heavily bruised condition of the external woodwork made this impossible to achieve. The only shortcoming in the presentation the vessel is that she has a trawl winch rather than a proper seine net winch with rope coilers. Perhaps an authentic winch will be found some day and fitted, to complete appearance of this classic fishing vessel.

A little outfitting work is still needed to complete the vessel: the crew accommodation in the forecastle is yet to be finished and a couple of spars need to be fitted.

Sovereign now spends most of her time in St Peters Basin but we expect she

will be seen up and down the coast in the near future.

Contributed by Peter Weightman

Chains

Whilst everything else has been happening we have also taken delivery of 1.75 tons of chain for the Trusts moorings. This has been cut-up into 60ft lengths, and a strenuous job by many hands, helped to get into the yard.

Maritime Tales

River Tyne Circ 1960

Do you remember the days when the ships were three deep in the middle of the river.

During 1958 when I was at the tender age of ten my father was serving on the flatties* (South Eastern Gas Board) from Shields to London and I remember my father sculling me out to the “Mitcham” and spending a memorable day onboard.

From there it was inevitable that I joined the merchant navy, along with my two brothers. The only difference being that I served as engineer (oil) and the others were all deck officers (Water).

My father probably had the Merchant Navy career that was very typical of that time. Having entered as a Mess Room Boy at 17 years old (1929), he progressed through the levels (ranks so to speak) of; ordinary seaman, able seaman, 2nd mate and finally 1st mate at the age of 27(1939). I think quite an achievement for those days. He never managed his masters probably due to the war and supporting a family of four kids.

My father joined the MV Ross in Newcastle Nov 1939 and served a continuous trip until March 1942 (28 months) sailing to Australia and USA. Although he touched the UK a few times in this period he rarely got home.

I know he spent part of the war years on Mediterranean convoys and told me the worst part was going on the bridge to do his morning watch and seeing a number of burning hulks on the horizon, the convoy being decimated during the night.

Another story he told me was being on the 4 to 8 anchor watch in Gibraltar Harbour and seeing a flashing light from the Spanish side. Thinking it was a signal he endeavoured to decipher the Morse message being sent. He eventually discovered by the early morning light that it was in fact a tree branch wafting away in front of a rogue street light.

Having served foreign seas for a number of years he ended up sailing home trade but even then he did 9 month trips with very little home leave, sometimes to sign-off one ship and re-sign on a different ship the same day. This was the life with Stevie Clark‟s, SEGB, etc.

* Flatties – colliers specially designed to sail up the River Thames under all the low bridges.

Contributed by Arthur Hamilton

Does anybody else have similar memories or river tales of a maritime nature to tell?

Contributions for future issues of the newsletter please to hamiltonme@btinternet.com

7

Events

Much needed Donations have been gratefully received from the following:

The Barbour Trust                                   Fred Holt

Lightfoot Foundation (Quarterly)             Dave Parker

Alec Renwick (monthly)                           Arthur Hamilton

Peter Arnold (monthly)                            Miss KM Eccles

Materialistics

The trust has also held a number of events to help with raising funds:

5th May – “Pie & Peas” Quiz night which proved successful and a fun social evening.

21st May – “Table Top Sale” at the Trust was very successful, but also left us with a lot of saleable items‟ to the extent that we consider having another similar event later in the year – when we can fit it in.

28th May – Asda supermarket bucket collection – went well

29th/30th May – Tanfield Railway holiday weekend participation by holding a stall was not so successful partly due to The Northumbria County Fair at Corbridge the same weekend. However thank you Tanfield for the opportunity.

17th June – Morrison‟s Supermarket bucket collection – went well

And in the near future

17 July – Tynemouth Lifeboat festival, where we hope to include our coble “Royal Diadem II”

And possibly:

August – (back by popular demand) at the „Boatyard Bistro‟ a reprise of last years Bar-B-Que. However this time it may be more of pans of Chilli, Curry, etc. instead

September – Heritage open days

- Gateshead Bridges

- Eyemouth Herring Queen Festival

Members

We welcome onboard some new active members:

Doug Miller

Jerry Dudman

Ian Thomas

Waypoints

Regional News

We are the North East maritime trust, so what is happening beyond South Shields? Can anyone contribute news of other things happening up and down our coast? What else is of interest that we are not covering? – Please let me know. Arthur – hamiltonme@btinternet.com

The ‘Galley Slave’

Pan Haggerty

Ingredients:

3 large potatoes a little dripping seasoning 2 medium onions 4 tablespoons grated cheddar cheese

This seems like a basic menu. I remember my mother including any left over meat from the Sunday dinner

Method - Peel potatoes and onions, cut in very thin slices and dry the potatoes in a cloth. – Make the dripping hot in a pan, put in a layer of potatoes, then of onions, then cheese and another layer of potatoes. – Season each layer with pepper and salt. – Fry gently until nearly cooked through, then either turn in the pan or brown the haggerty under the grill.

The Resident Poet

On the Money Trail

When the NEMT first started repairing old boats

Most weeks you would hear the same old grouse,

We need paint, timber, new lathes, drills

How to pay for all this, when you‟re as poor as a church mouse.

Getting on they may be, but they‟re far from being senile

They certainly don‟t use buses, the cars they use cost a bob or two,

Well with financial acumen, helped by pie and pea suppers, quizzes

Table top sales, the finances just grew and grew

Arthur, just like the „Minders‟ Arthur, is our brass man

He‟s found that brass or copper on the market is up a hundred fold,

Now we collect copper pipe, screws, manifolds,

Old boilers, he tells us this stuff is just as valuable as gold.

Just mention you need some piece of exotic equipment

And without it work on the lifeboat can stop so very quick,

Timmy our bag man (money man) is off like a rocket to find the part

Finance no problem he sits on more money than the gnomes at Zurich

Some that work there (or try to) are surely rolling in dosh

Take Charles for instance he comes to work in all weather,

Driving a gold plated motor, which when new has cost an arm and a leg.

And he‟s forever telling us, he hasn‟t two pennies to scratch together.

Then there‟s Dave P, his black hat gives him the nautical look

He looks broke, he‟s not. He comes from a long wealthy line,

Motors down on a Wednesday checks that all are working well

Then off to his yacht, for a cruise up and down the Tyne. One must not forget the Plumbers, Boilermakers, Joiners to mention a few

These give no secrets away, their money is kept in a clenched fist,

If you think I exaggerate and I‟m not telling the truth

Buy the times newspaper when they print Britain‟s rich list

As you see they are called the North East Maritime Trust

With their financial acumen, their bank balance just doubles

As I said before with quizzes, pie and pea suppers, open days

NEMT should stand for Never Ever any Money Troubles

Contributed by Dave de Hart

Can you help?

Although the trust has had a few new active members this year we could do still do with some help.

But this does not need to be physical work – somebody who likes doing marketing / fund raising / community liaison / event organising would be an asset.

Our present Company Secretary providing a much needed service has agreed to stay with the Trust for a bit longer, until (if and when), we find somebody else capable and willing to take on the role.

If you think you may be able to help or can recommend someone please get in touch – write to NEMT at Wapping Street or email contact@nemaritimetrust.co.uk

Fred Crowell proudly stands next to Sovereign on Monday 4th April, having just launched her after ten months and approximately 5000 hours of restoration work by him and the small team of volunteers he led.

In spite of serious funding problems, the vessel is now structurally sound and working again. Seventy five years after building she is back in fine condition, restored to her 1950s condition.

Thanks must go not only to Fred but to National Historic Ships, The Community Foundation and The Port of Tyne Fund who all supported the restoration.

A few minor jobs remain: the accommodation in the forecastle is to be completed and some of the spars are still missing but it is hoped they can be finished for the summer when she will be travelling the north east coast.