Recent visits - February-March 2007
Western Lady(s)
Simon Stephens and Hannah Cunliffe made a visit to the West Country at the beginning of March to view the Western Lady(s) - Fairmile B Motor Launches, last seen by National Historic Ships in November 2005. These vessels have become even rarer recently, since the demolition of another Fairmile B, Golden Galleon, at Christmas 2006.
Tim Parr, member of the Advisory Committee, kindly accompanied us on the visit to offer technical expertise. He has a particular interest in these craft having worked on them during his time as Shipwright and Marine Engineer at Vosper Ltd.
We were fortunate to find that the most original Fairmile survivor, Western Lady III, was out of the water and on the grid at the Dolphin Shipyard, Galmpton. Her custodian kindly showed us around, giving us much valuable information about her history and current condition.
Western Lady III was operational last season and remains in good condition with only a few repairs needed to see her in service again. However, she is currently up for sale and the owners are looking for a good home for her. They would prefer to see her working commercially or being frequently used as a private motor yacht and hope to find a new owner for her soon who will appreciate her unique character.
The team also viewed Western Lady I and IV which were moored in midstream at Galmpton. Western Lady IV has now been sold for conversion as a houseboat. She is still moored at Galmpton but will shortly be moved to her new home. Unfortunately, Western Lady I is in poor condition and no longer realistically salvageable. She is due to be broken up shortly.
Feasible
As part of our visit to the South West, we made a trip to Penzance to view steam drifter, Feasible. The owner drove down from Bristol to meet the team and gave us some fascinating information about her history. We were able to obtain some new images of her and were pleased to find that she is in a safe mooring with a member of the owner's family living onboard to take care of daily maintenance. The owner's long term plans are to restore her.
Lewina
Simon Stephens visited HDML Lewina in early March at Conyer Creek, near Sittingbourne and photographed her. Sadly, her future is uncertain and it looks as though she may be deconstructed due to her poor condition. The team are working closely with her custodians to see if any parts can be saved for use on other historic vessels.
Landfall
In mid-March, Martyn Heighton combined meetings up North with a visit to landing craft tank Landfall ; a core collection vessel. He was pleased to discover that whilst restoration is required, she is being monitored on a weekly basis, has permanent automatic pumps on board, and is in a secure berth. National Historic Ships are in dialogue with interested parties regarding her future.
HMS Bronington
Martyn also took the opportunity to visit HMS Bronington , which sadly he found in poor condition. This raises serious questions over whether it is feasible to restore her.
Regulus
Simon Stephens sought out this Admiralty launch, one of the eighteen 45ft Bird Class and located her at Southwick on the Sussex coast. Regulus had been converted for private use and one of the previous owners alerted the team that she had sunk at her mooring, been re-floated and then taken in hand by the port authorities of Shoreham. She was towed further into the harbour and beached and now lies as a derelict wreck awaiting disposal. Simon found that sadly her condition is extremely poor, with severe damage to her stern, planking and transom. Access was limited, but Simon was able to photograph her where possible. Further work will be done to establish whether there are any other survivors from this class.
HMS Unicorn
Martyn Heighton has been visiting fighting vessel HMS Unicorn on a regular basis throughout winter 2006 and spring 2007 in order to help plan the future for this very important core collection vessel.