Branch Meeting Reports for 2010
August 2010
The eagerly awaited visit by Alan Chapman did not disappoint the less than usual number of us present on a warm August evening. ‘Lighterage on the Thames’ was the title of his slide show but as Alan said ‘A Load of Rubbish’ was much more descriptive.
A fascinating talk ensued about the way in which London’s rubbish is carried along the Thames in specially constructed barges carrying large containers capable of carrying 11 tons of domestic rubbish each. 70 boxes to each barge and generally towed in threes. Four London Boroughs as well as the Corporation of the City of London make use of the efficient services provided by Cory Environmental and have their rubbish transported by river to appropriately named Mucking.
The talk was accompanied by superb slides of the whole operation together with full technical and historic details of the Tugs involved. A truly fascinating evening enjoyed by all and for which we thank Alan most warmly.
July 2010
At our meeting on 5th July we welcomed Steve Spouse from just over the water in Plumstead. He gave us his presentation “A Thames & Medway Miscellany” and for tug lovers it’s an absolute must. We started with archive Thames and Medway waterfront views, mainly converted from photographs featured in early last century books and magazines. These were of notable occasions such as the building of Tower Bridge and the maiden entrance of prominent liners of the day into new locks and docks. There were also many very atmospheric pictures of dock scenes of ships, lighters and tugs with smoking stacks. Then followed slides from Steve’s own collection showing Thames and Medway tugs and shipping. Steve, obviously having a good head for heights found high-rise flats near to the river an ideal vantage point for photography. At Sheernes he even cimbed a crane for a better shot of the ship in the dry dock! Due to increased security docks, flats and offices, once a haven for the “aerial” picture are now denied. Many remarkable pictures were featured from these high vantage points. Steve has a job involving shift work and is often out early in the morning and late in the evening when he can make a detour to the river on his way or return from work resulting in some unusual lighting and night shots. He was often in the right place at the right time taking pictures of a trot of tugs which although owned by the same company, each were painted in different company colours following a take over. We then moved to “Foreign parts” which included tugs and shipping in such "faraway" places as Felixstowe, Southampton and Newhaven and even to our local Blackwater which featured the laid up “ZAC” in 1982. She was built in 1962 as Hain’s TREBARTHA then renamed STRATHTAY. We thank Steve for coming and presenting such a unique and interesting show.
June 2010
On June 7th were pleased to welcome Ken Larwood from Whitstable who showed us “Barges to Boxboats” a presentation from his large collection of slide shows. These were mainly taken during the 1980s and early 1990s.
Ken, now retired, worked as a Marine Electrical Engineer. He was mainly shore based but had experiences of underway repairs, one of which he told was on a tanker at Angle Bay, Milford Haven where he arrived after a long train journey on a Sunday night. After a brief check on the job to be done he turned in. On waking the next morning he found that the ship had sailed with him on board! His wife was unaware of his departure and he asked for a message to be sent. The soonest the radio officer could book a telephone call via Land’s End was to be Tuesday evening. How communications have changed over the last 40 years!! This “trip” lasted six weeks.
Ken’s interest in ships came via his interest in steam railways, and he showed us the first ship he took, back in the 60’s of Virginian (1948) laid up in the river Dart. Many photos were from the Kent area. From his hometown of Whitstable were an array of coasters mainly engaged in road stone and sand imports, but two had a notable Mid-Essex interest; Johno, which was used to convey the Thames barge Dawn to Maldon for restoration, and Insistance which was built at Wivenhoe on the Colne. Further west we saw ships leaving Sheerness port and Thamesport. At Greenwich were cruise ships and liners photographed at Tilbury landing stage. These included Mikhail Lermentov, Estonia and Stefan Batory. Further towards London was the cable ship Jules Verne at Erith.
Kent’s south coast yielded the preserved tug Cervia, at Ramsgate then in quite good shape but now apparently in rather poor condition. At Dover we saw reefers at the cold storage quay and inevitably some fine ferries. Also at Dover, which was then, just beginning to promote it’s cruise ship trade we saw The World, Astor and Argonaught. Other ports in the UK from where Ken had taken ship photos was Newhaven, Southampton, Portsmouth, Ipswich, Barry, Great Yarmouth, Liverpool and Falmouth. Further a field were ships in Sorrento, the Greek islands, where we saw some old Dover “friends”, Mahon and the Canary Islands.
Ken’s presentation probably covered the most diverse selection of ships that we have seen for a long time. Our thanks to Ken for a most interesting show and we look forward to another next year.
May 2010
At our May 3rd meeting we were saddened to hear of the death of branch member Roy Leach aged 86.
Roy was an active and faithful member of the branch for many years. He gave us many a slide show of his trips and would generously share his copies of Lloyds list with members. Roy also compiled the “New Ships” list at the back of Marine News His expertise in this field will be hard to replace. We at the Mid Essex Branch will miss his friendliness, his sharp wit and his extensive knowledge and send our deep sympathies to his wife Joyce and all the family.
Our meeting featured a PowerPoint presentation compiled by branch member David Berg of ships seen on the river Scheldt and the Ghent Canal during 2009. David’s pictures were taken mainly in and around Terneuzen.
David’s usual route is Dover to Dunkirk on Norfolk Line then a visit to Ostende and Zeebrugge, en route to Terneuzen.
The Scheldt serves the port of Antwerp, second largest in Europe and fourth largest in the world and able to handle ships up to100,000 grt.
The ocean going ships displayed were a variety of types from car carriers to tankers and box boats to bulk carriers. The container ships reflected the world trade with many not carrying a full load. We also were shown a host of tugs from the area including one or two with a long history. David also likes to keep an eye on funnel colours to which we were treated to some of the most interesting. A trip down the Ghent Canal found RFA Brambleleaf just prior to breaking. Unfortunately time over took us but the remainder are scheduled for our December meeting. Our thanks to David for compiling the show and painstakingly researching the data and vessel histories.
Terneuzen Treats 2009
April 2010
It being a Bank Holiday, a members "bring and show" Video / DVD evening had been organised.
We showed a very interesting video on UK tugs fleets. This gave a history of river and harbour towing over the past 50 or so years, and detailed how much had changed not only in tug design, accomodation and crew size, but in the type of ships being handled. There were many views of harbours round the UK coast and the work that is undertaken. There were also interviews with tug crews past and present. It was good to hear first hand why tugmen are such loyal seamen. We also saw some clips taken from the internet of ships in heavy weather and in difficulties. All this was possible due to our purchase of a digital projector a couple of years ago. It has proved a great asset. Thanks to those who bought videos and DVDs and turned out on a Bank Holiday evening. Its an evening we are sure to repeat.
March 2010
At our March meeting we ran the digital slide presentation "Vancouver Harbour During 1990s". This is a slide show compiled by Cecil Woods of Vancouver Branch in 2003 and recently transferred to digital. This gave us a good cross section of ships in and around Vancouver with many taken from the great vantage point, on and around the Lions Gate Bridge. Ships ranged from cruise ships to tankers and box boats to tugs, plus the occasional car carrier. The picture quality had somewhat suffered through its conversion to digital and perhaps a few horizons could have been corrected at the time, but nonetheless it gave us a very interesting evening. Our thanks to Cecil for his photography and detailed script.
February 2010
At our February meeting, after a few minor technical difficulties, we staged our second digital photographic competition. Attendance and entrants were lower than normal, not helped by the poor weather. David Berg, Ray Smith and David Brown each entered their six images taken during 2009.
The results are as tabled below. The over-all winner was Ray Smith, who, with his picture of the tug Warrior at Gibraltar, also won “best photograph”. It was interesting to note that the second highest score was also a tug, the Zelzate, taken at Terneuzen by David Berg.
Total Slide 1-1 29 RFA Brambleleaf
Total slide 1-2 26 Celebrity Equinox
Total Slide 1-3 27 HMS Illustrious
Total Slide 1-4 34 Haydn Miller
Total Slide 1-5 27 Queen Victoria
Total Slide 1-6 29 Aurora
Total Set 1 172 David Brown
Total Slide 2-1 37 Aegean XI
Total Slide 2-2 32 Barnes Bridge
Total Slide 2-3 35 Cap Delgado
Total Slide 2-4 37 CCNI Caribe
Total Slide 2-5 32 Radnor
Total Slide 2-6 40 Warrior
Total Set 2 213 Ray Smith
Total Slide 3-1 32 Aasvik
Total Slide 3-2 31 Deutschland
Total Slide 3-3 32 Ivy Galaxy
Total Slide 3-4 32 MSC Cameroun
Total Slide 3-5 35 Pacific Venus
Total Slide 3-6 39 Zelzate
Total Set 3 201 David Berg
CICK HERE TO SEE THE SIDE SHOW OF ENTRANTS
A computer program helped adding the scores allowing time after the break for a presentation of photographs taken during branch member Ray Smith’s visit to Gdansk, Gdyinia and Szczecin with the Thames Ship Society in April of 2009.
In Gdansk they stayed close to the maritime museum and the preserved cargo ship SOLDEK featured in several shots along with photos of the town to give us a flavour of the locality. They took both public and a private sightseeing boat trips down the river viewing the shipping in the river and at the numerous shipbuilding and repair yards.
Their visit to Gdynia included a visit to the naval base where two ex American Perry class frigates were observed. Also seen was the museum ship ORP BLYSKAWICA, built in 1937 for the Polish Navy by J. Samuel White in Cowes. In the commercial port was the ro-ro INWROCLAW, a once regular visitor to Felixstowe. Their visit to Szczecin also included a private port cruise where it was interesting to see the former Trinity House pilot vessel BEMBRIDGE which had been the club house of the Leigh-on-Sea yacht club for many years and had been towed to Szezecin for restoration.
Thanks to Ray for an interesting and informative presentation.
January 2010
Our January meeting was held under the threat of snow but we were encouraged that a good number attended. The meeting featured two films. The first was of Union Castle Line, with an emphasis on the WINDSOR CASTLE. The second was about the life and times of Southampton’s preserved steamship SHIELDHALL. Our thanks go to David Brown for the equipment and the films.