Some on the forum have already discussed this but thought it might be worth checking other people’s opinions. Are these ships all the same vessel? The masts, lines and form of the two images 1 & 2 certainly appear to match. Photo 3 is perhaps a little doubtful when looking at the ships alongside each other. Is it the lighting on the ship’s side of that makes it look different to the paintwork on the previous two photos? The upper lines/shape of the vessel also seem to be more straight and level but maybe this is an illusion as the rigging fixings to the hull in 1 and 3 do appear to be similar. What do you think?
Not seen this one before and like many newly found images it includes something unusual left, no doubt temporarily, on the water’s edge. I’ve enlarged the model and it seems to be of a ship, not a yacht.
The two photos of Stow & Sons yacht-building sheds were almost certainly taken within a short time and distance of each other. There are a number of clues including the same yachts moored in front of the sheds but most significantly of all is the man working on one of the masts.
The large yacht below has been identified as the Rosalind built in 1904 by Stow but there is a date 26th August 1906 written in ink on the reverse. Built for owner Charles Hellyer and registered at Hull it voyaged widely but, significantly, Lloyds Yacht Registers record it returning to Shoreham for the vessel’s annual survey in 1906 and is likely to be the date of that photo.
Of all the photos we have of Stow yachts it is only the Rosalind that has a cranked, forward leaning mizzen mast so close to the stern. Amongst the vessels in the other photos the fourth yacht from the left also has a cranked mizzen mast (marked X) in a similar position and therefore more likely to be the Rosalind and of a similar date.
Until recently as you walked back to the town over the footbridge you could see the rails of a slipway in the grounds of the Sussex Yacht Club. Were these the remains of the 19th century rails in the last of Shoreham’s shipyards? It doesn’t seem so. Maps show the original rails in Dyer’s Yard to have been at more of an acute angle to the riverside than the ones In the modern photo. The others to the right, also 19th century, were installed nearer to the time when the yachtbuilder Stow & Son ran the yard.
One of our favourite walks over the years has been along the river bank from Shoreham to Bramber and for those of you that still tread its meandering path take a pause before you get to the cement works, look back eastwards across the river to the hills, imagine the same scene one hundred years ago and listen carefully. Within the noise of the traffic from the nearby Steyning Road you may hear the faint sibilant hiss of a steam engine and the churning of boat screws on water as the phantom river tugboat George V puffs by towing two barges back up river for reloading.
(A very rare postcard necessarily heavily reduced in resolution from our partnership collection with Marlipins Museum.)
The eye-glazing tedium of the repetitive editing and loading of countless postcard images does have its benefits as you get to enjoy in detail superb images you’ve not seen before. This one caught my eye. Do you remember the Marlipins Museum postcard of the river tug ‘George V’ towing barges up river? We’ve found another – detail from Alan Humphries’ postcard of the locks reveals what looks like the vessel’s identical sister boat ‘Edward VII’ (assuming the ‘II’ to be hidden by the rudder) – such small tugs yet obviously capable of towing two huge fully loaded barges. I wonder what Shoreham family worked them?
A photo that unusually records both the grounded SS Brussels and the last of the two mystery towers before it was demolished – July 1922
The lifeboat house and lifeboat had been moved to the beach in 1892 after the build up of the bar had prevented the lifeboat from leaving the harbour. They were returned to Kingston after the bar had been cleared and after that photo was taken. Holloways of Shoreham were involved in harbour reclamation work in 1925 which seems likely to have included clearing the bar.
Not Shoreham related exactly but such a fascinating, rare and historic collection of naval photographs from Shorehambysea.com long standing member and Shoreham resident John Lyne that we had no hesitation in including them on the website. The photos record some of the ships and events from John’s father William Joseph Lyne’s service with the Royal Navy during WW1 and after. William served initially from 1911 to 1921 and saw action at Heligoland Bight and Jutland. Called up again during WW2 he participated in the Dunkirk withdrawal followed by a posting to Lowestoft providing minesweeping training to Scandinavian refugee sailors. Continue reading “John Lyne Collection”
A selection of newspaper cuttings providing five year example of ship movements in and out of Shoreham port during the 19th century. The ship’s name is followed by the surname of the captain then the port sailed from or to. From early 1840 the cargo carried is also given.
The British Library Newspaper Archive is a massive and absolutely fascinating resource and thanks must go them for their permission in allowing these images to be reproduced (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk). Please also note that in copyright images belong to Northcliffe Media Limited and out of copyright images belong to The British Library. Continue reading “Ship Arrivals & Departures 1837-1842.”
