Boats, Ships and Trains

Laugharne Castle (Welsh: Castell Talacharn) is a castle in the town of Laugharne in southern Carmarthenshire, Wales. It is located on the estuary of the River Tâf and was originally established in 1116 as the castle of Robert Courtemain, who is recorded to have entrusted its care to the Welshman Bleddyn ap Cedifor. The castle also was the meeting place of Henry II of England with Rhys ap Gruffudd in 1171-1172, where they agreed a treaty of peace. When Henry II of England died in 1189 the castle along with St Clears and Llansteffan were seized by Rhys ap Gruffudd of Deheubarth in 1189, Laugharne Castle may have been burnt down at this time. The Castle was rebuilt by the Normans and in 1215 was captured by Llywelyn the Great in his campaign across South Wales. By 1247 Laugharne was granted to the de Brian family. In 1257 Guy De Brian was captured at Laugharne Castle by Llywelyn ap Gruffudd and the castle destroyed. It was in Laugharne in 1403 that Owain Glyndŵr's rebellion stalled. Perhaps lulled into complacency, he was tricked by an ambush and lost 700 men. When a local soothsayer then warned him to leave the area or be captured, he retreated. After this the rebellion petered out under the weight of greater English numbers, and by 1415, Owain Glyndŵr had disappeared, fading into myth. In 1584, Elizabeth I of England granted Laugharne to Sir John Perrott, said to have been the illegitimate son of Henry VIII. During the Civil War, Laugharne was captured by Royalists in 1644, the Parliamentary forces of Major-General Rowland Laugharne attacked the castle in 1644. After a week long siege in which much of the castle was damaged by cannon fire, the Royalist garrison finally surrendered. The castle was slighted to prevent any further use. It was left as a romantic ruin during the 18th century, and around the start of the 19th century the outer ward was laid with formal gardens. The castle is a scheduled ancient monument and was designated as a Grade I listed building on 30 November 1966, being "among the most substantial castle remains in Wales". P.S. The history of the boat Jane Marie is unknown to me!

One from the archive A weir on the River Avon has appeared on maps of Bath, England, ever since 1603. Located just downriver from the Pulteney Bridge, the Pulteney Weir was built in the late Middle Ages to prevent the river from flooding the town of Bath. The weir was completely rebuilt in the early 1970s and given a more effective and now iconic V-shape design. A sluice and controlled flood gates were also added in the upgrade.

Regal Lady was built by Fellows & Co. Shipbuilders of Great Yarmouth in 1930 to withstand easterly gales with strong bulkheads down below and high free board. She was launched on the morning of 23rd May 1930 and named Oulton Belle. Entering service in late 1930 Oulton Belle soon became a favourite with her holiday passengers, operating out of Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft on the Norfolk Coast of England. She ran her holiday excursions for the following nine years up until the beginning of the Second World War . On the 14th May 1940 the BBC made the following announcement:- 'The Admiralty have made an order requesting all owners of self-propelled pleasure craft between 30 and 100ft in length to send all particulars to the Admiralty within 14 days of today, if they have not already been requested'. These boats then moved along the coast to the Channel Ports. Operation Dynamo began to fall into place. Between the 28th May and 4th June 1940, 337,131 British and French troops were evacuated from the French beaches at Dunkirk. To commemorate her gallant service as part of this fleet which braved the mines, the E boats and the Luftwaffe, Regal Lady proudly flies the flag of the 'Association of Dunkirk Little Ships' at her masthead. After the evacuation, Oulton Belle returned to Great Yarmouth for a short period until being posted to the Firth of Clyde as a fleet tender. There she served out the war years transferring United States Troops from the transatlantic lines Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, after their hazardous voyage. War years over, Oulton Belle returned to her peace time duties operating out of Great Yarmouth up until 1954 when she was sold to Scarborough Cruises and renamed Regal Lady. She made her first cruise out of Scarborough in late June, 1954. Over the years since then Regal Lady has taken thousands of passengers for a taste of the sea as she cruises along the Yorkshire Coast, viewing the cliffs at Ravenscar or the Southern headland of Filey Brigg. She is much changed in appearance since she was launched, but is still a handsome old lady. She will be remembered by the thousands of people who have enjoyed their holidays on board. Most particularly she will be remembered all her life for her gallant service when she went to the rescue of the British Expeditionary Force from the beaches of Dunkirk in the spring of 1940.

The harbour today bears little resemblance to the bygone years, it is a busy centre for pleasure craft, those taking visitors out to sea on trips such as The Coronia and Regal Lady as well as sealife watching cruises and fishing trips. There are, however, still a number of fishing vessels working from the harbour, enough to make the fish market viable. The black fishing vessel in the picture sailed on the flood tide shortly after this picture was taken. The harbour is formed by three piers, the outer harbour being set aside for leisure activities while most of the port’s communal activities take place in the inner or ‘old’ harbour. The central location, close to all the many amenities that Scarborough has to offer, has led to the port being called ‘The Jewel in the Crown’ and visiting craft have a wealth of opportunities to enjoy. Scarborough has been a seaside resort since Victorian times and the attractions of the old town and castle stand alongside modern retail outlets in the town centre.

Photograph taken March 1987 The Charles Cooper, an American wooden merchant ship, she was bound from Philadelphia to Frisco with coal,and arrived at the Falklands, leaky - 92 days out. She was condemned and hulked in 1886, then used as a pierhead store on West jetty until the 1960s. South Street Seaport Museum of New York bought her In 1968 - hoping to repatriate her. The cost of this was found to be too great. The Cooper was was then returned to Falklands ownership and given into the care of the Falklands Museum in Stanley. Gradually deteriorating, under attack from the elements and marine pests, what remained has been removed from the harbour by the museum, and is undergoing preservation measures.

Photograph taken March 1987 The Lady Elizabeth was launched from Sunderland, England, on June 4th, 1879. She was built to replace a prior Lady Elizabeth, which had sunk off the coast of Western Australia in 1878. The second Lady Elizabeth voyaged all around the world, hauling cargo successfully for over 30 years. On December 4th, 1912, the Lady Elizabeth left Vancouver with a shipment of lumber. She was headed for Mozambique. While sailing around Cape Horn, she encountered strong gales. The ship was damaged, much of the cargo lost, and four men were swept overboard. While limping into Berkley Sound on her way to Port Stanley for repairs, she suffered extensive damage to her hull when she struck Uranae Rock, off Volunteer Point. Once reaching Port Stanley, she was declared unseaworthy and bought by the Falkland Island Company to be used as a floating timber warehouse. On February 17, 1936, a fierce storm battered the Lady Elizabeth. She broke free of her moorings, drifted into Whalebone Cove and was beached on a shallow sandbar. Over the years, she has been vandalized by opportunists who have stolen her wood and other valuables. Today, she still stands, corroded but proud. Her current owner, the Crown Receiver of Wrecks, has attempted to convert her into a floating museum, but the project has stalled due to lack of funding.

The history of St Andrews Harbour is one that spans the centuries and is inseparably linked with the life of the coastal town it serves; indeed at one time the very life-blood of it. No doubt the Harbour's footings are to be found in nothing more than the unimproved shores of the Kinness Burn, around which the early inhabitants of the town, then still known as Kilrymont, would go about their simple lives of fishing and farming. During medieval times and through to the 16th century the harbour would see significant development with the construction of the original stone built piers and quays to serve the many travellers and merchants of the time; the town developing as an important academic, ecclesiastical and trading centre. Today the 18th to 20th century extensions and developments to the Long (North) Pier and Cross Pier form the well-sheltered havens of the Outer and enclosed Inner Harbours, which are home to a small, but growing, flotilla of pleasure craft and a small fishing fleet that in its heyday would have numbered fifty vessels and more.

St. Andrews Harbour, Fife - Scotland

York to Scarborough train passing Kirkham Priory

(4 x PiPs) The history of St Andrews Harbour is one that spans the centuries and is inseparably linked with the life of the coastal town it serves; indeed at one time the very life-blood of it. No doubt the Harbour's footings are to be found in nothing more than the unimproved shores of the Kinness Burn, around which the early inhabitants of the town, then still known as Kilrymont, would go about their simple lives of fishing and farming. During medieval times and through to the 16th century the harbour would see significant development with the construction of the original stone built piers and quays to serve the many travellers and merchants of the time; the town developing as an important academic, ecclesiastical and trading centre. Today the 18th to 20th century extensions and developments to the Long (North) Pier and Cross Pier form the well-sheltered havens of the Outer and enclosed Inner Harbours, which are home to a small, but growing, flotilla of pleasure craft and a small fishing fleet that in its heyday would have numbered fifty vessels and more.

Shipshape and Bristol Fashion - The saying in today's form has been recorded as early as 1840 ("shipshape" alone being about 200 years older). Bristol was the most prosperous port of west-coast Britain, and its ship chandlery was of the highest quality. The term may have developed in view of the port of Bristol which had (before the Floating Harbour was constructed) a very high tidal range of 13 metres (43 ft), the second highest in the world.Ships moored in this area would be aground at low tide and, because of their keels, would fall to one side. If everything was not stowed away tidily or tied down, the results were chaotic and cargo could be spoiled.

View up stream from the 1806 bridge.