In May 1940, more than 300,000 allied soldiers of the British Expeditionary Force found themselves isolated and cut off on the beaches of Dunkirk in France. The navy sent 850 Little Ships across the Channel to rescue them. Among them were 30 Thames sailing barges, including one called Pudge; only 17 returned.
Thames sailing barge Pudge was built in 1922 by London & Rochester Trading Co Ltd. It had a hull constructed of pitch pine on oak with a flush deck and measured about 83ft in length with a width of 21ft. It carried a spritsail rig and bowsprit and was purpose-built to carry oil seed and other goods between London and Ipswich and was never intended to be part of a wartime evacuation from Dunkirk. This is a craft that has survived numerous close encounters in a long and compelling history.
Tragedy struck Pudge in 1938 when bound from London to Newport (Isle of Wight), a fire broke out on board, caused by an upended cabin oil lamp near Deal in Kent. However, the barge survived, and rescue came in the shape of the motorboat Rose which took the beleaguered vessel to safe anchorage off Deal Pier.
Four months later misfortune struck again. Pudge was carrying a cargo of oilcake from London to Newport when it collided with SS Lapwing and sank in the Thames Estuary. Luckily, master Bill Watson (skipper for 26 years) and a crew of three were saved. The barge was raised and repaired but the lawsuit which followed apportioned blame to the London & Rochester Trading Co Ltd which ended up losing the case.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der October 2023-Ausgabe von Best of British.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der October 2023-Ausgabe von Best of British.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
THE FEW ON SCREEN
Steven Taylor looks at the Battle of Britain across film and TV
Table Service
Rachel Toy looks at the history of Ridgway Homemaker tableware
Hever Forever
Claire Saul studies the newly refurbished Boleyn Apartment at Hever Castle & Gardens - a castle fit for a queen
Shining a Light
Tony O’Neil tunes into the history of the last manned lightvessel
The Man With the Goldeneye
Film stills photographer Keith Hamshere describes how he came to enter the world of James Bond
THE ORIGINAL GOLDEN BALLS
lan Wheeler looks back on 70 years of Tiger comic and Roy of the Rovers, and chats to the man who edited and oversaw both titles
To Play the Queen
Chris Hallam looks back on the life of one of the UK’s best known lookalikes
POOLING RESOURCES
Martin Handley looks at what life was like after the Vernons Girls
POSTCARD FROM= SUSSEX
Bob Barton indulges in pleasure piers and fairground delights, as well as fulfilling a long-held ambition to visit the home of Rudyard Kipling
Oh, Miss Jones
Chris Hallam looks back at the origins and legacy of Rising Damp, ITV's most successful sitcom