The Tale of “Teapot” First published in the NWT Journal, Spring 1989 by “Leveret” (David Bray) The wherry lay on the White Swan quay in the North River. Young Albert had been left aboard alone to keep ship while his dad was in the infirmary. He had come down with a cold during the big freeze-up of a fortnight before, and he hadn’t got over it. Eventually ma had taken him off to the hospital …
Random Jottings of a Skipper First published in the NWT Journal, Autumn 1986 Author: Admiral Elsan (David Bray) Quanting up to West Somerton I would like to take space in these pages to highlight the work of our skippers. At our committee meetings we often spend the whole evening discussing matters several times removed from the practicalities of sailing ALBION. At the AGM a vote of thanks usually goes to Trustees, Secretary, Chairman, Treasurer and Committee for …
Breydon Days On 28th June 2019 “Albion” and “Maud” sailed in company across Breydon”. I would guess that this was the first time in eighty or more years that two black-sailed trading wherries have been seen together on Breydon. I’d have given my eye teeth to have been there! Wherries at Breydon Those pictures reminded me of two particular trips across Breydon in my days as Skipper. Neither of them went to plan. The first …
Footsteps of Arthur Ransome First published in the Spring 1984 NWT Journal. Author: Leveret (David Bray) Arthur Ransome Some things are precious, and among our most priceless possessions are the personal experiences and learning gathered during childhood. Lessons learnt young are retained for a lifetime, and one’s whole character is formed from childhood influences. This year marks the centenary of the birth of Arthur Ransome, whose children’s novels must be familiar to many of you. …
Wherrying with Nat I have often been asked the question – “How did you learn to sail Albion?” Well, it’s a long story, and it started when I was about 12 years old, when I saw a poster on the noticeboard at school, advertising a number of “adventure” type holidays for boys, organised by the Student Christian Movement. The SCM as an organisation is unlikely to count me among its greatest adherents, and in fact …