On Friday I went to a local boatyard to talk to Sam Heard who
owns and runs it. When I was researching
background about boatbuilding for Eye of the
Wind I was this yard I visited.
Sam is the
third generation of his family to build boats here on Mylor Creek, just off the
Carrick Roads, the world's third largest natural harbour. The yard was started
by his grandfather who built traditional working boats. The Truro oyster
fishery is the last in the world to dredge for oysters entirely under sail, and
from 1st October to 31st March the fleet is out in all but
life-threatening weather. Seeing a gap
in the market Terry designed a smaller working boat along similar lines. Called
a Tosher it was an immediate success and fifty years on though many are used
from leisure rather than work a steady stream of orders keeps the yard busy.
I've known
the yard since I was a child, and watched it evolve. Old wooden hulks that acted
as a breakwater and protected moored boats from westerly gales have been
replaced by a neat granite wall. Boats laid-up for the winter or brought in for
renovation or repair are now as likely to be GRP (fibreglass) as wood. Yet
sitting in Sam's office surrounded by half-models, sail plans, working
drawings, ledgers and a wall of framed pictures - his grandfather's watercolours
of boats he'd built - I could have been in an early C19th boatyard office – apart
from the computer.
I had asked
Sam to spare me half an hour. But as we started talking about his grandfather, the
yard, childhood memories, family connections and local politics, time flew. After
a fascinating and enjoyable ninety minutes I dragged myself away. As I walked home
I thought yet again how lucky I am to live in a place where people can trace
their families back several generations. The stories they tell bring the past
to vivid life.
JaneJackson
www.janejackson.net
www.janejackson.net
Eye of the Wind pub. Paperback 25th April 2013 by Accent Press.
As featured Author of
the Month Accent Press is offering a
25% discount on this and all my ebook titles.
4 comments:
All great background for your books, Jane. Thanks for posting this
I feel privileged to have access to so much living history, Melinda. So much potential background for books, not enough time to write them all!
A very interesting post, Jane. I loved the sound of Sam's office, very similar to what his grandfather's workplace muct have been like. There's nothing like seeing it for yourself. I'm sure it smells exactly as it should - a touch tarry, perhaps?
It would have been 'tarry' 50 years ago, Elizabeth, now it smells of resin and fibreglass. But the yard outside smells exactly as it would have in the C18 and C19th: seaweed, the coconutty scent of old rope, mud, and freshly-sawn wood - even on GRP boats the gunwales, deckboards, transom etc are still made of wood - and varnish. It's incredibly evocative. Who needs a Tardis when one deep breath takes you back to a different age?!
Post a Comment