News from Creekside

In the summer of 2008 we published Woodbridge to the Coast, a brief history of the town of Woodbridge and the countryside and some rivers on the Suffolk coast. This has been very popular in the area because of it superb colour photographs and the lively stories bringing alive the recent history past. This is Creekside’s credit crunch book, because although the high quality photographs are the high point, it has a soft cover to keep the price down.

  Some of favourites of the English Estuary Series have gone out of print. They had been reprinted before, but this year Essex Rivers and Creeks, Rivers Alde, Ore and Blyth  and  Woodbridge and Beyond  have dropped out of the List.  The Barge Coast of Suffolk, Essex and Kent was written to replace Essex Rivers and Creeks, which was one of the most successful of this series and was reprinted several times. That Barge Coast made an impact and was nominated for a National Maritime Book award in London, but lost out to histories of the Royal Navy.

  Our ‘messing about in boats’ has been mainly in small open boats this summer because Jonathan Simper’s Leigh cockle boat Mary Amelia is still undergoing a major rebuild. She went under cover in the autumn of 2007 to have her deck renewed, but as shipwright Lawrence Hebson worked away he found far more work had to be done. Most of the frames and many planks have been replaced. Paul de Noble was working with Lawrence the first winter, but he went back to sea on a Dutch brigantine so Lawrence is working on his own again with some help from Dan Sulley.

  The plan was to make some sea trips along the Suffolk coast in the 18ft open lugger Three Sisters, but the weather was so appalling that even this had to be abandoned. However the Three Sisters was taken by road to the Douarnenez Festival and we returned via Bayeax to see the Tapestry. Due to the traffic in the car park she came very near to being ‘wrecked’ but managed to get away unscathed. We also went off crewing with Tony Winter on the 60ft Bristol Channel pilot cutter Mascotte from Plymouth to St Mawes and back. Made a short trip on the barge Victor and went to the Colne Race on the cockler Alice & Florrie.

    With the Mary Amelia firmly ashore Jonathan got his 15ft Suffolk beach boat Pet back in the water after 15 years in a shed. There have been some races between the Pet and Three Sisters and this must be the first time that Suffolk beach boats have raced since the Kessingland Regatta petered out just after World War II. At Maritime Woodbridge in September our Teddy(1877), Three Sisters(1896), Pet (1902) and the  Wonder(c1920) all lay up at Woodbridge’s WhisstockQuay. Four clinker transom stern boats from the age of sail and oar.

  It is planned for Creekside to publish more of Robert Simper’s books. During the last three winters The Best Crop has been constantly rewritten, but it will probably be published next year. This traces the trials and good points of a farming career over fifty years. From horse powered machines to farming with large machines, and on to the credit crunch. From British Friesian cattle back to Red Polls, and from growing cabbages, to building barn conversions.  

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