Richard III

 We did a bit of a road trip to visit family and took the opportunity to drop in to Leicester to see the resting place of King Richard III in the cathedral. 

Leicester as a settlement dates back over 2000 years, but during the 18th and 19th century was transformed into major manufacturing powerhouse, dominating global production of hosiery, knitwear, and boots/shoes, sadly those industries as in so many north cities have gone, but the town has plenty of glimpses of the past such as the Globe in Silver Street which is the oldest pub in Leicester the deeds of which date back to 1718 or 1720. Silver Street was officially recorded in 1587, a name derived from the local silversmiths who established their shops and trade there. 

Richard III's tomb is located inside the cathedral, which itself was only elevated to a cathedral in 1927, in the ambulatory at the rear positioned just behind the new sanctuary and central tower. 

The White Boar society formed in 1924 with aims to challenge negative Tudor and Shakespearean portrayals of King Richard III as a tyrant and murderer.  Setting aside the legend and controversy Richard was a King of England and I think it's fair to say that we all found the monument disappointing for a former monarch.

At least he has a statue outside in the cathedral gardens and of course a visitor center nearby over the site where his remains were found in Grey Friars in 2012, his skeleton remains were uncovered in the choir area of the lost church on the very first day of the dig. Local consensus seems to be that his body had been thrown in the river after the battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, but was in fact secretly buried.

 The cathedral was hosting some kind of event which included an indoor art installation of floating globes and outside this appeared over the roof. I'm note a member of the Church of England but I can't help feeling that it has lost its way.

 

Fireworks at Warsash

Warsash Sailing Club held their annual Guy Fawkes Night fireworks display over the water on a clear and still Saturday a couple of nights after the traditional 5th November.

Here in England we still celebrate Fireworks Night every year (also known as Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes Night) on November 5 to commemorate the failure of the 1605 Gunpowder Plot to blow up the then King James and members of parliament.

At anchor

Nice classic an anchor in Swanage recently, wonderful steep sheer-line, raised doghouse and rounded full stem with what looks like enough sail area to punch through the local often choppy seas.

 

SCOWs & Western Solent

Members of the Hurst Castle SC (of which I'm one) have been sharing pictures of SCOWs sailing in the Western Solent and Keyhaven harbour, with kind permission presented here for your enjoyment.

Possibly on what might be a cold winter's day taken with a with a cup of hot tea or coffee and thoughts of the summer past or the summer to come.

 

Gaffers

Couple of local gaffers, the top one with very practical raising bowsprit to keep the marina costs down. I wasn't paying much attention and can't tell from the photo but I had it in mind as a Heard 28 (apologies to the owner if it's something very different). 

However the Heard 28 is an interesting story of itself, in the early 1960's Terry Heard a Falmouth boat builder in consultation with architect Percy Dalton took a mould from carvel-built timber local working boat named Saint Melorus, to build in glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) boats that matched the legendary underwater profiles of the classic Falmouth working fleet. The first built was Terry's own boat, named Melorus. 

Below what I think is an open Skanner 19 with a distinctive canoe stern, a heavily built, traditional classic-style small sailing yacht and motor-sailer with a long keel, designed by Michael W. Hawes and first built in Cornwall, UK, in the early 1980's,

And friend Gerg's Memory 19 "The Flugal" looking great and glad to be afloat after a bit of a prolonged stay ashore.

RAFYC Launch

The RAFYC have a new launch which has a very traditional look, almost like a miniature air sea rescue boat from the 1940's.

Apparently it can carry 12 but looks  possibly to be a little cramped.
 

Remembering Stuart

My friend died very early in 2020, over the years we sailed together and enjoyed the occasional evening sipping whiskey. This was a bottle of 12 year old single malt Stuart had given me for a birthday present so it seemed like a fitting tribute to put a ship in it.

 His yacht was an Oyster 43 named Porcelain (last seen locally preparing to head off to the Caribbean with a new owner) so something modern with fore and aft sails seemed more appropriate than a traditional square rigger, plus I like schooners and the additional mast and length seemed to fit the bottle pretty well.

As with many projects life and work get in the way and the parts stood neglected at the back of my office for far too long, but it's finally up and sailing and a nice reminder of days spend with a good friend and mentor.