There were seven boats called Speedwell over the years, this particular boat was built at Arnside in 1919 for, and registered with Morecambe Fisherman's Mutual Assurance from 1919 until 1932 by Percy Baxter of 2 Morecambe Street.
She was in the Morecambe Regatta 23/09/1921, the next we know of her was July 1938 when she was owned by John Martin Junior of Fleetwood, she was sold on 20 October 1943 to William Stevenson of 231 Clifton Drive South, St Anne's, then bought on 25 July 1944 by Odafoam Limited of 46 Greenland Street, Liverpool when she was skippered by Alfred Pilkington.
She was purchased on 23 March 1946 by Robert Moss Woodhouse of 26 Sun Street, Morecambe. Sold on 29th December 1965 to Charles George Overett of 20 Burlington Avenue.
On the 3rd May 1973 she was purchased by Mr D Towne of Fleetwood. We have copies of receipts from her sale twice in 1988, one, dated 23/6/88 is signed by a JB Nolan and records "received from KG Wilson" £800.00 cash, the other, 4 months later on 22/10/88 records the sale to Chris Tulloch by what looks like G Wilson. Chris owned her from then until 1st of May 2006 when she was bought by myself, Derek Bayley with the intention of restoring her and using her as a cruising boat.
She carried several numbers over the years:
LR31 13.08.1920 until 22.11.1933
WO74 06.12.1933 until 25.03.1938
FD97 09.05.1938 until 23.03.1946
LR29 18.04.1946 until 03.05.1973
WA42 papers not yet found.
With grateful thanks to Nick and Martin from the Old Gaffers Association who between them supplied most of this history.
If you can help with filling in any of the blanks in her history please drop us a line using the contact page.
| Showing Entries 26 - 50 of 93 | « Previous Page 1 2 3 4 Next Page » | Page 2 of 4 |
| 13th September Posted at 9:55 pm on Thursday, October 16th 2008 |
   John setting up |
| 10th September Posted at 9:46 pm on Thursday, October 16th 2008 |
  Its been a while but there's something to show at last. Colin has got the last of the concrete out now and I've fitted some more frames and one of the deck beams.I went to see John at the Sawmill on Saturday to sort out some more Oak. |
| 6th August Posted at 9:38 pm on Thursday, October 16th 2008 |
 My birthday yesterday!we lifted the keelson out today to get at the concrete, Colin started chipping away with the windy chisel. |
| 23rd July 2008 Posted at 11:41 pm on Sunday, October 12th 2008 |
   Coming to the end of the wood now, as it looks like being a while before the next load arrives I thought I would start making the deck beams that I had the wood for, while I could get the main outline cut out and the sides planed and sanded, smoothing the inside curve was giving me some Gip, Spokeshave, Draw Knife, Band sander, I even modified this old block plane to plane the inside curve. the answer was so obvious I kicked myself when I realised, A router with a guide fence |
| 6th July 2008 Posted at 10:21 pm on Thursday, July 10th 2008 |
   Packed up the car and took the train again, walked from the station to the Albert Dock in brilliant sunshine but not much wind! we helped lay out the rigging, sails and bowsprit ready for the off, about 11 30 the lock gates opened and we all moved out into the half tide dock, where we stayed til the level dropped and we were able to get out into the river at about 1 o clock, the race wasnt due to start til 1 30 so we were able to get the topsail up and sort out the run of the staysail and jib sheets, its surprising just how quickly time passes when you're busy, it seemed like no time at all when suddenly, Laura, who is 100 years old this year, was coming up fast on our starboard side and heading for the start line in a rush of wind and spray, As she had done last year, Laura took the lead and held it all the way through, all credit to her skipper, he kept her sailing, managing to increase his lead despite the dead spots in the wind, before we reached the first mark the skies had opened and torrential rain soaked us all! After we turned the mark the wind suddenly died and we ghosted along, pushing the main and staysail out to try to catch any breath of wind, at this point, the smaller boats, like Spray, Cachalot and Hearts of Oak passed us, leaving us in 5th place, our wider tack to take advantage of the tide leaving us further behind, as we crossed the river to the second mark the tide turned and as we made our way up the third and final leg it pushed us along, the eddies around the bouy were the strongest I've ever seen in a river, and pushed us along at a fair old lick, even so, the marina was closing the lock at 4 30 and we wondered if we would make the finish and get back to the marina before then, at this point we wondered if we should follow Cachalot, retire gracefully and head for the marina. We were dropping the topsail to start winding down when out of nowhere someone threw a big bucket of wind at our sails and Pilkington picked up her skirts and flew, after all the soakings and frustration we were the second boat over the line, I for one didnt realise til we were on our way to the lock that we'd taken second place. |
| 5th July 2008 Posted at 9:48 pm on Thursday, July 10th 2008 |
  Saturday saw us getting the train into town and going back in the daytime to the Anglican Cathedral, we wanted to go up the tower but when we got to the lift at the second level we heards sounds coming from it and realised someone was stuck inside it! Managed to pull the doors open to let them out but the lift was out of action so we didnt get to see the view. walking back to car we discovered the Baltic Fleet pub near to the Albert Dock, built on a corner, the pub looks like the bow of a ship, we had something to eat here which kept us going til the Barbeque at the Albert Dock. we watched the Clipper Yachts, which had just arrived fresh from 35000 miles around the world as they came into the Albert Dock and moored up.With the weather being so unsettled the barbeque was on board Vilma courtesy of Scott and Ruth, while their son, Callum climbed around the rigging, giving his mother minor heart attacks as he swung from yard to yard 20 feet above us! Met up with our busy boat builder from last year, he had the grace to blush when he realised who i was! had a look at Hearts of Oak, a 34' nobby which has just finished restoration, lovely!! One of the things I really love about these old boats is the interesting people we meet along the way, tonight was no exception, we were made to feel really welcome by everyone we spoke to, what a lovely crowd! |
| 4th July 2008 Posted at 9:34 pm on Thursday, July 10th 2008 |
| American Independence Day, We took off for Liverpool today to take part in the Nobby race again on Sunday, after finding the hotel and getting settled we drove into Liverpool and visited the two Cathedrals in the dark! |
| 2nd June 08 Posted at 9:47 pm on Monday, June 2nd 2008 |
| Had an e mail today from Casey who says the green nobby on the pic (17th June last year) is the Jean owned by Tony Wright, had a look at Speedwell today for the first time in a while and the weeds are growing through the edge of the concrete, the tarp is still standing up to the weather, which must be some sort of a miracle, Colin's coming down tomorrow to clear out ahead of us fitting the new roof cover this week, College finishes tomorrow so with not having to study and do assignments I should be able to get some time to work on her again. I need to get my son Dean to alter that title, 2 years ago, when he wrote this site, it seemed like an age 'til 2008, now its here it seems ridiculous. |
| 23rd December 2007 Posted at 10:26 pm on Sunday, December 23rd 2007 |
| Almost Christmas and that time of year when we look back at what's been achieved and what's knocked back, it seems laughable now to think that I'd hoped to have her planked and decked by now, one of the problems being that wood supplies have been a bit erratic, I wonder if I should be looking elsewhere for that, my main problem is the same as most people, time, I had this illusion that I would be able to free up chunks of time to work on her, and, as those of you who have done this before will know, if you didnt have it before, you ain't gonna get it now. on the plus side, we have some of the drive sorted, a start on the framing and some barbed wire around the compopund to try to keep the scumbags out! I think I will start 2008 in a more realistic state of mind but I do need to see some progress if I am to maintain some drive in this project. To all the 2000+ of you who regularly look us up and keep a track of how we're doing, for the hints and tips about suppliers, boat bits advertised, or just plain encouragement, Thank you. I hope you have a happy time in whatever way you celebrate the holiday. All the best to you and yours and may you have a happy and prosperous 2008! |
| Thursday November 1st Posted at 7:13 am on Sunday, November 11th 2007 |
 On checking this morning I found the roof over her damaged, at first I thought the recent high winds had done for it but on closer inspection it's been cut, a full 6 metre square has just been cut out with a knife! obviously some scumbag thought he had more right to it! £130 of cover ruined, luckily the tarps I'd put over to protect her from the sun were still there so she stayed dry. |
| Monday Oct 29th Posted at 11:27 pm on Saturday, November 10th 2007 |
        Some of the pics that Charlie lent me, the first is fishing boats on the beach at Morecambe Bay, the foreground boat in the next one is Speedwell, the next 4 show Charlie rowing out to her and getting her ready to work.then 2 0f Bob Woodhouse whitebait fishing. |
| Wednesday Oct 24th Posted at 11:24 pm on Saturday, November 10th 2007 |
   Met Charlie Overett today, turns out he's one of the boys in the dinghy in an earlier picture we have, I've blown the dinghy part of it up so you can judge for yourselves, this pic of Charlie was taken when he was working for Bob Woodhouse. |
| Friday Oct 19th Posted at 11:12 pm on Saturday, November 10th 2007 |
| Off on holiday to Grange over Sands, have arranged to meet Charlie Overett during next week |
| Tuesday Oct 16th Posted at 11:10 pm on Saturday, November 10th 2007 |
 I won a 1930's windlass on E bay over the weekend so set off for Liverpool early this morning to collect it, accompanied by my son Dean for company, (he slept most of the way!)I managed to buy 100 metres of 5/16" anchor chain and an original Danforth anchor too. made myself late for class I'm afraid but... |
| Monday Oct 15th Posted at 11:03 pm on Saturday, November 10th 2007 |
 Sneaked another 1/2 day to fit the floor I made yesterday, Had to undo the forward keel fixing and jack up the forward end of the keelson but with a bit of trimming and pushing she went in.not entirely happy with the state of the first 3" of the Keelson (the area around the fixing bolt has gone,)I think it might be able to be re drilled and re bolted about 6" further back |
| Saturday & Sunday Oct 13th & 14th Posted at 10:54 pm on Saturday, November 10th 2007 |
  As Jacqui was working all this weekend I had some time to play! over the 2 days I managed to replace 5 frames entirely and make up 2 floors ready to fit, It's been so long since I've been able to get any time on doing this I'd forgotten how good it feels just to see something happening, I've had some e mails from both the son and a personal friend of Charlie Overett who bought Speedwell in 1965, saying he had some photo's and things he would like to share, it turns out he lives about 8 miles away from where I'm going on holiday in a couple of weeks time! |
| Saturday 18th August Posted at 3:42 pm on Saturday, August 18th 2007 |
| Almost forgot, Hi to Miranda who we met on holiday. |
| Saturday 18th August Posted at 3:37 pm on Saturday, August 18th 2007 |
  Back from holiday last night, fantastic weather, wedding went beautifully, bell housing and mountings had arrived while I was away, waiting on the drive pump which is apparently coming from Germany, planning to mount the assembly inside a tray, which, when the cabinetry is assembled around it will mean the engine should be in a sealed compartment which can be vented separately above the coach roof, it should mean that, in the event of flooding the engine can still continue to run to drive the hydraulics and keep things like water pumps and electrics running. |
| Friday 10th August Posted at 3:25 pm on Saturday, August 18th 2007 |
| Off to Sorrento today for a family wedding, wood is drying nicely, possibly a bit quickly, I've decided on an 1800 Ford XLD sat just behind the mast driving a hydraulic twin shaft system as motive power, many thanks to Pete Thomas of Transcur for his e mails and telephone calls about this system, I hesitated about this for a while but it seems so adaptable, I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have used the Contact Us facility to pass on details of suppliers and specialists, they have been very helpful, in particular at the moment Lansing Marine and Anglian Diesels have been very helpful about the hydraulic drive system and can recommend them both. |
| Monday 6th August Posted at 3:13 pm on Saturday, August 18th 2007 |
    spent the day measuring ahead of taking any more wood off, suddenly realised how I could have a reliable datum, a laser level, made up a bracket from oak scrap and screwed it to the stem to sit the level on, literally an elastic band holds it steady while the electronics do their stuff and I have an accurate base line to measure from. |
| 26th July 2007 Posted at 10:48 pm on Wednesday, August 8th 2007 |
 off to the sawmill to sort out the oak for the deck beams, spent some time measuring up the deck and frame sizes, nice weather 'til I got near the mill then it threw it down and we had to wait for the rain to stop before we could check out the pieces John had found, eventually decided on one and a length of larch, agreed to come back tomorrow to collect it. |
| 7th July 2007 Posted at 4:11 pm on Friday, July 6th 2007 |
  Intended to spend an hour cleaning out the forefoot ready to fit the stem next week, instead of which I spent the whole day playing, ended up with the stem and knee, fitted. made and fitted the apron and the first floor, (and a little fillet to fill up an unused area on the top of the stem knee). Everything is glued and screwed so I don't think it'll move before the next millenium, I took out the samson post to make access easier, the deck is definitely soft now, I put my foot through while moving around today, |
| 2nd July 2007 Posted at 10:17 am on Tuesday, July 3rd 2007 |
 strange how big she looks with the roof over her, hope it survives the weather. |
| 2nd July 2007 Posted at 10:12 am on Tuesday, July 3rd 2007 |
 We finally got around to putting the cover on today, used the time while waiting for our boat builder friend to arrive,(must be something to do with the word 'builder', you wait in all day...) I'd made a start on this last week but work and other stuff meant it got left again so it was good to have an excuse to stay here and finish it. |
| 17th June 2007 Posted at 5:09 pm on Monday, June 18th 2007 |
 Just a note, if you want to print off any pics of your boat, please feel free, just click on the picture, which will open in a new link, right click the picture and click 'save page as', you can rename it and save, after that you can print to a hard copy. Almost forgot, Rose and Spray, wish I'd had a telephoto lens for this one, not a good resolution but you get the idea. |
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