The Barge Coast - Robert Simper
£16.95
Out of stock
Product Number
7200182
The Barge Coast
Author: Robert Simper
"Recording The Living Tradition
The Thames sailing barge is the icon of the East Coast, while the smacks and other former workboats are not so well known outside their home areas. However they are all part of the past and the future of this coast. The traditional boats are at the heart of the local identity fuelled by nostalgia and thcir functional beauty, many people battle to keep them going.
Providing you understood their limitations, the East Coast workboats were highly effective. The Golden Age of working sail on the coast of Britain was just before World War I. This was the peak of centuries of trial and error. It started with the Anglo-Saxons, with open clinker longships, and slowly over the centuries improvements were made. However seafaring men were highly suspicious of change. They were cautious of going to sea in a new type of boat because they risked their lives, If they failed to return then their families were often left to starve and they were worried about their dependants. However, there were always some enterprising men ready to try something new if it failed, such as the Victorian fashion for snib bow smacks, then it was quickly forgotten. If a new hull shape or rig was seen to bean improvement, then everybody wanted one. The practical working boats were more than just working tools. These boats were the centre of the lives of the people in coastal communities and were the source of great pride to their owners and crews."
Robert Simper was born in 1937 and is married with three children and five grandchildren. Robert Simper has sailed extensively on the East Coast. Amongst his other activities, he writes regularly for Classic Boat and Sea Breezes and has written a regular column in the latter for thirty-two years. He has lived in Suffolk all his life and shows no sign of leaving. He is one of Britain's best known writers on traditional working craft. He has written a series of books covering the histories of the East Coast estuaries. Reviewers have described him as 'a master of the photo-history book' and deemed 'the English Estuaries Series to be classic of their kind'
This book is another in his excellent series.
Author: Robert Simper
"Recording The Living Tradition
The Thames sailing barge is the icon of the East Coast, while the smacks and other former workboats are not so well known outside their home areas. However they are all part of the past and the future of this coast. The traditional boats are at the heart of the local identity fuelled by nostalgia and thcir functional beauty, many people battle to keep them going.
Providing you understood their limitations, the East Coast workboats were highly effective. The Golden Age of working sail on the coast of Britain was just before World War I. This was the peak of centuries of trial and error. It started with the Anglo-Saxons, with open clinker longships, and slowly over the centuries improvements were made. However seafaring men were highly suspicious of change. They were cautious of going to sea in a new type of boat because they risked their lives, If they failed to return then their families were often left to starve and they were worried about their dependants. However, there were always some enterprising men ready to try something new if it failed, such as the Victorian fashion for snib bow smacks, then it was quickly forgotten. If a new hull shape or rig was seen to bean improvement, then everybody wanted one. The practical working boats were more than just working tools. These boats were the centre of the lives of the people in coastal communities and were the source of great pride to their owners and crews."
Robert Simper was born in 1937 and is married with three children and five grandchildren. Robert Simper has sailed extensively on the East Coast. Amongst his other activities, he writes regularly for Classic Boat and Sea Breezes and has written a regular column in the latter for thirty-two years. He has lived in Suffolk all his life and shows no sign of leaving. He is one of Britain's best known writers on traditional working craft. He has written a series of books covering the histories of the East Coast estuaries. Reviewers have described him as 'a master of the photo-history book' and deemed 'the English Estuaries Series to be classic of their kind'
This book is another in his excellent series.
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