Cartography Unchained
An interesting website with various research papers relevant to some topics on this site.
An interesting website with various research papers relevant to some topics on this site.
All sorts of information: buoyage systems, lights, etc. The sailor’s pocket book By sir Frederick George D. Bedford · 1875 Also see the 1890 version: The Sailor’s Ready-reference Book: For the Use of the Royal Navy, the Mercantile Marine and Yacht Squadrons, Sir Frederick George Denham Bedford, Jan 1890 · Griffin & Company
This site has a wealth of information about the HMS Wildfire shore base at Sheerness in World War Two. There is a ship and wreck database as well as an excellent article on the defensive barrier.
A delightful book about sailing Shoal Waters, a 16′ boat, around the Thames Estuary and covering 70,000 miles or so from her base at Heybridge. The website has background and a number of articles. Shoal Waters continued her travels with a new owner after the death of Charles Stock and, in 2023, was for sale …
Fitzgerald collected words and phrases from local sailors and fishermen which were published in the East Anglian. The full text is available here. This is a short selection:
A series of videos covering the UK but many are local.
The header image ‘Two Buoys’ by Brian Perry shows the buoys Weir and Oxley enjoying their Winter break away from Orford Haven at Felixstowe Ferry. This began as a personal collection of material for an historical write-up of local buoys. It got out of hand: it is now about anything found interesting whilst sailing etc. …
In the 1885 Dickens Thames Dictionary ‘Barges’ entry, he covers both dumb and sailing barges, his assessment of dumb barges and Thames Watermen is interesting and not complimentary. Here is what he says about sailing barges. It is a singular fact, not unnoticed by the committee, that whereas the men who work in the dumb …
Southwold and Its Vicinity, Ancient and Modern By Robert Wake · 1839 The last part covers Dunwich.
Deben Soundings FB Suffolk Inlets HB – good images from Sentinel data on the bar. Bawdsey tide gauge.
An incomplete selection of issues from 1933 to 1953 is available here. Lovely to read. 1852 Hunt’s Yachting Magazine – Google Play Books – mainly club-oriented. Others are available until 1867. Yachting Magazine – available on CD
This archive of earlier copies of the ‘Deben’ magazine is a trove of hidden treasures and readers will find their time in reviewing it rewarded. To read. Tribes of the Deben Anglo Saxons. Gosnold Autumn 2000, also various other history pieces. Wrecks on the Deben – Spring 2000
Also see Walton on the Naze tides – variation LIDAR is a Laser-based surveying technique that provides elevation data across a land area. There are various types of survey data that can be downloaded and then processed to show a given area. The raw data will include buildings and vehicles, this is the DSM version. …
The Coaster’s Companion, Containing Directions for the Downs, for Sailing and Turning Thence, Thro’ the Different Channels, to the Nore; for Going Into Harwich, and Over the Naze Into the Wallet; … Also, Courses by Compass, … Round England, Scotland, Ireland, … To which is Added, a Large Tide-table, … By John Hamilton Moore, …google …
1823 New and Extensive Sailing Directions for the Navigation of the North Sea (google books)
1844 Coasters Guide (google books) The improved coaster’s guide, and Marine board examination, for the east coast of England and Scotland, and the English channell. By Alexander Baharie · 1844
Ordnance Survey Maps – National Library of Scotland Good source of historical OS and other maps at Vision of Britain British Library Maps and charts (rmg.co.uk) Foxearth Local History – local maps L Brown Collection – no re-use. David Rumsey Collection – excellent. Royal Collection Rijks Museum National Library of Spain OMNIA – Europe’s Culture …
This chap spent twenty years translating it only to discover that the source text was useless. In 2017 he found that somebody else had done job – Geographia e codicibus recognovit, prolegomenis, annotatione, indicibus, ta… – Google Books The earliest useful found is the Geography of Claudius Ptolemy which mentions a promontory that seems to …
Two excellent books for the East Coast are Suffolk Sea Borders and Shoalwater and Fairway by H. Alker Trip who was based at Maldon in the years between the Wars. Some historical tidbits and challenging sailing, often at night, with no engine. He wrote a couple of others. Some of these have been reprinted but …
Useful background for Cement Stone and coastal change. See The key to Suffolk Geology See Cement Stone at Nacton and Septaria Generally See Notes on Some Suffolk Crag Localities See THE SUFFOLK GEOCOAST DUNWICH: SUFFOLK’S LOST CITY – A GEO-TOUR
Thicknesse was quite a character, he was Governor of Landguard Fort and built a cottage at Cobbold’s Point. There are many interesting connections: shipwrecks, Lord Orwell/Vernon dispute, Dr Dodd, and many more. More to do on him! Philip Thicknesse, Landguard’s Loosest Cannon | English Heritage (english-heritage.org.uk) Philip Thicknesse – Wikipedia Volume 1 – Thicknesse, Philip. …
Read more “Memoirs and Anecdotes of Philip Thicknesse: Late Lieutenant Governor of Land Guard Fort…”
These items are for the London River rather than the Estuary. 1790 Bowles’s new map of the River Thames, from it’s spring in Gloucester-shire, to it’s influx into the sea : with a table of all the locks, wears, and bridges thereupon ; shewing the tolls payable at each and their distance by water from …
This website is packed with information on the River Thames from source to sea. This section relates to the Estuary.
Charles Dickens featured the Thames in many of his works. As part of his research he described features along the river from source to sea and gave excellent descriptions of the buoys. This excellent website has a transcription of the most relevant parts. The original book by Dickens is available online and well worth a …
Also see Elevation and Depth data. Walton on the Naze is the standard port for our part of the East Coast despite the major port being Harwich. Times and heights are similar between the two ports but with Walton having slightly greater heights. Tide readings and tables for thirty years ahead are available from the …
Some good eighteenth century detail on the area.
Here are some good poetic extracts: The Singing Swan by Sir A.P. Herbert extracts APCM Handbook for Bargemen and Lightermen by Charles T. Perfect extracts Books on Sailing Barges Carr, Frank G G. Sailing Barges. Dalton, 1989. ‘The Thames Sailing Barge Compendium’. Hervey Benham, Roger Finch, and Philip Kershaw. Down Tops’l. The Story of the …
Needs sorting out Navy Age of Nelson. including Ships of the Old Navy Three Decks – ships and men The Victorian Royal Navy Good on ships and crews National Archives HNSA Manuals & Documents THE ROYAL NAVY 1776-1815 A BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY AND CHRONICLE Naval Chronicle by the year 1801– 1804 1875 Bedford’s Pocket Book Pritchett, …
Here is a selection of reference sources. Needs to be sub-divided. General The Anglo Saxon Chronicle text. There are other sources for different versions. Anglo-Saxon Charters: an Annotated List and Bibliography, published by the Royal Historical Society in 1968. Online Domesday Book The Holinshed Project – a sixteenth century tour of Britain, good on description …
(Barrister-at-Law.), John MACGREGOR (M A. A Thousand Miles in the Rob Roy Canoe … Fifth Edition. Sampson Low, Son, and Marston, 1867. Macgregor, John. The Rob Roy on the Jordan, Nile, Red Sea, and Gennesareth, Etc: A Canoe Cruise in Palestine and Egypt and the Waters of Damascus. Maps and Illustrations. John Murray, 1870. MacGregor, …
In 1851 A Season at Harwich by W H Lindsey there is a good section on rowing out to Gunfleet Sands for a walk. – Lindsey, W. H. A Season at Harwich, with Excursions by Land and Water … London : Simpkin, Marshall, 1851. http://archive.org/details/seasonatharwichw00lind. Sailing Tours: Part 1 – The Coasts of Essex and Suffolk …
Kemp, Dixon. A Manual of Yacht and Boat Sailing. H. Cox, 1884. Biddle, Tyrrel E. The Corinthian Yachtsman, or Hints on Yachting. C. Wilson, Late Norie and Wilson, 1881. Frank Cowper. Jack-All-Alone, His Cruises. L. Upcott Gill, 1897. The history of yachting, 1600-1815 by Clark, Arthur Hamilton ‘Down Channel in the “Vivette”. – Edward Keble Chatterton …
Deben and Orwell have Bloody Pint – King Alfred vs the Danes – Martellos – Stone Heaps
Google Books Has a good description of shoals. Shows SHMs such as Cutler being Red Cones. Some good Middle Ground Buoys at Gabbard. 19 feet into Harwich. Submarine Bells Description of Deben. The coast . The coast from Orfordness trends southwestward for 3 miles and is a low shingle beach , from thence it curves to the southward for 2 miles to Orford Haven ; this forms Hollesley Bay . From the entrance to Orford Haven is a beach running 2 miles in a southerly direction to Boathouse Point , and from this point it runs southwestward for 2 miles to Bawdsey Cliffs . Orfordness and the coast for some distance to the westward is steep – to , but in Hollesley Bay and off Bawdsey Cliffs the 3 – fathom contour extends 0.6 mile seaward .The objects upon this coast which will be recognized are Crouch lifeboat houses , a small cluster of huts painted black and used only for fishing boats . Shingle Street , a cluster of cottages at the entrance to Orford Haven , and five martello towers between the haven and Bawdsey Cliff . The Colonial College , a large brick building with turrets and a flagstaff , close northeast of Hollesley , and just south westward of it is a large bare field that from a distance somewhat resembles Bawdsey Cliff , and Hollesley Church are prominent objects in the well – wooded background . A large white house among wood inland and to the northward of Bawdsey Cliff , a windmill at Alderton , and Bawdsey Church , with its broad stunted tower , are all plain objects . Coast guard.On the outer beach at 1.2 miles northeastward of Shingle Street is a small balck hut , with a flagstaff near it , the watch house of the coast guard , and at northeast extreme of Shingle Street is a large gray two – storied coast – guard house , with a flagstaff near it . Next to this house , there is a long , low , red building with a lookout turret in the middle . Martello Tower ( W. ) on Boathouse Point is East Lane coast – guard station , surmounted by a flagstaff , and the chimneys are whitewashed . Rocket stations . There are life – saving rockets at each of the above coast – guard stations . Bawdsey Cliff is of a reddish color and bears upon its face numerous marks of land slips . Bawdsey Manor , a conspicuous brick house , stands at the south west extreme of Bawdsey Cliff , and close eastward of it is a flagstaff . A glass house stands a short distance northeastward of the manor and is conspicuous in the sunlight . Bawdsey Sea Mark , an obelisk painted red and white in horizontal bands , stands near the northeast end of the cliff . Woodbridge Haven , or the entrance to the River Deben , is immediately westward of Bawdsey Cliff . The coast from the entrance trends southward for 4 mile to Tower T Point , from thence it assumes a south – southwesterly direction , and consists of cliff , alternating with grassy bank , for a distance of 1.2 miles to Felixstowe Point , when the high ground trends more westerly . From Felixstowe Point a low shingle beach extends 2.5 miles to the southwestward to Landguard Point , where it forms the eastern side of the entrance to Harwich Harbor . The golf pavilion , a white house , 600 yards southward of Tower T , and Felixstowe Hotel , surmounted by a clock tower , and standing on the cliff at Felixstowe , are conspicuous from seaward .
Sailing directions for the river Thames, from London, to the Nore and Sheer… – Google Books Extract THE SWIN AND KING’S CHANNEL Buoy on the Middle, No 3, black3 fathoms starboard. Whitaker Spit buoy, red, with staff and triangular vane3 fathoms larboard. South buoy of the Swin Spitway, blacklarboard. Gunfleet beaconlarboard. Gunfleet buoy, No. 9, …
Read more “1817 Norie Sailing Directions Nore to Orfordness”
Lots of coastal history, some of it a bit doubtful but it is a good read. The book has some interesting picture plates. Interesting piece about Dunwich
Page 96 FROM THE COLNE TO HARWICH. …Trinity House. This serves as a land-mark, but will not be of any use to us, as its only advantage, beyond being a mark to tell ships out at sea what point of land they are off, is to clear the Longsand Head fifteen miles away out at …
Read more “1892 – The Coasts of Essex and Suffolk by Frank Cowper – Extract Harwich area”
Whole book available on FB and here. Neither scan is good. A real copy would be very nice to have. Lights Ahead Meeting steamers do not dreadWhen you see three lights ahead :Port your helm and show your redGreen to green, or red to red.Perfect safety, go ahead. If to starboard red appear’Tis your duty to …
Read more “APCM Handbook for Bargemen and Lightermen by Charles T. Perfect (extracts)”
See also Thames River Charts, Deben Entrance Charts and Pilots and Harwich Haven Charts and Pilots 1688/9 Halley’s Survey presented to the Royal Society but whereabouts not known. Results incorporated in his Channel Chart. See Halley 1903 East Coast Rivers by Meesum 1923 East Coast Rivers – on file 1933 File:Admiralty Chart No 1610 North …
Published in 1968 this is a fictional story contrived to tell of life on a sailing barge. Set in the 1930s and going, via Dunkirk, through the War much of it is set on the “Singing Swan”. The thinly disguised author joins as an occasional third mate and gives a brilliant description of what goes …
Good section on Gunfleet Sands. A Season at Harwich by W H Lindsey Download from iArchive
From: 1851 A Season at Harwich by W.H.Lindsey – there is also discussion of the channel passing north of Landguard. See page 206. Note: it is about 5nM from Walton to the Sands. Miss Archer, having asked the probable extent of the Gunfleet Sands, the kind host furnished his attentive guests with a description of …
Tide Predictions Harwich Haven Authority/Leisure produces annual tide tables as well as a tidal atlas. The tide does not turn at HW or LW anyway in Swimscapes Bay. The tidal stream turns to flood north about 4-4.5 hrs after HW and to ebb north about 1.5 hrs before the next HW. In time I’ll work …
Available at David Rumsey Collection. Note Gunfleet, Walfleet, Easton Ness. also see 1683 Greenvile Collins chart of Harwich Haven – East Coast Curious
This book, of local interest, is available online, A Floating Home. It was subsequently re-issued as a “A Floating Home and Born Afloat” by the son of the last residents of the barge in question who moved to Waldringfield along with parts of the deck house which still stands just off Cliff Road. The extra …
Squire Thornton Stratford Lecky , 1917 edition of Wrinkles, explains tides and instruments, lovely language.