We preserve the Nancy Blackett, the favourite yacht of "Swallows and Amazons" author Arthur Ransome, and celebrate Arthur Ransome's East Coast stories.

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Sophie Neville with the Rushton children at the Marathon Reading of Swallows and Amazons, 3rd Sep 2017. Photo by Sophie Neville.

A Week of Swallows and Amazons Celebrations in the Lakes

During this coming week “Swallows and Amazons” will be celebrated over several days with a series of events held in the Lake District. Sophie Neville, president of The Arthur Ransome Society, will be at the Braithwaite Institute near Keswick tomorrow (May 24th) to give a 45th anniversary talk on ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons’. She […]

Introducing the Selina King Exhibition Catalogue and Greetings Card

On the first anniversary of the Selina King Exhibition at Pin Mill, we are pleased to announce the publication of the exhibition’s catalogue, as well as a commemorative greetings card. The Exhibition Catalogue not only includes half-page reproductions of Arthur Ransome’s photographs of the build and launch of Selina King, but also an introduction and background notes, […]

An Arthur Ransome weekend at the Norfolk Broads Yacht Club

A celebration of Arthur Ransome’s Norfolk Broads stories and boats was held at the Norfolk Broads Yacht Club’s Open Day over a glorious May Day Bank Holiday weekend, as Sophie Neville reports… For the May Day Bank Holiday weekend, I travelled up to Wroxham with my camera and memory stick for the Norfolk Broads Yacht […]

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Arthur Ransome’s East Coast

  • Download the Arthur Ransome Walking Trail Map (pdf)
  • See the Selina King Exhibition at Pin Mill

    • Get involved

  • Donate to our 20th Anniversary Appeal
  • Join the Nancy Blackett Trust
  • Sail on Nancy Blackett
  • Volunteer with the Nancy Blackett Trust

    • Welcome

    You can visit and sail the Nancy Blackett, once owned by “Swallows and Amazons” author Arthur Ransome and the star of his novel “We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea”, the seventh book of his “Swallows and Amazons” series, and probably his best sailing novel.

    Nancy Blackett, lightly disguised in the book as the Goblin, was named after the “Amazon” pirate girl character who featured in “Swallows and Amazons”.

    Nancy Blackett was Arthur Ransome’s favourite yacht and is now owned by the Nancy Blackett Trust, preserving her as a living part of the Arthur Ransome heritage. Each year many Ransome fans enjoy the experience of sailing her, and many more visit her at maritime events.

    Explore our website to find out more about Nancy Blackett’s history, how you can sail her, how you can help support her, and the mission and work of the Nancy Blackett Trust.

    You can keep updated with e-mail alerts by clicking here.

    Nancy Blackett passes Pin Mill, June 2017.
    Photo: Bill Wallace-King.

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