We look after Nancy Blackett, the favourite yacht of "Swallows and Amazons" author Arthur Ransome.
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Photo story: Nancy Blackett’s last sail of the season

Nancy Blackett successfully made her way from Woolverstone to Woodbridge this weekend, in  advance of her end-of-season liftout. Saturday lunchtime saw her moored to a buoy in Bathside Bay, Harwich, before slipping over the Deben Bar mid-afternoon before a well-earned crew dinner at the Maybush, Waldringfield. This afternoon saw her motoring upriver to Woodbridge Tide […]

Inside the Dog’s Home from “The Picts and the Martyrs”

Earlier this month the intrepid Jon Porter, following in the footsteps of author Marc Grimston, explored inside and around the Dog’s Home, the small stone hut in woods that was a location in The Picts and the Martyrs, the eleventh and last completed book set in the Lakes in the Swallows and Amazons series. Jon has kindly provided […]

Sophie Neville on: Ten reasons why imagination is so important – inspired by the author and travel writer Arthur Ransome

Sophie Neville explores the influences of Arthur Ransome’s imagination on her own travelling adventures… The Arthur Ransome Society recently invited me to speak at their bi-annual Literary Weekend held at the Royal Agricultural University. The college is situated outside Cirencester in Gloucestershire, a ten minute drive from the Golden Valley of the Cotswolds where I […]

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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.