We look after Nancy Blackett, the favourite yacht of "Swallows and Amazons" author Arthur Ransome.
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Meet the Nancy Blackett Trust at Robertsons, Woodbridge, this Sunday

Come and meet the Nancy Blackett Trust at Robertsons Boatyard, Woodbridge – Nancy Blackett’s winter home – during their Open Day this Sunday, 20th September. Anyone interested is welcome to come along, and while Nancy Blackett herself won’t be there, members of the Trust will be manning an information and sales stand. They will also […]

Sophie Neville’s Swallows & Amazons women’s clothing and gifts

Sophie Neville has released a collection of women’s clothing, featuring her hand-painted maps of locations featured in her book on The Making of Swallows and Amazons (1974). Available from her Redbubble shop, the collection, which is perfect for birthday gifts, can be seen here. You can also preview some of the designs below… Derwentwater map A-line dress […]

A new DVD from the makers of Walton’s Secret Water is here…

From the makers of Walton’s Secret Water, this new film, A Journey Through Constable Country, takes the viewer on an exploration of the countryside around the Stour and Orwell that inspired John Constable, one of East Anglia’s greatest painters, visiting the landscapes, towns and villages that he loved around the Stour and Orwell estuaries and further […]

Swallows and Armenians lands in Northumberland

An exhibition celebrating the Armenian connections of Swallows and Amazons has opened in the Newbiggin Maritime Centre, Northumberland. Swallows and Armenians has arrived at beautiful Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, Northumberland! #swallows #Aleppo #LakeDistrict #arthurransome #swallowsforever #tittyforever #displacement #migration pic.twitter.com/6cOsKCsPHe — Swallows and Armenians (@babayancumbria) September 1, 2020 Swallows and Armenians is a passionate and personal project by artist […]

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Nancy Blackett’s coronavirus update for July 2020

Although Nancy Blackett has now returned to her summer base at Woolverstone Marina, we are still restricted by Social Distancing regulations about the use that we can make of her [read more…]

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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

    • 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.

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