Launch of the Arthur Ransome East Coast Celebration  (click to enlarge). From the left, Anthony Cullen from the Pin Mill Studio, Jack Cripps from Ipswich Central, Nancy Blackett Trust President Peter Willis, Suffolk Food Hall director Oliver Paul, Tracey Brinkley, Kate Lowe, and Chris Knock from Babergh District Council, Pat Yorke of the Royal Harwich Yacht Club (organiser of the Parade of Sail) and Cathy Shelbourne of Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB. Photo credit: Paul Press/Offshoot Films.

The Arthur Ransome’s East Coast Celebration was launched earlier this week on Thursday (27th April) at the Royal Harwich Yacht Club, with help from the Nancy Blackett Trust’s President Peter Willis.

He opened the proceedings by reminding guests of Arthur Ransome’s close associations with the area – moving to the River Orwell to enjoy some offshore sailing, buying the Nancy Blackett and then putting her – as the Goblin – into “We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea”. “Nancy Blackett,” he said, “had returned to the Orwell to be restored, and now sails here as a permanent reminder of Ransome’s links with the East Coast.”

The celebration will see a number of events throughout the year to mark three anniversaries – the 20th anniversary of the Nancy Blackett Trust, the 50th anniversary of Arthur Ransome’s death and the 80th anniversary of the publishing of “We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea”.

The Nancy Blackett Trust has worked as a member of the Shotley Peninsula Tourism Action Group (SPTAG) over the past several months to help organise several key local events this year, including the upcoming Arthur Ransome Pin Mill Jamboree on May 13th and Parade of Sail flotilla on June 4th.

Later this year there will also be some guided walks, a schools’ sea shanty finale, outdoor film screenings and a literary festival, while Nancy Blackett herself will have a busy summer, recreating the voyage across to Holland from “We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea”, and attending the Ipswich Maritime Festival and Maritime Woodbridge.

Further details of the Arthur Ransome’s East Coast events will be published here and listed on our Events page.