Although Nancy Blackett is a bit older than 90, she wasn’t always known by that name – and it was on this day 90 years ago that Arthur Ransome was introduced to this Hillyard 7-tonner which he would describe as his “best little boat”. He changed her name and ended up immortalising her in what is probably his best book, We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea.

It was 1935, and Arthur Ransome had decided to take up sea-sailing. He had moved to a rented house near Pin Mill on the River Orwell in Suffolk; now all he needed was a yacht, and on September 8th, a friend took him to see a possible purchase lying in Poole Harbour – a five-year old Hillyard 7-tonner called Electron.

Ransome liked the boat but hated this “horrible name”, and declared “She will be called Nancy Blackett”. He bought the boat, for £525, on the spot, and had the new name registered within a week. He sailed her back to Pin Mill through some very rough weather –

“I hope the next time will be a bit more like ‘yachting’,” he said.

Within a few weeks he had begun work on his next book, We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea, which features Nancy Blackett, lightly disguised as the Goblin.

For more on the history of Nancy Blackett, why not read Good Little Ship: Arthur Ransome, Nancy Blackett and the Goblin by the Nancy Blackett Trust’s President Peter Willis? You can buy it here from our shop.

Nancy Blackett will be live from Woolverstone on Radio Suffolk this morning (via BBC Sounds) at 11:20am for a 10-minute interview.

You can visit our stand at Ipswich Harbour’s Custom House for Heritage Open Days this weekend – 13-14th September (from 10am-4pm), while Nancy Blackett herself will be at the Queenborough Classic Boat Festival on the Isle of Sheppey.

The historic photos above show Arthur Ransome at the helm of Nancy Blackett, and examining her hull at low tide. They hold pride of place in her cabin.

Nancy Blackett passes Pin Mill on 4th June 2017. Photo by Bill Wallace-King.