Today, September 25th, 2018, marks the 80th anniversary of the launch of Arthur Ransome’s Selina King at Harry King’s yard in Pin Mill. The largest and finest of Ransome’s sea-going yachts, she was commissioned as a replacement for his Nancy Blackett. She was designed by Fred Shepherd, who came up with a handsome 35ft double-ended […]
We are very sad to report the death of Brian Hammett, a Vice-President and former Trustee of the Nancy Blackett Trust. Brian died on September 20th following a massive heart attack. He had been very ill for some time with kidney failure. Brian had been an enthusiastic supporter of Nancy Blackett since her restoration – […]
Arthur Ransome’s last yacht was a six-ton aft-cockpit Hillyard sloop which he had built to replace the centre-cockpit Lottie Blossom – which he and his wife Evgenia hadn’t got on with. They transferred the name Lottie Blossom to the new boat, and the new owner of the earlier boat renamed her Ragged Robin III, under which […]
Swallow, the restored dinghy from the original “Swallows and Amazons” movie, made a special appearance at the Kendal Torchlight Procession on Friday (14th September), writes Rob Boden… Each year Kendal has a Torchlight Procession through the town centre. I only noticed a week before that the theme this year was books and authors, so I made […]
Sophie Neville explores the stories of some of the boats that appeared in the original “Swallows and Amazons” film… I went on BBC Radio Cumbria recently, to ask if I could meet anyone involved in filming the original film of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ in the summer of 1973, since it was made on location in […]
The Nancy Blackett Trust’s Chairman, Roger Sturge, is on a sailing expedition to the Isle of Skye with his appropriately-named yacht Wild Cat. He reports that it is a rather wild place, having seen hundreds of seals and a couple of dolphins, but thankfully there has been no sign of a Pterodactyl…
Arthur Ransome’s Nancy Blackett spent a week in the Norfolk Broads for the first time in 20 years back in July. You can read all our stories of her adventures here, and view our massive Flickr photo album here
Skipper Clive Fisher tells of Nancy Blackett’s expedition to ‘Secret Water’ this week, and how the crew of three intrepid explorers narrowly escaped being marooned on the mud of the ‘Red Sea’…
Nancy Blackett and her crew departed from London on August 11th, travelling via Greenwich to visit the River Medway and Chatham, including the historic dockyard. The next leg was across the Thames Estuary via Queenborough and Mersea to Burnham-on-Crouch for a crew change, before continuing along the Essex coast via Bradwell to Harwich. Winds have […]
Here are two more videos from Nancy Blackett’s recent visit to London, filmed by Robin Sadler – the skipper on the trip to London. The first video is of Nancy Blackett sailing across the Thames Estuary on her way to London on 8th August, while the second video is of her returning downriver to Greenwich […]
Watch our new video below of Nancy Blackett’s arrival in London last Friday (10th August), and see more about her visit here…
One original Arthur Ransome boat, and one replica, will be viewable at opposite ends of the country today and this weekend respectively. The Nancy Blackett, Arthur Ransome favourite yacht, is expected to be in St Katherine’s Dock in London this afternoon (10th August), with limited viewing by arrangement, having spent this week sailing down from […]
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