Cover, Sennen crabbers picking up moorings in 'Pol-an-da' , the anchorage of Sennen Cove, from a painting by Allan J Hook 91853-c 1895) (Courtesy the Royal
Exchange Art Gallery).
Frontspiece: Scottish fishing craft off
Great Yarmouth (NMM, neg no P75443)
The Maldon smack Joseph T MN9
Sheringham crabbers
The lines, construction drawings and sail plan of the Sheringham crab boat Star of Peace.
all material courtesy Seaforth Publishing
I must confess to a penchant for buying many books, especially on the history of working craft and small boats. Sometimes they are bargains, sometimes they exceed my budget. One of my favorites in the last year was Twice Around the Loggerhead, a beautifully produced volume on the whaleboats of the Azores, with Lance Lee and Yvon LeCorre, among others (available in my bokstore). This new (to me) book, Inshore Craft, just arrived from Canada, and it's a treat. Not unlike Edgar March's two volume set on the same subject, but with a more recent feel, more photos and line drawings. Very coherent headings and subheadings break it down into easily understood categories. Instructive and a delight, the book is the work of a real collective of British scholars. I only recently became aware of it and I have the impression that it's a bit obscure, though I think WoodenBoat did offer it. Still in print, I think. It's also large format, hence my inability to capture it all with my scanner. I'd love to hear from readers who also make purchases of interesting books beyond their budget.
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4 comments:
you can never have too big a nautical library!
About 20 years ago we used to holiday and weekend in Sherringham - just a few miles down the coast at Cromer there were several of those traditional boats motorised but still in use working from the beach - presumably engaged in crabbing. They are quite large - up to 30 feet or so and huge volume.
Sorry to be a pedant, but but having been brought up in Sheringham, It really bugs me to see it spelt with two 'r's. It even gives the correct spelling in the text that goes with the picture, so not even an excuse there. Love the blog, but...
I was chatting with the original publisher just the other day. You won't be surprised to know that he keeps a smack yacht built in the 1930s just a few yards from where we have our little boat.
Gavin that's wonderful,please convey my appreciation to him for this extraordinary book. He has managed building on the work of March et al, to make a much more readable, and ultimately more useful resource. It's my opinion that this gem should be very near the top of the list for anyone interested in British small craft.
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