Shipping

Christmas Eve at the Front

An interesting letter has just been received by Mrs Packer, of Broadclyst, from her husband, Corpl Packer of A Company, 1st Battalion Devonshire Regiment, who is serving with the Expeditionary Force in Northern France. In the course of a letter he describes a remarkable incident which occurred on Christmas Eve between the British and German trenches.

Oxy-acetylene blow torches

had to be used in an Appledore shipyard on Thursday week to free the launching mechanism of ice before a new tug, the Pollux, slid down the runway.

The Pollux was launched at the yard of Messrs P K Harris and Sons, and before she took the water the blow torches were used to melt the ice which had collected between the sliding way on which the ship rested and the fixed way.

The naming ceremony was performed by Mrs C J Mill, wife of the managing director of the Overseas Towage and Salvage Co. Ltd of London, the owners of the Britonia, the 142ft long tug, which was launched from the same yard on Friday and also named by Mrs Mill.

Image from VesselFinder.com

The full Gazette article is dated 18 January 1963

Start On £1 Million Marina Next Year?

Agreement reached this week

over the provision of a roundabout at Bloody Corner, Northam, means that the way could be cleared for a start within 12 months on the £1 million boating lake and marina planned at Bidna Marsh by Mr and Mrs Harold Clements of Appledore.

The project, agreed in principle by Torridge District Council’s Development Committee, has been held up by a highway objection by the county engineer, but this has been overcome by Mr

Clement’s decision to construct the 25-meter roundabout with the outlet giving access to the site.

Gazette article dated 11 August 1978

Glamorous Future For Two Appledore Ships

Luxury cruises for 'Kathleen and May’ and ‘Irene’

Three-masted schooner Kathleen and May and the twin-masted ketch Irene are soon to disappear from the Appledore scene of which, between voyages, they have been so picturesque and attractive a feature.

But local people, to whom the vessels are more than just ships, may find consolation in the fact that both are to have a glamorous future. They have been bought by the Foster Construction Company, of London, and will be used for luxury cruises in the Mediterranean and the West Indies.

They have been idle for a considerable time, and it was this that prompted Capt Tom Jewell, master and owner of the Kathleen and May, and Colthurst Symons, owners of the Irene, regretfully to put them on the market.

Both would soon be going into the Bideford yards of M W Blackmore and Sons Ltd for a refit and to be converted for passenger accommodation.

More history on the Kathleen and May can be found HERE and Irene, HERE

The full Gazette article is dated 10 March 1961