Tag Archives: 1949

Carnival week 1949 : Pier Shore

1949 Regatta at Carnival Week

For several years my friend the late Sheila Kennedy (nee Reeves) and I used to take part in the ladies’ rowing race using one oar each. We had this heavy old dinghy that her Uncle Bern used to use to take people out to his launch for fishing trips. It was almost round in shape and the last thing you should use for rowing. However, it was all we had.

Every year to our amazement we came second, and every year we were beaten by Mary Lord (nee Hayles) and her rowing partner. One year Sheila asked her cousin Godfrey if we could use his dinghy. It was longish and light and a green colour, much better for racing. We practised for two days to get used to it.
On the morning of the regatta we went to collect the dinghy but we could not find it. It was not at its mooring. Sheila rushed to her cousin’s who came out to look with us. Then he went to the Police Station to report it missing, so we still had to use the heavy dinghy and we still came second!

Several days later the green dinghy was found tied up quite safe at Lymington. Apparently two St Swithins’ boys had got out of their Home (now Port La Salle) and had escaped to the Mainland in the green dinghy. Well at least no real harm was done, and the boat was safely returned.
Delia Whitehead nee Hunt b 1934

Carnival 1949, trips from Pier Shore

Carnival 1949, trips from Pier Shore. Harold Hayles with daughter Christine. Delia Whitehead centre right looking after Charmaine. Amongst watchers, Serena Hunt, Mrs Ryall with children, Mrs Sloper, Mrs Maitland,
Photo : Delia Whitehead nee Hunt

Carnivals after WWII 1940s

Peace Celebrations were held in 1946, with harbour sports.

Carnival sports, 1946 programme

Carnival sports, 1946 programme

1948 seems to have been the first full carnival after the end of WWII and demob.

Yarmouth Common Carnival time

Yarmouth Common Carnival time. Fancy Hat Competition led by Ted Lawry

Billy Doe crowns Carnival Queen
Billy Doe crowns Carnival Queen : photo Sue Russell

Raich Doe front left, Bob Cook, and contributors Serena Hunt, Susan Hayles in Brownie uniform, Effie Pitman behind Sue, Derek Pomroy with cub Peter Stallard

In 1949 a Carnival Queen was chosen by votes at the ‘Con Club’ from a bevy of local beauties .

Carnival line-up 1949, at 'Con Club' to choose Carnival Queen

Carnival line-up 1949, at ‘Con Club’ to choose Carnival Queen : photo Pat Burt

From left: Jean Levey, Ella Jackman, Pam Henderson (chosen to be Queen), Mrs Eames, Barbara Holloway, Annette Holloway, Pat Adams, (chosen as attendant) Jessie Attrill, with Newt Kelsey judging or looking on.

Pam Henderson is crowned carnival Queen in 1949, at first carnival after WWII

Pam Henderson is crowned carnival Queen in 1949, at first full  carnival after WWII

At the crowning ceremony are: from left, Robert May, Heather Harris (married Raich Doe), Pat Adams (married Mick Burt), Pam Henderson, Carnival Queen, Miss New Zealand, and Mr J. Flanders who officiated.

The boy peeping between is John Orchard, staying with his Uncle who had a taxi.

Miss New Zealand was persuaded by Mrs Hans Hamilton to put in an appearance, and seemed to enjoy the parade.

Yarmouth Carnival 1948 Miss New Zealand

Yarmouth Carnival 1949 Miss New Zealand joins the parade

 

Colin Smith: Nova Espero, Siani class yacht 1940s

Colin and Stan Smith travelled to Canada in WWII to train as RAF pilots. After the war, they returned, and built the ‘Nova Espero’ ,the forerunner for Siani class, in which they crossed the Atlantic,

After WWII
After the war  I think I got demobbed first actually, or just a little before my brother.
I went back to Saunders Roe for a while and went up in the mould loft in the drawing office for a little bit, and did things of that sort.

Stan, my brother, and I went out to Canada.  We’d done our flying training out there and we didn’t go right inland where we’d done the training, we went over to Nova Scotia where we built the little boat, Nova Espero – Esperanto from New Hope,  and sailed it across.
It was intended to be a two way trip.  Nobody knew us when we went there so we thought we’d make ourselves known a little bit by doing a double crossing, that was the intention.

She was a half decked boat, twenty foot long.  We designed it on the way across on the Aquitania.  We’d get down in our cabin and get the lines out and work on it, the lines were all ready by the time we got to the side.

We took only about three months I think altogether, something like that to build the boat in Nova Scotia.  We went over in March and left in the beginning of July 1949.  I’d been doing design work and all that, drawing work down at Saunders Roe.  Stan had as well.  We both chipped in on this one.  She was quite a tough little boat, clinker built and a hundred weight of cast iron ballast on the keel underneath.

We didn’t know if anyone had done any trips, prepared for it before hand or anything like that, so we adjusted ourselves with what we thought we needed and that was it.  Sponsorship, we’d never heard of that.    We worked it out and had lockers along the side of the boat under the side decks and tried to figure out what we’d need and got loads and loads of ships biscuits, far more than we needed, I suppose, and lots and lots of tinned stuff and that kind of stuff, powdered milk and lots of sugar.  Couldn’t do without that.  For water we had  twenty eight gallons I think. We had one made up, a galvanised tank with a tap in one corner.  We had that stowed up, just after the mast, up forward under the cabin.  We had no bunks.  We just about had sleeping bags, laid those out on the cabin floor, you see.  I’d say we were probably wet most of the time.

It was July through August.  We had some pretty nasty weather at times too of course. We had a little portable radio we hoped to get the time checks or weather checks or something like that.  Didn’t get a peep out of it from the time we left so we dropped it over the side and that was that.  We had a sextant, not an aircraft sextant, a proper little sextant, yacht sextant, and an aircraft compass which wasn’t actually mounted in the boat at all.  We used to carry it around with us you know and that was what we used.  We were concerned when the weather got really nasty and it did at times too.  We had a little primus stove, a little loose primus stove we used to hold between our knees, and a little pressure cooker.  We used that a lot.  We didn’t do too bad you know.

Smith brothers arrive in Yarmouth, 1949,

Smith brothers arrive in Yarmouth, 1949,after crossing the atlantic in 43 days in their 20ft boat.

Afterwards, mostly it was going up to this do up in London, and this do and all that sort of thing, which we just hadn’t expected of course, and all that sort of nonsense.  But there was one firm that wanted to turn the boat into production or something, but we didn’t go along with it, we were too busy.

We were going back to Canada and set up in business over there but it didn’t come off.  I came back to this country, met my wife and got married and that was that.

Siani class yacht

Siani class yacht: photo Colin Smith