This is the tale of a very old boat.
Her name is Charlotte - a Nobby of note.
Crossfield Brothers
And probably others
Worked in Arnfield to put her afloat.

A prawner in eighteen ninety-three,
In Morecambe Bay she was put to sea,
Shallow draft,
Oak frames fore to aft.
A worker she was meant to be.

Fast forward to Devon in ‘seventy-five,
Lying abandoned – would she survive?
Watermouth Bay,
On holiday,
Young Julian explored and brought her alive.

He played in her cockpit and up on her deck,
So excited to be on this beautiful wreck.
In ‘seventy-seven.
Returning to Devon,
Upright and painted she commanded respect.

‘Seventy-nine in the Cove - she’s afloat!
Julian’s sailboat seemed somehow remote.
No playing now,
Rigging on her bow.
In the Bristol Channel she’s the oldest boat.

In nineteen eighty she’d disappeared.
In Cardiff Bay she reappeared.
There on a trot
But starting to rot,
As two owner brothers had feared.

Graham Cuthill and third brother* Jim,
Both worked hard to keep her in trim.
Planking and mending,
Sea defending.
So tired down to each aching limb.

When Ray Johnson died, we remember his name,
As his ashes were wedged so deep in her frame.
Fred Patterson too,
Friends through and through.
Our Charlotte a shrine she became.

A leisurely craft now, she sailed in the sea,
And friends used to meet there for coffee and tea.
An old coal stove,
Boiling water. By Jove!
Charlotte gave them tranquillity.

Twenty fifteen, afloat but she’s tired,
All brothers now dead and stove not fired.
Gaffers to restore,
Enjoyment, not a chore
For these sailors, she was newly acquired.

High hopes for a light restoration,
Led to major refabrication.
Frames you could spot,
Had plenty of rot.
A change in gaffer expectation.

Green oak came from Coedcochwyn Park,
The sternpost a lock gate in part.
Caskets to store,
With plenty more,
All carefully referenced and marked.

The Charlotteers** worked hard as horses,
Till the cash ran out and resources.
Then Julian appears,
After forty years!
Through son Ted and his internet sources.

Julian Lamb - keen on restoration,
An enthusiast, no hesitation.
An eighteen-ton lorry,
We’re all feeling sorry.
But for Charlotte’s future - elation!

So, in twenty nineteen she leaves World of Boats,
Flat packed for storage – we’ve lumps in our throats.
To Solihull,
Life won’t be dull,
For Julian and Ted on this project they’ll dote.

No rush to rebuild this lovely old yacht,
The boat that Julian never forgot.
To Watermouth Bay,
She’ll make her way?
Maybe, fifty years and back to this spot?

Glynis Parsons

*The Johnson brothers:  Ray, Mike and Jim.

**The Charlotteers in 2019: Matt Goode, Charlie Harris, Andrew Kelland, Glynis Parsons, John Martin, Ken Raven and Viv Head.