Aladdin’s Barge Hamble

[Derek ide]

I have used the barge to buy and dispose of surplus kit for best part of 40 years.
It was always a bit chaotic and you had to rummage through bins for spare parts.
I visited it yesterday to dispose of surplus kit for a donation to charity.
I was amazed at the transformation. They apparently shut down for three months and cleared a lot of rubbish and now it looks like a tidy old fashioned chandlery with both NEW and SECOND HAND STOCK.
Parking is as always difficult but well worth a visit to hunt for that elusive spare part.

I have no connection with the business other than an occasional visit to buy or sell.
They provide a great service and are very helpful.

 

[zoidberg]

I have used the barge to buy and dispose of surplus kit for best part of 40 years. It was always a bit chaotic and you had to rummage through bins for spare parts.

Me, too!

I have memories of Old John Foulke's tenure, with him established on his corner chair behind the counter listening in to Southampton VTS....
On a miserable day, like today but lotsa years ago, I dropped in on some pretext. He waved me towards the 'kitchen' and instructed me to put the kettle on. A little later, he motioned to one of the dark alleyways of steel racking and directed me to a couple of shelves. "You'll likely find some bits of interest there!"

He was right. Piles of Harken Big Boat gear, Barbarossa, Rutgerson, spare Torlon balls - much of it still in plastic bags, all 'new and unused'. It was like Christmas Morning! I ended up buying the lot, for 'washers'.

Later, I asked him where he'd got the kit. He settled in his chair...."You know those Whitbread Round-The-World Racers types? Well, when they come back to Ocean Quay, tie up, and do their bit for the TV cameras, they all want simply to go to a hotel, have a hot bath, then go for a large steak. And none of them have two pennies to rub together....
I sidle up to the guy who's the bosun, and offer him £200 for all his spares. After all, he can't send them back...."

 

[steveeasy]

Been in there a lot. Not been in for a couple of years, there was a really nice lady in there who started with little knowledge but was always very helpful.

Steveeasy

 

[DownWest]

I feel dated, I used to buy stuff from T Foulkes in North London...

 

[Wansworth]

Yes bought a wood stove,plexiglass from old Lexmar hatches and just nautical stuff that I didn’t know I needed……1980s

 

[rogerthebodger]

I feel dated, I used to buy stuff from T Foulkes in North London...

That makes me dates s I used to take the tube from Girlfriends flat in South London to Thomas Foulkes and I still have a catalogue from then somewhere.

 

[DownWest]

Among other stuff, I picked up static lines for parachute drops. They were double thickness fabric webbing. After cutting the stitching and seperating the layers, provided toe straps for the dinghy kits...
Oh, and rolls of white D section rubber tube for the trailer side supports.

 

[Forty_Two]

I feel dated, I used to buy stuff from T Foulkes in North London...

Everything neatly presented on pegboards to view, early 80' I used to visit once a year

 

[DownWest]

Everything neatly presented on pegboards to view, early 80' I used to visit once a year

Back in the 60's it was 'slightly' less well displayed...

 

[Poignard]

You never knew what you might stumble across (literally!) in The Chandlery Barge.

Years ago, amongst the offerings there, I saw an old portable bidet made of zinc, or maybe it was galvanised steel, shaped to fit inside the bowl of a marine toilet.

 

[Greenheart]

I very nearly stumbled over a dog the size of a junior bear in the entrance, last summer. There was a distinct disorder about the place - a mix of old and new kit, and quite a lot of 'new' that had apparently been there long enough to get old.

Not criticising - I loved it. Found what I wanted, when no other outlet or online vendor could say when or whether they might ever sell the things.

Are we talking about the same place? Is Aladdin's Barge the same as The Chandlery Barge?

Could there be two? At one time, and possibly still, there were adverts in PBO etc., for "Aladdin's Cave" chandlery. Was that the Hamble barge?
.

 

[zoidberg]

There was certainly a degree of confusion, over a number of years, due to some people's inaccurate use of language.

The 'Chandlery Barge', operated by John Foulkes and more recently his family, lies north of Bursledon Bridge/A27 and upstream of the rail bridge, on the River Hamble.
'Aladdin's Cave' chandlery operated just inside Deacons Boatyard, just downstream and south of Bursledon Bridge/A27. In recent years it was operated as a branch of Force 4.

Google Maps shows them.

Things may have changed since last I looked....

 

[Greenheart]

Very clear, thanks Mr Z.

 

[earlybird]

Foulkes advertisements in the yachting press had a whimsical quality. Wasn't their line of floating cutlery advertised as "ideal for nearby boats"?