Burnham on Crouch in the mid '50s

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Daytripper

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I wonder if any one out there can help with this:-

When I was young (mid 1950s) I spent summer holidays on a houseboat called "Paula", which was moored in the little pool immediately to the west of Prior's yard in Burnham on Crouch. This was the hull of a very beautiful large yacht, with a hideous deckhouse built over the aft well and keel removed for the war effort. Local rumour was that she had been built for Kaiser Willhelm 11.

I believe this boat may have been "Paula 11", a 15 metre designed by Mylne and built by MacAlisters in 1910. I am trying to trace the history of this boat, so if anybody has any memory of her (or even photos of Prior's pool at the time) or any information about what happened to her I would love to hear it. I believe she may have been towed North around 1960, but I'm not sure.
 
At about that time I had a friend who lived on one of the houseboats in that dock. He lived on Genesta, a brown painted boat. Next door was a boat called [I think] Astra.
Astra had a very long exaggerated pointy bow, I thought she looked like a mandolin.
They were often referred to as J class boats, but I don't think they were.
Robin Prior may have some records from that time still.
 
Dan - Thanks for that. Long pointy bow is right, and I can see why it looked like a mandolin. 15 Metre boats looked very like the J class, particularly without the rig, so I can see why people would call them that. I'm still fairly sure the name was Paula.

Unfortunately I was only 6 at the time, so I can't remember Astra or Genesta. I do remember a fine MTB in the same pool.

And yes, I read the previous thread which was very interesting.

Piers
 
Daytripper said:
Dan - Thanks for that. Long pointy bow is right, and I can see why it looked like a mandolin. 15 Metre boats looked very like the J class, particularly without the rig, so I can see why people would call them that. I'm still fairly sure the name was Paula.

Unfortunately I was only 6 at the time, so I can't remember Astra or Genesta. I do remember a fine MTB in the same pool.

And yes, I read the previous thread which was very interesting.

Piers
Click to expand...
I've got an aerial photo of Burnham from about that time. You can see the boats in Prior's dock fairly well. I will post it when I can work out how to, but it's a PDF and that seems to complicate things.
 
Take a Screen dump (Control + PrtSc) of the image in the pdf, paste it into a drawing programme such as Paint Shop by Ctrl + V, select the image and save it as a jpeg. Might need to check quality.
 
tillergirl said:
Take a Screen dump (Control + PrtSc) of the image in the pdf, paste it into a drawing programme such as Paint Shop by Ctrl + V, select the image and save it as a jpeg. Might need to check quality.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll try that later.
I was beginning to think that it would be quicker for me to make some paint & canvas and copy the photo by hand then send it by camel train!
 
old photo of Burnham

1st attempt. Seems to have lost a fair bit of resolution.
oldBurnhampic.jpg
 
What a lovely photo - have you any idea when it was taken? I think the white boat sticking out of Prior's pool might be the MTB I mentioned, and Paula could have been one of the boats just to the right of it.
 
Daytripper said:
What a lovely photo - have you any idea when it was taken? I think the white boat sticking out of Prior's pool might be the MTB I mentioned, and Paula could have been one of the boats just to the right of it.
Click to expand...
I 1st thought it was taken in the 50s, but now looking at the lack of vehicles and the fact that the war memorial and Remembrance Avenue look new, I think it may be between the wars, 1930s ?
I don't remember the MTB [or minesweeper?] but the two boats next to it are the ones that I remember as Genesta and Astra, but memory could be at fault.
 
Yes, that could be right - it has a thirties feel about it but I don't know enough about the history to be sure. About half-way up a good flood tide? Some things don't change.

I'm wondering if the boat you call Astra could be the one I'm looking for.
 
Daytripper said:
I wonder if any one out there can help with this:-

When I was young (mid 1950s) I spent summer holidays on a houseboat called "Paula", which was moored in the little pool immediately to the west of Prior's yard in Burnham on Crouch. This was the hull of a very beautiful large yacht, with a hideous deckhouse built over the aft well and keel removed for the war effort. Local rumour was that she had been built for Kaiser Willhelm 11.

I believe this boat may have been "Paula 11", a 15 metre designed by Mylne and built by MacAlisters in 1910. I am trying to trace the history of this boat, so if anybody has any memory of her (or even photos of Prior's pool at the time) or any information about what happened to her I would love to hear it. I believe she may have been towed North around 1960, but I'm not sure.
Click to expand...

My father in law ( a long time Burnham sailor and habitant ) believes Paula was taken to canvey and broken up. The family that lived on her were the Scott family who ultimately moved to brightlingsea. Some Scott's were also in southminster, not sure if they are still there now.
 
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Many thanks, Ninjod, that is really helpful. The fact that I can find no trace of this boat anywhere on the coast does indicate that she was broken up, and I do remember that it became a bit of an issue keeping her afloat in the '50s, so this is very likely to be true.

I don't suppose your father-in-law would be able to say roughly when she was taken away?
 
Daytripper said:
Many thanks, Ninjod, that is really helpful. The fact that I can find no trace of this boat anywhere on the coast does indicate that she was broken up, and I do remember that it became a bit of an issue keeping her afloat in the '50s, so this is very likely to be true.

I don't suppose your father-in-law would be able to say roughly when she was taken away?
Click to expand...

Next time I visit I will be sure to ask..
 
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