"Magic of the Thwachwayth"

Magic_Sailor

Magic_Sailor

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\"Magic of the Thwachwayth\"

I've been reading the "Magic of the Swatchways" by Maurice Griffiths. Now I know some of you may believe he should be canonised along with Mother Teresa but I'm not too sure!

I've got to the bit where he is mate aboard what he describes as his "wifes" vessel "Juanita". He repeatedly refers to his "wife", "her" etc but......her name appears to be Peter! Furthermore, he says at one point that Peter went ashore to see the Harbourmaster in white flannels, blue blazer and "a cheescutter hat worn jauntily to one side". Hmmmm.

Anybody care to shed some light./forums/images/icons/smile.gif

Magic

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Peter

Definitely female, but one ahead of her time. She was a "yachting" journalist who took the name Peter as a pseudonym because a woman writing about this topic would not have been taken seriously in those days. She seems to have been a considerable sailor in her own right and later set up a kind of sea school for girls with "Juanita".

You'll have to draw your own conclusions about the nature of the relationship, but it didn't last. Both Maurice and "Peter" re-married - Maurice to a WREN he met during the war called Coppie who seems to have been a much more cosy and traditional sort of woman altogether. As far as I know they lived happily together at West Mersea until his death a few years ago. "Peter" married a marine artist, I believe.



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Re: \"Magic of the Thwachwayth\"

She was Dulcie Kennard who wrote under the name Peter Gerard and became known to all as Peter. She was a very strong minded woman who 'was slim, very pretty and made efforts to bury her feminism under a quiet, but self-assertive efficiency.' according to Maurice's biographer, Dick Durham.

When they met she had more money than Maurice (not difficult as he had none) and they were both shortly out of work. They sort of fell into a relationship based on a mutial love of sailing. It was not a successful marriage. He owned Afrina and she owned Juanita. Their sailing was mutually incompatible. She enjoyed open waters, he enjoyed the swatchways.

The lived increasingly separate lived and eventually both had affairs, Peter finally moving in with lover, Chas Pears. It was all quite scandalous for the early thirties and they divorced in 1934.

Maurice married again exactly 10 years later to the delightful Marjorie (Coppie) Copson, then a WREN officer. They enjoyed a long and happy marriage


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That ecthplainth everything

Thanks James.

Magic

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Re: Peter

All sounds fascinating. Is it a good read? I'd like to know as he designed my absolute 'dream' boat - the Golden Hind 31. Would be interested in reading any of his books.





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To be honest

I don't think that much of it. I find it a bit confusing.

I'd heard people "say" that it conjurs up the mystery and magic of this area of the east coast. Indeed it does occasionally mention enjoying the silence of small muddy creeks. However, it mainly seems to deal with a lot of rough weather and describing passing buoys and nav marks most of us wouldn't have heard of. A long portion deals with drifting about in the channel.

I found the style could be confusing.

Not my cup of tea. However, I have finished the book so that says something I suppose.

All IMHO of course.

Magic

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Confusing?

No reason why you should take to this book - particularly if you don't know the area Griffiths writes about (mainly) - but "confusing" is an unexpected choice of adjective to apply to the style. I'm curious as to what aspect of it you found confusing (gender confusion apart - quite understandable) Any enlightenment?

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\'s probly just me

I think it's in the style of writing more than anything else. It might be that writing (as I assume he was) around 1925 - 30 he was just expressing himself in a slightly different way to that which I'm used to these days.

Having said that, I've just had a quick scan and I can't find a good example. So it's probably just my addled brain or it could be this;

Lying in bed reading; SWMBO doing likewise. In comes SWMBO the younger and conversation ensues, across me, about the latest shade of lipstick. Can't concentrate. Read same sentence 5 times. Give up. Join in conversation about lipstick!

So, in fact, it's my Wife and daughters fault!

Magic

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Re: Confusing?

I've never been closer to a swatchway than the hard of Levington Marina, or perhaps Burnham Marina, but anyway I loved it.

<hr width=100% size=1>John
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Incidentally

We do have a thwatchway down here in the Solent; just outside Portsmouth harbour. It's not like Maurices though.

We share it with the Wootton Wightlink ferry, the fast cat ferry, the hovercraft ferry as well as the other leisure craft - so it's a bit busy. But fun! Anchoring there would be a bit choppy!

Magic

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It\'s certainly flowery

Not a bit like the rather taut prose that is more characteristic of writing style now - and gloriously easy to parody if you have a mind to......Indeed, I think many writers about the east coast tend to imitate the style almost unconsciously - it's almost the "standard received" template for such writing.

Of course, the area between the North Foreland and Southwold is well and truly written about. I think this is partly because it is so difficult to convey in words the mysteriously, but powerfully, addictive qualities that some of us find here, so people are always trying. Far too many end up out-Mauricing Maurice...

Of course, the Buxey Beacon and all the other obscure navigation marks that litter the pages of this and M's other books are familiar old friends to us creekcrawlers.....:-)

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Re: \'s probly just me

Magic

Shoudn't you be updating your website?

Tom

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Re: Incidentally

BTW, what actually ith a thwatchway, er, swatchway, anyway..? Sounds like it could be painful...

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How about gutway?

That's even worse. Swatchway is a shallow channel through or between sandbanks - usually unmarked and often shifting from year to year. In many cases, they are passable only with some tide over them. East coasters spend a lot of time sailing over the green bits on the chart. We do tend to be very conscious of the state of the tide at all times.......Also, the topography of the seabed, which becomes just as familiar as the topography of the countryside (or townscape) around where you live.

Gutways are channels through the mudflats. The Ray Gut off Southend is an example - a place where shell fishing boats and yachts can lie afloat with acres of mudflats all around them.

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Re: \'s probly just me

Hi Tom

Yes, I should. Sorry.

When we were away it proved impossible; the mobile connection was too expensive and when we finally did find internet access (cafe or library) the link was appallingly slow making complex website update impossible.

Since we've got back I've tried but I seem to have some sort of problem. I've tried putting pictures on the website but the system just locks up and when I tried to update the text a couple of days ago the computer crashed.

I will be trying again - and thanks for your interest!

Magic

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Re: \"Magic of the Thwachwayth\"

corrr .. how on earth did the manufacturers of period steam dramas miss this one?

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