Morgan Giles Boatbuilders Teignmouth Blue Plaque

[Capt Popeye]

HI just to mention that Morgan Giles Boatbuilders are having a BLUE PLAQUE errected this comming MONDAY 22nd July at 2pm

Morgan Giles were a most notable Boat , Yacht , Vessel designer / builder , pre war and post war (WW2) based in Teignmouth South Devon ; are at last having recognition by having a Blue Plaque errected on the OLd Site of the Boatyard ; Its take a lot of hard work and effort by his Surviving larger Family to push for this Sign to be errected ; I do hope to be able to attend the official Errection and photograph the event , posting on these pages ; The local Museum has some designs and other information held in their collection ; The Museum states that they have been contacted across the World for information on Morgan Gles craft , so impressed are owners with the various Craft handling , design features , seaworthyness , that the name Morgan Giles is revered accross our World

 

[Wansworth]

It must have been 1968 I holidayedwith my family in Teignmouth and remember wandering around the empty building shed of Morgan Giles

 

[oz-1]

Hi Capt popye and Wansworth, Morgan Giles was still in business in 1968, as Donald Crowhurst brought his trimaran Teignmouth Electron there for final preparations before his fateful trip. I was there as an apprentice, and it is really funny, but i took my boat to Baltic wharf in Totnes for some maintenance work a few weeks ago. I was talking to one of the shipwrights there, and it turned out the boat builder i was working with at Morgan Giles was his uncle! They were great times.

 

[Wansworth]

Hi Capt popye and Wansworth, Morgan Giles was still in business in 1968, as Donald Crowhurst brought his trimaran Teignmouth Electron there for final preparations before his fateful trip. I was there as an apprentice, and it is really funny, but i took my boat to Baltic wharf in Totnes for some maintenance work a few weeks ago. I was talking to one of the shipwrights there, and it turned out the boat builder i was working with at Morgan Giles was his uncle! They were great times.

It was in the summer,It was empty as it was the annual holiday?

 

[Wansworth]

Morgan Gilesalso built grp yachts,did you help build the moulds?

 

[oz-1]

Hi Wansworth, no, i didn't. I remember the Monaco cruisers, which were plywood and really nice boats. When Morgan Giles shut down, two boatbuilders started a boat yard at Mamhead near Starcross, where we did make the moulds for a Ron Holland designed half tonner racing/cruising boat. I stayed with them until i emigrated to Canada, where i worked at a shipyard and then started on my own building clinker praam dinghies. Best regards, Oz.

 

[Wansworth]

Morgan Giles launch…….1963 yachting World annual

 

[onesea]

HI just to mention that Morgan Giles Boatbuilders are having a BLUE PLAQUE errected this comming MONDAY 22nd July at 2pm

That's a shame I will be passing this week and was thinking of taking my boat to her place of berth. Well sort of she's a home completion plastic design.
Unfortunately I can not get there for tomorrow .

 

[Capt Popeye]

Thank you to all the contributers, so far ; I must make a correction though , I read in local FB pages that the Yard was registered as a SHIP YARD and ADMIRALTY approved yard ; So guess that Designing and Building boats , plus Sailing , Yachts , Pleasure Craft , carried on at the same time as the Shipyard Builds were in hand ?

So quite some Fella was Morgan Giles , at least as the Cowes area Buildres / Designers Helms of the day ;

 

[Wansworth]

Thank you to all the contributers, so far ; I must make a correction though , I read in local FB pages that the Yard was registered as a SHIP YARD and ADMIRALTY approved yard ; So guess that Designing and Building boats , plus Sailing , Yachts , Pleasure Craft , carried on at the same time as the Shipyard Builds were in hand ?

So quite some Fella was Morgan Giles , at least as the Cowes area Buildres / Designers Helms of the day ;

Could be referí bto that all the small yards round the country switched to war work,like Hillyards at Littlehampton building small raft etc

 

[Capt Popeye]

Could be referí bto that all the small yards round the country switched to war work,like Hillyards at Littlehampton building small raft etc

Hi Wandsworth yes indeed thats my memory of the effects of the WW2 on Boatyards around our Country ; A Grandfather ran a Boatyard on the Deben , in Suffolk , which was ordered to make Small craft for the War Effort , Boat Builders were detailed to go and work there , they built many mid range motor launches , 16 to 22 foters ; After the end of WW2 these Boatbuilders , well some , went off to work on the Start Of Felixstowe Docks on the Orwell so the Boatyard fell into slack building times , as there was little Pleasure Sailing . Boating ; There were the GRAND Yachts with paid Skippers , dressed in Uniforms , but the Government of the day encouraged Yachting , pleasure Boating , dinghy building , recall the Mirror etc , Percy Blanford designs for Home uilding , TheGoverment and the Newspaper Owners encouraged Yachting , setting up various Races , Events , to get peoples out on the Water , guess it was seen as a Public moral booster plus seen as Buisness Development potential , tis hard really to think back to those exciting days , so guess our Sailing /Boating has certain heritage ; Good to look back upon ; Like the local Frank Morgan Giles Shipyard ; Its Plaque states 1920 to 1968 , so from reading posts on here it was 1968 that the Yard gave up ?

 

[Wansworth]

Hi Wandsworth yes indeed thats my memory of the effects of the WW2 on Boatyards around our Country ; A Grandfather ran a Boatyard on the Deben , in Suffolk , which was ordered to make Small craft for the War Effort , Boat Builders were detailed to go and work there , they built many mid range motor launches , 16 to 22 foters ; After the end of WW2 these Boatbuilders , well some , went off to work on the Start Of Felixstowe Docks on the Orwell so the Boatyard fell into slack building times , as there was little Pleasure Sailing . Boating ; There were the GRAND Yachts with paid Skippers , dressed in Uniforms , but the Government of the day encouraged Yachting , pleasure Boating , dinghy building , recall the Mirror etc , Percy Blanford designs for Home uilding , TheGoverment and the Newspaper Owners encouraged Yachting , setting up various Races , Events , to get peoples out on the Water , guess it was seen as a Public moral booster plus seen as Buisness Development potential , tis hard really to think back to those exciting days , so guess our Sailing /Boating has certain heritage ; Good to look back upon ; Like the local Frank Morgan Giles Shipyard ; Its Plaque states 1920 to 1968 , so from reading posts on here it was 1968 that the Yard gave up ?

Probably in that time yards would have been supplied with machinery to speed up work,like circular saw benches,plannersetc ansprobably small railways within the yard of which I think Birdhamshipyard is an example with a turntable.I remember walking round empty yard in 1968

 

[Capt Popeye]

Read in local FB that Leander CLass Craft were built in Morgan Giles Shipyard ; I am not a Naval man so not familiar with this class of Naval craft ? Reading up on some interesting info in our Local Museum it appears that there was often not enough River Water Depth to launch the Larger Craft into the river from the Slipway ,, as the Craft could touch River Bed so there was a large Hole dug into the Rver Bed to allow larger craft to ease into the River ; Interestingly (for me) the Concrete Slipway is still in situ , so was very well built indeed

 

[wombat88]

I know of two Leanders. The Leander frigate (look it up, it is a very familiar design but presumably way too big to be relevant!) and the Leander cabin cruiser, from memory about 18ft, gunter or gaff, simple ply construction.

 

[Capt Popeye]

Probably in that time yards would have been supplied with machinery to speed up work,like circular saw benches,plannersetc ansprobably small railways within the yard of which I think Birdhamshipyard is an example with a turntable.I remember walking round empty yard in 1968Yes thats my experience to , I recall the large Timber Planer that was installed at the #

 

[Capt Popeye]

Yes thats my experience as well , I recall the rather large Timber Planer at the 'Ferry' , it was still there up to a few years ago , guess that the Govt helped install it back in the early 40s ; Guess that Shipwrights detailed to work there during the 40s were thankfull they had that trade experience , otherwise I guess an alternative was the 'Mines' , guess A Boatyard was better ?

 

[Wansworth]

Yes thats my experience as well , I recall the rather large Timber Planer at the 'Ferry' , it was still there up to a few years ago , guess that the Govt helped install it back in the early 40s ; Guess that Shipwrights detailed to work there during the 40s were thankfull they had that trade experience , otherwise I guess an alternative was the 'Mines' , guess A Boatyard was better ?

I imagine boatbuilding was a reservedoccupation.

 

[Capt Popeye]

I imagine boatbuilding was a reservedoccupation.

Yes along with Mining etc ; It appeared to me that a little while after the end of WW2 there was a drift away by Boatbuilders into other occupations , recall that the nearby Felixstowe Docks started taking them away

 

[Wansworth]

Yes along with Mining etc ; It appeared to me that a little while after the end of WW2 there was a drift away by Boatbuilders into other occupations , recall that the nearby Felixstowe Docks started taking them away

I knew boatbuilders in the 1970 who were better paid housebuilding or even shuttering so probably after the war skilled shipwrights would have found better work away from the sea

 

[Jane Shaddick]

HI just to mention that Morgan Giles Boatbuilders are having a BLUE PLAQUE errected this comming MONDAY 22nd July at 2pm

Morgan Giles were a most notable Boat , Yacht , Vessel designer / builder , pre war and post war (WW2) based in Teignmouth South Devon ; are at last having recognition by having a Blue Plaque errected on the OLd Site of the Boatyard ; Its take a lot of hard work and effort by his Surviving larger Family to push for this Sign to be errected ; I do hope to be able to attend the official Errection and photograph the event , posting on these pages ; The local Museum has some designs and other information held in their collection ; The Museum states that they have been contacted across the World for information on Morgan Gles craft , so impressed are owners with the various Craft handling , design features , seaworthyness , that the name Morgan Giles is revered accross our World

The plaque was erected by The Morgan Giles Heritage Project, I am the director & archivist (one of Frank Morgan Giles's granddaughters.) [Promotional quoted content removed] Teign Heritage - Teignmouth Museum ... have around 700 MG designs on their database & a large archive of photos. Website www.morgangilesarchive.org.uk . Feel free to contact my Facebook page - Morgan Giles Heritage Jane Shaddick