Ipswich Maritime Trust

Time flies by.... it will soon be time to change the IMT Window Museum display yet again. During the summer there has been an exhibition on "Navigation of the River Orwell" with photographs and old charts explaining how the river's course has changed over the years, a display of navigation equipment of years gone by, some of those years not so long ago but beyond the memory of younger inhabitants and visitors to Ipswich who may never have heard of a Walkers Log*. The centre of the display was a model of the River Orwell by Peter "Ben" Bendall complete with the Orwell Bridge, Freston Tower and the Ganges Mast.

Bob Pawsey has made a successful bid to purchase a remarkable bound inventory of the Ipswich Dock Commission's Specification, Conditions, Bill of Quantities, and Tender documents for the construction of new quays in Ipswich Dock 1902-5. This big volume has been purchased for Leonard Woolf's collection and is fully illustrated with high quality photographs showing the work in progress. Stuart Grimwade has started scanning these fascinating images for the IMT Archive.

As usual the Trust had a stand at the Ipswich Maritime Festival with a display of old photographs of the docks from the Leonard Woolf collection and a selection of nautical books on sale by local authors. The stand helped to raise an awareness of the Trust and was visited by many well known names in Ipswich as well as making many useful new contacts.

The IMT once again occupied the Old Customs House during the Heritage Open Weekend on 13th and 14th of September which included a display of photographs and artefacts from the IMT reserve collection and photographs of historic lettering from around the port, taken by Borin Van Loon.

On 21 August 21 there was a day trip down the River Orwell in the Thames Sailing Barge 'Victor' which included morning coffee and biscuits, a two course lunch with wine and an afternoon cream tea. These events are open to friends of the IMT as well as members.

The monthly 2014 Autumn Talks start on 1 October about the Ipswich-based Fred Olsen Cruise Line's largest ship: 'Balmoral' and the BBC, by speaker Cathy Shelbourne, in a ground floor lecture theatre at the UCS Waterfront Building. Further details of all the IMT lectures and events can be found on the IMT website and Facebook page by searching for 'Ipswich Maritime Trust'.

Tim Leggett

*A walkers log was a propeller streamed behind a vessel on a long chord. As the ship moved through the water the propeller turned, spinning the chord attached to the back of a gauge fixed to the stern of the ship, and by the number of turns the gauge would read how far the ship had moved through the water. Allowing for current, the navigator could then estimate the distance over the bottom run and the average speed of the vessel. With modern GPS this is no longer needed.