Nancy Blackett: A Nautical Treasure

Nancy Blackett is featured in the Times as part of its coverage of this weekend's Thames Festival:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/court_and_social/article6829461.ece

Nancy reached St Katherine's Dock, London, at 5PM today and should be open to visitors during most of the weekend.

Nancy Blackett One of the Top 10 Classics!

Nancy Blackett was listed in a selection of 10 'important boats' representing Britain's seafaring heritage featured in a recent issue of Country Life.

The selection, made by Dan Houston, editor of Classic Boat magazine, represents "an eclectic look at a handful of boats, all of which are sailing today: "Each vessel… has contributed to our continued reliance on and eternal enjoyment of the sea."

Of Nancy, the article says: "Inspiring people to sail was Arthur Ransome's legacy. Nancy Blackett, named after the pirate heroine of his books was his favourite boat. People remember him typing stories in her cabin, and she's famous as the Goblin in "We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea "(1937).

Nancy Blackett is typical of a number of small cruisers built in the 1920s and 1930s, creating a flotilla sailed by (mostly) men who learned boathandling and navigation for recreation. It was a new trend and proved a valuable resource to the Royal Navy when war broke out in 1939."

And Nancy is in distinguished company: also in the Top Ten are the J-Class Endeavour, the 200-year-old smack Boadicea, the pilot cutter Jolie Brise, Shackleton's James Caird, Robin Knox-Johnston's world-girdling Suhaili, a Thames barge (Mirosa), a Dunkirk Little Ship (Naid Errant), a high-speed rescue launch (HSL102) and an International 14 dinghy from the National Maritime Museum Cornwall.

The article appeared in the August 5th issue of Country Life.

Swallows and Amazons on BBC Radio 7 Today and Tomorrow

BBC Radio 7 will be broadcasting the BBC Radio dramatisation of "Swallows and Amazons" in two hour-long parts, today and tomorrow (July 23rd and 24th) from 11am to 12 noon. The broadcasts should then be available for the next week via the Listen Again service.

For details of listings, listening live and Listen Again, click here.