By Robert Simper
George Collins (from The Deben River: an enchanted waterway by Robert Simper)
I suppose the first time I remember meeting George Collins was in about 1948. This was first time I first went afloat and at young age I found nighttime trawling very exciting. We were in the open boat Lassie, built in 1924 and sadly shortly after this her owner died. Jack Garrard bought the boat and was one of first people to have a boat mooring at Ramsholt. Continue reading
Report by Julia Jones
The speaker at this year’s AGM was John Patrick, founder member of the Felixstowe Hydrocycle (https://www.felixstowehydrocycle.com/).
His talk was detailed and fascinating. We are most grateful to him for allowing us to reproduce the slides from his presentation. This report can only skim the surface and hope to convey a few main points as understood by a completely non-technical audience member. Continue reading
By Ben Grundy
Last year Julia asked me to write something for the RDA Journal and I had agreed without much thought what to write about. Then in January the opportunity to become the new Chair of the Kyson Fairway committee came, and then came again an email from Julia asking if I was still interested in doing an article. Yes, I was still interested but the theme didn’t come until late April when I was voted in as the KFC chairman.
Making fast our towing gear in the “Deben” to the “MSC Tessa” on her maiden call to Felixstowe last week – Photo credit Jeff Welch photography
Date 26 April 2023
Time 6.30pm
Woodbridge Community Centre, IP12 4AU Continue reading
By Nick Cottam
Sir Nick Young, recently retired from the Red Cross, Macmillan Cancer Care and other charity work tells Nick Cottam how walking beside the Deben gave him the strength to face challenges and organise help for the victims of disaster.
The recent earthquakes in Syria and Turkey were a stark reminder of the need for emergency aid. Getting swift and effective help to where it was needed was a priority – and indeed a logistics challenge. In a new book about the Red Cross, Sir Nick Young, who lives near Woodbridge, enjoys walking beside the Deben and was Chief Executive of the agency for 13 years, provides his own take on the challenges of distributing and managing aid in the aftermath of large scale natural disaster. Continue reading
By Matt Lis
The vintage Everson-built 11 footer (Blue sail) with award nominated replica ‘La Mouette’ (Red sail)
A little over a year ago I was asked to write a piece for the RDA Journal covering the work carried out in restoring a yacht named ‘Falcon’. ‘Falcon’ had been shortlisted in Classic Boat Magazine’s annual awards in the Restored Sailing Vessel Under 40ft category and my piece began “An International One Design is not a typical Deben boat” but this year I am pleased to say that I am writing about a very Deben boat. Continue reading
By Julia Jones
Transition Woodbridge is a name that keeps popping up. They’ve reminded us to publicise the ‘Great British Spring Clean’ and we’ve been working together with them and other organisations on ‘river cleans’ as part of the plastic prevention project. I hear about their Repair Cafes, I notice people in gardening clothes in the boatyard, clutching shrubs. Who are these people and what’s the ‘Transition’ they are seeking? Continue reading
What a happy bunch of liitter pickers! We had a tremendous turn out on the 29 January at the Melton Riverside Litter Pick and thank you so much to all of you who came out. We were over 30 in number and had a great couple of hours of clearing the riverside environs.
Please join us for the half term session on 14th February, meeting at Felixstowe Ferry Sailing Club at 10.30. Continue reading
By Sarah Zins
Few people, busy tacking their boat round a buoy or walking along the river path, stop to consider who owns the river, but once the seed of the question is sown, it becomes a source of fascination.
And the main answer is an easy one, but the little issues round the edges (sometimes literally) are knottier. So to the Easier One – the river is owned by the reigning monarch “in right of the Crown”, which means for the duration of their reign. It is not, however, the monarch’s private property and cannot be sold by them, nor are its revenues theirs. As you might imagine, the monarch is not rolling up their sleeves to discuss matters estuarine on a daily basis, so The Crown Estate is tasked with managing rivers and much other property in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. There is a separate Scottish Crown Estate which manages seabed and coastline around the Scottish coast. Continue reading
The RDA is running the first of three litter picks on Sunday, 29 January, as part of the Plastic Prevention Project being led by the Essex and Suffolk Rivers Trust (ESRT). Continue reading