News

The Consuta Project are seeking to appoint a part time Project Assistant to arrange and organise a variety of activities associated with steam and steamboats.

The work will involve arranging and supervising visits and talks, mostly near the Thames area. The job will be paid on an hourly basis and involves some working from home plus the supervision of the visits/talks that have been arranged. The project is supported by an HLF grant and will end by December 2019.

A variety of possible activities has already been prepared, however the person appointed can vary and modify these as appropriate, the purpose is to develop and encourage public interest in steamboating and its history.

Please look at the Consuta Trust website for more details of the Consuta Project.

If you are interested and would like to know more, please contact Brian Smith by phone:- 07486 606130 or email:- activities@consuta.org.uk "

I am please to announce that Dick Plumb has agreed to take over the vacant role of Anglian Rep. Any local members are encouraged to contact Dick (rgp1000@cam.ac.uk) to welcome him to his new role and see what he has planned for you in the near future.

This appointment was ratified at the full Committee meeting held yesterday (15 Sept 2018)

Dot Bullough (our local Commodore) asked that we put up a news item to announce the arrival of two new steamboats into the SBA fleet in "the North".

These are Obsidian, built by Russel & Maureen Clements and Befur built by Louise and Malcolm Duckett... they are on Windermere and Ullswater, respectively. 

Here are a few pictures for the record :-)

Who says the weather in the Lakes is always wet! 

Following a sterling effort by Roger Heise & Ian Davis battling with our servers and security certificates the Steamboat Register is restored to full operation.

Thank you all - enjoy!

As we all bask in the summer sun I am sure there are lots of great pictures which we would all love to see on the web site.

To make it simpler to share your photographs we have added a new Member's Photos page, under the "Media" page.

This allows you to upload your photographs directly to the site - no more waiting for those tardy Web Editors! But it will only work if you all contribute your work...

You can still use the albums on your Profile Page, but this new page will make it easier for visitors to browse - please remember to add captions so that we know what we are looking at! (and please keep the photos under 1Mb in size).

Don't forget the  SBA Facebook Discussion page would be happy to see them too.

Over the last few months I have been contacted by a number of members who have been unable to view the "New Register" page from the web site, and only get a blank page.

The reason for this is that we need a secure certificate for the Register servers to allow https:// access. Roger Heise has been looking into obtaining this.

You might be able to get to this page by using the non-secure URL http://steamboatassociation.co.uk , but not all browsers will allow this (my chromebook will not for example). 

I am sorry this is taking a long time to fix, but hopefully it will be addressed soon.

Malcolm (webmaster) Duckett

John Barnard was good enough to pass along a recording he made of an SBA rally in 1990 as broadcast by Anglia TV. 

As he says "Sadly some of the faces are no longer with us but I’m sure it will bring back a lot of memories for our more senior members and show the younger ones our activities of the past  ----- My!  30 years ago, as they say  'Don’t time fly' ".

We have included it in our "rotating" video library, or you can see it here

It is with regret that I have to announce that Lord Euan Strathcona, the First President of the SBA, has recently passed away. 

I met him on a number of occasions, mainly relating to the sale of 'Beryl of Avon' which needed a boiler 'ticket' and a technical drawing of the boiler in order the the German authorities to accept her.

More information will be posted when available.

Kevin Slater CEng

Chair, Steamboat Association of Great Britain

FAWLEY MEADOWS, HENLEY-on-THAMES

An exciting and fun day out for the whole family, a celebration of all that's best in British boatbuilding and craftsmanship

evoking the nostalgia of boating from a bygone era.

This popular, long-running event, now offers more attractions on the water, in the air and on the land, than ever before.

​

Featuring the largest display of traditional boats in Europe, the fleet of Dunkirk "Little Ships", Her Majesty's Rowbarge "Gloriana",

amphibious and military vehicles, the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, WW1 air display - and much more...

Book your tickets here: 

https://www.tradboatfestival.com/festival-tickets

A PROUD ANNOUNCEMENT

The Steam Tug Kerne Preservation Society Ltd has been awarded ‘The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service’ in the Queen's Honours List, published on 2nd June 2018.

This is an MBE equivalent and the highest award given to a voluntary group. It is the first time a historic vessel preservation group has been honoured in this way.

The award was created in 2002 by the Queen to celebrate the anniversary of her Coronation and recognises excellence in voluntary activity carried our by groups in the community. The assessment process for the award was conducted on behalf of the Queen by Captain Hugh Daglish LVO JP DL Royal Navy ex Commander of HMY Britannia and His Honour Judge John Roberts DL.

The award citation honours the rescue and preservation of Kerne, one of Britain’s oldest operational steamships. The Queens award is recognition of the work of our group over the last 47 years. Our member’s dedication has been an example of what can be achieved for the benefit of the nation’s maritime heritage and is enjoyed by many thousands of people who have seen Kerne steaming to events and come aboard to learn about a living ship of the Titanic era.

Chris Heyes and Paul Kirkbride are attended Buckingham Palace on  Tuesday 5th June for a Royal Garden Party and The Lord Lieutenant of Merseyside is to make a presentation on board Kerne at a later date.

S T Kerne

On behalf of The Steam Tug Kerne Preservation Society Ltd.

Bob Stead