Mate's bunk

Dad has spent the last few nights on the 'night shift' looking after the precious barge, SB Cambria, sleeping in the Mate's bunk (pictured) and then last night promoted to the Skippers bunk at the beautifully restored, 105-year old panelling aft end. These are big tides (6.4m) and the barge needs checking every now and then to make sure the fenders (between barge and quayside) are still in effective locations as the barge rises and falls on the tide (usually inconventiently in the middle of the night!).

They also need to keep the barge looking occupied and obviously lived in, to deter any mischief from the local herberts, who tend to use the St Andrew's area as their place to park cars, get the drum'n'bass sound systems a-thumping, get themselves round a few cans of beer and plead with the barge occupants to let them aboard in the dark. Stand by to repel boarders! Go home lads.... Go to bed... get some sleep!

Wrapped around that, Mum is looking after us and having a nice quiet relaxing weekend, but Dad is looking after the Treasurer job at the town's Hort Soc Flower Show and leading a 7-mile hike through Challock Forest for the Friends of Kingswood. He is beginning to feel like everybody wants a chunk of him and wondering how he ever had time to do any paid work.

Today we are off down to Hastings to visit the Pud-Lady and we are taking dinner to save her having to cook for 'us'. Mum and Dad have spatch-cocked a chook and loaded a bag with allotmemt spuds, green beans, lemon tarte, hot (when you make them hot) chocolate soufflés and fizz (Pud Lady does like a drop of fizz and at 84, who is going to argue?). God Bless Her.

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Strictly Come Barging

Something a bit different for Dad today which ends up with him shaking hands with TV presenter John Sargent. The barge is currently at Gravesend as part of the celebrations around the civic event, the opening of the new St Andrew's Wharf. This is the bit of Thames quayside between the little St Andrew's church and the Town Pier. 'We' are moored there now till Weds 14th, the civic ceremony happening on Friday at 11:00.

While we are there the BBC call on us to see if they can borrow the barge. They are producing a film series covering the photographic career and post-card empire of Francis Frith, Victorian photographer whose mission it was to photograph every town and village in the UK. There are now hundreds of thousands of Frith black and white images in a big archive, many of which have gained historical importance.

The BBC is looking at a few locations on a then-and-now basis in films presented by John Sargent, one of which is Gravesend. One of the famous images shows a Thames sailing barge moored alongside Gravesend waterfront at a point where a big Civic Gardens tipped out onto the quayside through big ornate gates. We think it might be the Clifton Marine Parade one seen now as ref 49042 in www.francisfrith.com/gravesend or http://www.francisfrith.com/gravesend/photos/clifton-marine-parade-c1898_49042/ . We think this is now a huge Tesco's.

Anyway, keen to get a similar picture with barge and to do the piece on Thames Barges as part of the programme, the film team plus John spent a couple of hours out and about, afloat, filming from the barge and from a motorboat. This was all done by the time Dad was scheduled to arrive and the crew were filming a last few bits and pieces including the 5 guys in this picture (incl, obviously, John S). Dad's job was to help secure the boat against this rather sloping mooring as she "took the ground" (sat down on the mud). The guys are, left to right, our Master Shipwright Tim G, Cambria Trust Chairman Bruce R, skipper Richard T, John S and crew-man "Stretch".

Dad admits that John S would barely have known he was there, so it's hardly hob-nobbing it with the famous, but John Sargent did shake everyone's hand and thank them all including Dad as he hopped off the barge.

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