Shipping - Britain: books - history and ships

Mayflower : The Pilgrim Fathers' historic voyage of 1620 (Haynes Maritime Manual)

Published to mark the 400th anniversary of the voyage of the Mayflower in 1620 and the establishment of the first colony at Plymouth, Massachusetts, the Haynes Mayflower Manual tells the story of how the Pilgrim Fathers sailed from Plymouth in Devon to America, seeking to establish a fresh life in the New World free from religious persecution.

After a gruelling 66-day journey across the Atlantic the ship and its 102 passengers ended landed at Cape Cod. In the harsh winter that followed roughly half their number died of disease and malnutrition.
The group finally decided on a site in Plymouth, Massachusetts, where they built their colony. From these challenging beginnings Plymouth became the birthplace of modern America.

The Haynes Mayflower Manual looks at the first colonies and the first settlers in America; the story of the 'lost colony' on Roanoke Island, North Carolina; what made the Pilgrim Fathers travel to the New World; the historic voyage of the Mayflower; how seafarers crossed the oceans in the 17th century; early settler life in New England; the inspiring story of the replica Mayflower II in 1957 and its recent renovation for the 400th anniversary celebrations in September 2020.

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Coastal Shipping Through Time

Before the development of canals, railways or metalled roads, the quickest and most effective means of transporting goods from one point to another in Britain was by the use of coastal shipping, shallow-draft boats travelling between the ports of the British Isles. With the development and improvement of the canals, railways and especially the road network, however, coastal shipping in the UK has decreased dramatically.

In this book, maritime author Ian Collard takes a look at the history of coastal shipping in the UK, examining in turn the ports of the English Channel, the North East, Scotland and the Irish Sea and the ships used to transport so much cargo and so many passengers.

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Coasters of South Wales

This volume looks at ports between Swansea in the west and Chepstow in the east. The industrial revolution saw a huge and rapid expansion of ports in this area, thanks largely to the insatiable appetite for coal and metals which could be supplied in abundance from South Wales. The latter half of the twentieth century saw an inexorable decline in the area's coal production and heavy industry with the inevitable result that large sections of port areas have declined in maritime importance.

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The Lifeboat Service in England- The North East Coast - Station by Station

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution was established in 1824 and has a long and proud tradition of saving life at sea. Today, the volunteer lifeboat crews on the coasts of Northumberland, County Durham, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire operate high-tech state-of-the-art lifeboats for the purpose of saving lives at sea.

The RNLI currently operates sixteen lifeboat stations along the north-east coast of England. This comprehensive book has details of every one, and covers their histories and the current operations.
It also includes details of old stations that have been closed, photographs of lifeboat memorials, and contains descriptions of some of the dramatic, courageous and daring rescues undertaken by the lifeboat crews from the region.

Author Nicholas Leach has amassed a wealth of information about the lifeboats and lifeboat stations of the North East, past and present, visiting every one to provide a complete and up-to-date record of lifesaving in the treacherous North Sea between Berwick-upon-Tweed in the north and Skegness.

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Harwich Lifeboats - An Illustrated History

Harwich Lifeboat station is one of the busiest in Britain and is just one of the 230 RNLI stations based about Britain's coast. It is situated at the mouth of the River Stour & Orwell and opposite is Felixstowe the largest commercial port in the UK.
Harwich has a lifeboat history dating from 1876 and has been home to the first steam lifeboat "Duke of Northumberland" in 1890 and in 1996 the first Severn class lifeboat to be stationed in England was at Harwich.

Today there are two lifeboats stationed at Harwich - the off-shore Severn class lifeboat Albert Brown and the inshore Atlantic 75 lifeboat Sure and Steadfast.
2002 saw the completion of a new boathouse that provides crew training facilities, houses the inshore lifeboat, public viewing area and souvenir shop. The two lifeboats cover area from Walton-on-the-Naze to Aldeburgh and 50 miles off-shore; this includes the various different rivers such as the Deben, Ore and Walton-back-waters.

Illustrated with over 150 black & white and colour images, the book tells the story of this lifeboat station, as well as the daring rescues the many crews have undertaken.

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