|
THE HUMBER KEEL AND SLOOP
|
|
PRESERVATION SOCIETY |
|
Registered Charity No. 503747 |
|
The Humber was among the last strongholds of working sail in Britain.
Even when coastal and deep sea shipping was almost entirely dominated by
powered vessels, the Humber was the home of two distinctive sailing craft
of ancient lineage: the Humber Keel and the Humber Sloop.
The Humber Keel is among the most remarkable and the least known of
Britains' local sailing craft. The word 'Keel' is itself of
great antiquity, being descended from the Anglo-Saxon word 'Ceol'
meaning a ship and the vessels to which it was applied, rigged with a
single square sail on a single mast, were in appearance at least equally
primitive. They survived on the River Humber and its associated waterways
until the middle of the 20th century, the last working square riggers in Europe.
The Humber Sloop, with its simple fore and aft rig, was characteristic
of the small coasting and estuarial craft common throughout British waters
for over three hundred years. Sloops continued to sail on the Humber until
1951.
The Humber Keel and Sloop Preservation Society was formed in 1970 with
the aims of preserving and restoring working examples of Humber sailing
craft and reviving the skills and traditions of sailing the vessels. Since
1974 the Society has, been a registered charity and a
non-profit-distributing Company limited by guarantee. A Council of 15
members runs the Society’s affairs. Current membership stands at around
250. The Society is recognised as being in the forefront of the maritime
conservation movement, and has links with national bodies including the
Maritime Trust.
Services Membership
Comrade Amy Howson Pictures
Links Books HOME Page
|
|
|