Construction of Ships: 10th - 20th Century

Previously we heard about his love for timber from Peter Ross. This time the love of timber was notshown in buildings but in ships. Ancient ships were found in the Egyptian pyramids as funerary vessels and 2,000 years ago wooden boats were sailing on the Sea of Galilee. For these ships of long ago to be revealed to us, three miracles are needed. Firstly, for the structure to have been covered by mud, which preserves it, secondly, for it to be actually found, then lastly, to be able to find a safe way to raise the ship. Having said this, burial ships are just this – buried. The one found at Sutton Hoo, once uncovered, was only visible by its imprint, which showed the overlapping  clinkers, which were riveted, and a keel. The precious artefacts found therein indicate the burial of a seventh century E.Anglian King; also that there was trade with such far away places as Scandinavia and the Mediterranean. The Vikings are famous for their dragon-headed long boats and in a museum in Oslo lies a goodly part of a Viking burial ship with the most seductive lines finishing in a very high prow. Weather influenced styles of shipbuilding. In the Mediterranean, where there is less wind, it was possible to have triremes which wouldn’t be swamped by high waves; though how the 3 tiers of oarsmen ever got seated and pulled together might seem a mystery. Evidently they could reach incredible speeds for a ‘rowing boat’!

By the fifteenth century the sequence of steps in building a boat had been reversed. Starting with the frame and then fitting the planks enabled the shipwrights to give a shape with much greater capacity. However the Santa Maria , Columbus’ largest ship, was still only the length of two medium size yachts. The Mary Rose, Henry V111’s great ship, is our greatest preserved naval treasure. It was a little larger than the Santa Maria, but was very top heavy with the gunports fairly low down, so she sank in sight of Portsmouth almost as soon as she was launched. A great deal of planning was needed to produce the gigantic crane which lifted her, then an elaborate system of soaking with water and forcing wax into the cells was carried out. This preservation still continues. Ships gradually got larger. Nelson’s ship, The Victory was a first rater, according to the number of guns the boats carried and this made her slow. The fleetest ships were the 3rd raters. Cast iron was often carried in the holds of ships to provide ballast. Then iron proved its use in more solid ‘knees’, corner supports that held up the decks. Finally Brunel sounded the knell for wooden ships when he designed the S.S. Great Britain all from iron.This enabled the ship to be twice the size of others and to use a propeller. The golden sunset for wooden ships was the arrival of tea clippers.  The Cutty Sark could achieve 171 /2  knots when fully loaded, but with the opening of the Suez Canal, the trade route from India and China was considerably reduced. Also with coal becoming very plentiful then sailing ships became a thing of the past. Copper was introduced as a material to stop the fouling of the sides of the boat. Then after the tragedy of the Titanic double metal hulls were used. Metal had finally taken over from timber. So now only smaller ships are lovingly made of wood.

EUNICE DOSWELL

Marden in January 1930

Seventy-five years ago, The Parish Maazine of January 1930 was a sizeable document, full of local news and announcements as well as including eight pages of advertsiements.  There was a new cover design, which the editor hoped   would "add to the dignity and prestige already built  up by our parish journal". We can only hope that together with today’s Parish Magazine, the "Parish Pump" maintains this noble tradition today!

There were many reports of events held in the village such as the Mothers’ Union meeting of December when a talk, or rather "a most original and delightful address", was given on the subject of "the various Christmas greetings in use –"Happy", "Jolly", "Peaceful" and so on." It is not recorded how long the talk lasted. Anyone seeking further entertainment and recreation could always attend the Missionary Sewing Meeting to be held on 22nd January. The Missionary sale held the previous month had raised the sum of over £23 and had included such money raisers as the Handkerchief Stall. The entertainment on this occasion had been provided by the music of the Honeybees, clearly a forerunner to Marden’s current local bands. The Women’s Institute was much in evidence when in the report of the A.G.M. it was declared that Mrs. Chambers was re-elected president. In recognition of her services, she was presented with a gift, which apparently "took the form of a Pouffe". No comment. There had been a concert held in the village in aid of the Junior Imperial League. Readers were informed that:"It is not and plantation songs" which were "delightfully rendered".

Finally, in case it is ever doubted that Marden has always been ahead of the times, evidence of Marden’s special magic comes in the form of its local nursery then run by none other than – Harry Potter!

JANE STEVENS

GARDEN BIRDWATCH

My bird this time is an occasional visitor but always a delight to watch; the Great Spotted Woodpecker, with its eye-catching colours. We are always told that the purpose of birds’ colouring is to blend in with its surroundings but it hardly seems possible with this one. They will come to the peanut feeder, pushing away the Starlings, which are about the same size. I don’t know if it is always the same one we see but when it first comes into the garden it will land on a tree support post and start pecking at it. Finding nothing there it will then come to the peanuts. Woodpeckers are among a group of birds that are highly adapted to climbing about trees, extracting insect prey from bark and also excavating nest holes: tail stiff, to act as support against vertical surfaces, with zygodactyl feet (two toes pointing forwards,   two backwards) short legs, stout bill. It is the feet and legs that give these birds such an ungainly walk when on the ground. Quite comical in fact. They also have very long  tongues. The Great Spotted Woodpecker’s flight might be described as bounding. The BTO tells us that its population increased throughout the 20th Century and the species is now  common in suburban parks and gardens, becoming the most widespread and regular visitor to many garden feeding stations. Even so it is more of a woodland specialist than the Green Woodpecker. The Great Spotted Woodpecker eats a lot of tree seeds with pine and spruce seeds being favourites in winter. The young birds are fed on a diet of moth larvae and when the fledglings leave the nest hole they are brought to feeders by the parents and given a long ‘apprenticeship’ in various foraging methods. If you are lucky you might see these peanut pecking lessons right outside your window. They do, however, have a more sinister side. They specialise in extracting small, succulent, edible creatures from holes in trees so young tits in nest boxes may be on their menu in some areas. They are also known to break into House Martins’ nests.   Its species name is Dendrocopos major. The breeding season is April-July with one brood of 4 -7 eggs. The nest is a hole in a tree.

EDITH DAVIS

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING, Cheese and Wine Social - Visitors welcome

SPEAKER PROGRAMME 2005

22 March A M Parkin A Village Remembered

24 January 2006 Annual General Meeting

COMMITTEE REPORT – JANUARY 2005

Neither the Committee nor the Parish Council has made much progress on removing the recycling bins from the Library Car Park.We are asking MBC when kerbside collections other than glass will be extended to Marden: not a solution but an alleviation. Very shortly the History Group in conjunction with the Church will be offering copies of Marden’s memorial inscriptions through the church website www.mardenchurch.org.uk. This will be a useful resource for genealogists worldwide. Look out in the New Year for an enhancement of Marden’s public image by improved coordination between the community website, the Church website and the (new) Parish Council website. The Marden Society 2005 calendar is on sale at the usual village outlets (£4.00.) Newly available from the History Group also at £4.00 is "Memories of Marden, by our evacuees 1939-1944", an evocative collection including photographs. Order from David (832295) or Chris (832976).

Contributions for The Parish Pump are always welcomed by the editor, Edith Davis.

Opportunities:

candidate is already assured of an abundance of help and support.