Sail Arthur Ransome’s Nancy Blackett ...we do mean to take you to sea!
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verybody on the East Coast seems to know Pin Mill, the little sailing village on the River Orwell, with its pub, the Butt and Oyster, its sailing club and its two boatyards, King’s and Webb’s. For many people, they have Arthur Ransome to thank for this, as he set the opening of We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea here, “down the deep green lane that ended in the river itself, with its crowd of yachts”. And the most famous of these yachts is undoubtedly Ransome’s own boat, the Nancy Blackett, which in the book becomes the Goblin, the “little white cutter with red sails”. This is the boat in which the four children, John, Susan, Titty and Roger (the Swallows from Swallows and Amazons) find themselves unintentionally sailing across the North Sea to Holland. Ransome bought the 28ft four-berth cruiser in
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1935 when he and his Russian wife Evgenia were moving into the area, from the Lake District, in search of some sea sailing. He renamed her – she was called Electron when he found her in Poole Harbour – and sailed her round to Pin Mill through some atrocious weather, which helped give him the idea for the book. Nancy is still sailing on the Orwell, thanks to the efforts of the Nancy Blackett Trust, which was set up over 20 years ago to look after her, following her rediscovery, derelict in Scarborough Harbour in the 1980s, and an extensive restoration. Based at Woolverstone Marina, she is available
espected sailor and writer Peter Willis will be forever known as founder and President of the Nancy Blackett Trust, which celebrated its 20th anniversary 2017. His book Good Little Ship explores the themes of Ransome’s rite-of-passage novel We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea, and how it came to be written. Part maritime history, part literary criticism – and a joyous homage throughout – it’s an impeccably-researched tale of the life, near-death, rescue and restoration of the Nancy Blackett and a thoroughly engrossing read, whether you’re a lifelong lover of Ransome’s works, or only just discovering them for the first time. Photographs add life to the story, while Ransome’s drawings and own account of a voyage in her – as well as brief details of his other boats – mean this is a must-have for lovers of both boats and literature. Good Little Ship is published in paperback by Lodestar Books, £14.
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Coastal Guide 2020
