Cotswold Chatterblog

Friday 26th October - Monday 29th October Gloucester Docks

The first Gloucester Tall Ships Festival will have four tall ships sailing up The Gloucester and Sharpness Canal, following the historic trading route to Gloucester, on Friday 26th October to join The Johanna Lucretia in the Docks to open the Festival.

The Tall Ships are scheduled to arrive between 11.15 and 12.45 but all times are subject to change.
During the Festival exciting events and attractions will be happening on the Docks giveing everyone a weekend of unforgettable sights and sounds showing how Gloucester could have looked over 100 years ago.
Saturday evening will host a stunning light show of the ships sails and rigging which will accompany live music on the Docks.

On Sunday visitors can wander around the Docks and appreciate these beautiful tall ships in their natural environment and in Britain’s most inland port.

On Monday you can witness the departure of these amazing seagoing craft from Gloucester Docks.
Details of the Tall Ships that will be in the Docks is as follows:-

The Earl of Pembroke -Â a three-masted wooden barque built in Sweden in 1948. She traded timber in the Baltic and British East Coast until being laid up in Denmark in 1974. In 1985 she underwent a complete restoration programme.
Phoenix - a Danish brigantine built in Denmark in 1929 as an Evangelical Mission Schooner. She retired from Missionary work 20 years later and carried cargo until she was damaged by fire. In 1988 she sailed to the UK where she underwent a complete refit.
Ruth - a 28 metre schooner built in 1914 for trade in the Baltic built in the Rää Shipyard Sweden in 1914. A traditional gaff-rigged ketch, she was baptised Ruth, by the owner Sven Petter Persson, after his wife. Her main cargo at the time was ceramic pots and stoneware, delivering for a famous Swedish company called Höganas.
Kathleen & May - the last remaing three masted schooner which is a type of trading vessel that would have been common in Gloucester Docks 100 years ago. She has been in Gloucester before in derelict form but now she returns restored to her former glory. She was launched in 1900 at Bideford, Devon and was used on trade routes in British and Irish waters. She made her last commercial visit to Gloucester 62 years ago on September 29th 1945 delivering fuel and loading up wheat for a trip to Barry. Over a period of 30 years she made over 150 passages up the river Severn bound for Lydney, Sharpness and Gloucester.
The Johanna Lucretia    - a topsail schooner built in 1945 in Belgium as a fishing vessel. She was converted for recreational use in 1954 and was based in the Netherlands for 35 years.In 1989 she was bought by British owners and fully refitted in 1992 to become a cruising boat.

Gloucester Tourist Information Centre
28 Southgate Street
Gloucester
GL1 2DP
Telephone 01452 396572
www.gloucestertallships.co.ukÂ

Tags: festivals | music | ships | gloucester

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