Endeavour and Pudsey Bear

Viewers of the BBC Children in Need telethon on the 16th November may have been surprised to see Endeavour crop up in a section of the show relating to a quest being undertaken by Pudsey Bear!

From the sea defences outside Osbourne's, Finlay Marshall gave Pudsey an excellent potted history of Endeavour and her part in the Dunkirk evacuations, rescues from Canvey during the '53 floods and up to her rediscovery and restoration by the Trust.



There are lots of lovely shots of the boat on the Estuary, so well worth setting the screen to maximum size!



The Leigh-on-Sea Endeavour Trust would like to thank Mark Hardie at BBC Essex and BBC Children in Need for their permission to use this section of their show on our website.

2019 Calendar Available

The Leigh-on-Sea Endeavour Trust has produced a quality A4 calendar for 2019, featuring an eclectic mix of photographs by various photographers. Photographs include Endeavour at past and recent events and vintage black and white photographs.

The calendars are for sale at £8.50, with free delivery in the Southend borough, and are available now.

All proceeds will be used towards the maintenance and running costs of Leigh’s Dunkirk ‘little ship’ Endeavour.

Trust members will be able to buy at the Annual dinner on November 29^th at The Chalkwell Park Rooms…

Please contact Rob Everitt at Robert@everitts.org for more information, including P&P details, and to place an order.

AGM Documents 2018

Papers for the 17th AGM of the Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Trust are below.

The AGM will be held on Friday 9th November 2018 at 7.30 pm in Room 5, Leigh Community Centre, 71-73 Elm Road, Leigh-on-Sea SS9 1SP.

AGM Agenda

AGM Chair's Remarks
Remittance Advice and Reminder 2018
Annual Accounts 2017-18
AGM 2017 Minutes

Welcome to our Autumn Newsletter

This edition contains a report on Endeavour at Ostend at Anchor, details of the annual dinner including our speaker, a tribute to George Cocks, former Endeavour hand and supporter of the Trust, who has died aged 92, a thank you to everyone that supports us, and a report from Endeavour's trip to Windsor.

Please drop us a line if you have any comments, or visit us on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/EndeavourTrustLeigh/

Boat Manoeuvres in the Dark

Endeavour's participation in Ostende at Anchor provided another first for the boat; crossing the Channel in the dark. She would not be alone for the trip however as well-known fisherman Steve Meddle would be with us aboard Birgitta, his Dutch-built motor yacht.

Skipper Paul Gilson had a crew of three for the voyage, Allan Bartram, an experienced RNLI man and Finlay Marshall as tea-maker and general hand.

Author Dick Durham on Sailing on the Thames

Our annual dinner this year is at Chalkwell Park Rooms on Thursday, November 29th where our guest speaker will be local author and sailor, Dick Durham. He began cruising the local creeks in a dinghy, crewed for barge legend Bob Roberts aboard Cambria, was mate on a brigantine.

George Cocks RIP

George Cocks (right) with (l-r) Peter Wexham, Reta Cocks and Mike King

George Cocks, known in Leigh as “Reta Deal’s Husband” died in July aged 92. George helped raise funds for Endeavour and worked on her in Thames Marina repainting her hull and decks.

An Eastender, the Cocks family evacuated to Leigh during the War when he was 15 years old. In time he worked in London docks driving cranes unloading ships from  around the world.

Thank You!

Endeavour has been taken to Leigh's heart since she returned to the creek in 2005. That she is there at all is because of public and corporate support. The East Anglia Pub Co., which owns the Peter Boat, has come aboard with generous support.

As reported previously, their Hilda B beer pumps show the boat and every pint sold brings 10p towards keeping the boat in top condition. Inside the pub is a framed picture of Endeavour and the menus mention us and our part in Dunkirk in 1940.

Coming Apart at the Seams!

Long hot summers are not good for old wooden boats. Planks dry out and shrink and suddenly things aren't as watertight as they were.

Endeavour's trip to Windsor to join the little ships and the Windsor knights took place slap-bang in the middle of our hottest summer for years. Even a 2 a.m. start from Bell Wharf was warm and when the sun came up sitting on the hatches was an uncomfortable experience.

Paul Gilson was skipper with Alan Bartrum and Finlay Marshall as crew. Demands for refreshing tea increased throughout the day as the boat headed into London while the temperature went up and up.

Endeavour Annual Dinner 2018

Download a printable version of the flyer here: Annual Dinner 2018 Flyer