September 2004 Newsletter

New Engine arrives for Endeavour

It is said that all good things come to those who wait. So a small group of Trust members gathered in Old Leigh on Thursday the 19th of Aug 04 and took possession of the new Lister four cylinder diesel engine which, as you will recall, has been supplied to the Trust at cost price by Peter Thompson of Marine Engine Services Ltd of Uxbridge, who are the distributors for Lister, and marinise the engines and gearboxes, so that the water that cools the engine is cooled by seawater; Lister-Petter of Dursley in Gloucester built the engine. It was delivered to the workshop of Endeavour Marine Services in Old Leigh which is owned by Steve Cocks the Grandson of Joe Deal who owned the boat for many years and changed the Endeavour from a Cockle Boat to a Shrimp Boat.

This is wonderful news for the Trust and we would like to thank both of these Companies for their help in assisting the Trust by supplying the new engine, It is also good in respect of the Endeavour because we believe she had a Lister engine from when she was built and when she went to Dunkirk in 1940. She also had a new air cooled Lister engine installed in the 1960s. Now the engineer can measure up with the boatbuilders for the new engine beds and the shaft and stern tube and get the propeller. Also now we can start to assemble all the other fittings like the fuel tank and exhaust and get the electronics sorted out. This is another major step forward in our efforts to have Endeavour fully restored and seaworthy in time for Dunkirk in June 2005. The Trust now has all the major components which go to make up Endeavour either on order or in our possession.

  Mast, Spars, Sails and Rigging

There has been great progress on these vital items, all to be produced the way they would have been in 1924. One of our craftsmen Shaun White and his father Colin White have fashioned the mast and spars at Brightlingsea from virgin timber. Some of us thought it would help if we obtained existing masts to be trimmed down in size (diameter) but were advised that it is easier to start with a square baulk of timber: you live and learn! The sails are under way at North Sea Sails in Tolesbury from material which is very similar to the original, but longer lasting. All the rope work and grommets will be hand made, so the finished sails will be traditional in every way. The full suit will consist of the loose-footed main and stay sail in brown material, and No.1 Jib and tow stay sail in natural cotton weave. 

Rigging will be done once the mast can be stepped on the deck. Again this will all be hand served rather than done the modern way, and this will be crafted by T&S Rigging at Maldon, who will also supply hand made blocks for the running rigging.

 Fishing festival at Leigh 

On Sunday 26th September it is planned to have a festival showing how fishing has developed over the years, and we will have a stall - probably on Strand Wharf.

Our Vice Chairman Paul Gilson is much involved and Steve Hall has promised to attend to show Endeavour's sails being made. So please make a note in your diary to attend. 

Financial Report - continuing success

For those of you who were unable to attend the Trust AGM I have some very good news. At the AGM we were able to report that through the good work mainly of David Norman we have been able to secure a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund of £40,000. This means that we have now secured sufficient funding to be able to complete the restoration of Endeavour. It is now expected that Brian and Shaun will resume work on Endeavour, along with the assistance of a third craftsman, in mid September. But please don't let this financial success deter you from renewing your membership or continuing to raise or donate money to the Trust. As the Trust finances are no different to your own personal finances, you can never have too much money. Because as soon as you think everything is OK something unexpected crops up. Also as I have said on a number of occasions, as yet we just do not know how much the annual running costs are going to be, and by spring of next year she will be back in the water at Leigh.

Also at the AGM we were able to report that we have received the very generous donation of some shares. These are shares in companies most would regard as secure investments. Therefore the Trustees have decided to retain them in order to use the dividend payments towards the future running costs. They are shares in Shell, Bradford & Bingley, Northern Rock, Alliance & Leicester, BT, Aviva and MMo2. So we are happy to report that our current finances are very healthy but as over the next six months restoration will be progressing at quite a pace our bank balance will be shrinking accordingly. And we also have to remember that £11,000 cannot be claimed from the donating trusts until restoration is agreed to be complete. So please continue to give us your support and we will get the job done and on time.

March 2004 Newsletter

Lister win the day

At last, we are moving forward on all fronts; shortly Brian and Shaun will be in a position to start working on Endeavour's mast and spars, and we are progressing elsewhere too.
After much research on the internet we were able to locate quite a number of possible engines for Endeavour including Volvo, Perkins, Ford and Lister. We gave very serious consideration to all these engines but since she had a Lister Blackstone in her during her early life and during the time of going to Dunkirk, it was decided that Lister would be our preferred choice. So, after approaching Lister direct and informing them that traditionally Endeavour always had a Lister engine, that she had a Lister engine when she went to Dunkirk, and that on a number of occasions she won the local trawler race and lifted the 'Lister cup', they decided to make us an offer that we just could not refuse. They will therefore be supplying us with a Lister Petter 40 HP diesel engine at about £2,000 below the current list price. So when Endeavour takes to the water once again 'in spring of 2005', she will again be propelled by a Lister engine, of very similar size to the one that was last in her. 

A Multiplicity of Components

We are now well under way with arranging the purchase of the major components that are needed for Endeavour. Thank you to those who have helped by providing photographs of Endeavour under sail or just as she was in her early days! It all helps to get her restoration right, so if you have an old photo of Endeavour please let one of the Trust officers know. 

We have ordered the mast and spars and they will be ready by the end of May. Then we will be in a position to order the sails. A company called North Sea Sails, who have worked a lot with Brian and Shaun in the past, have been helping us with working out just how they should be and the more accurate information we can assemble the better. Then we will be able to go out and get quotations to provide the sails by the latter part of the year, in plenty of time for them to be fitted to Endeavour as soon as she is ready to receive them.

The multiplicity of components needed is quite mind-boggling. We have already been given quite a large number of useful items and have them in store, and as you can imagine, storage space is at a premium. But don't let that put you off if you can help to provide some much needed equipment please get in touch with Peter Wexham or David Spurgeon to find out whether what you have is just what we need. The items we will have to acquire range from the quite large like a clinker built skiff in order to get aboard when the tides in, to spoons to be able to stir the tea. 

At our last management meeting, Mike made a joke about not needing a big oar to row her and in unison Peter, David and Keith pointed out that one thing we do need is a big oar. Not to row with but to push on, Endeavour always carried an oar about sixteen feet long which was used to stop her going too firmly aground and to help turn her in Leigh creek. 

So as you might by now have realised, when Mike and Peter did their original estimate, with the help of John Millgate, which has proved to be remarkably accurate, they were only thinking about the big things. They just took the broad overview not a detailed inventory, therefore the more of the little things we can gather over the period of the restoration, the better. 

Dunkirk - according to the BBC

Before the recent three-part TV programme on Dunkirk was broadcast the papers were full of claims that it would show that 'Leigh cocklers only went to Dunkirk because they were paid'. Understandably there was an outcry, and Reta was much quoted, showing her understandable anger at the insinuation.

But, that wasn't what went out in the programme, and one wonders why? Was it because they took it out of the broadcast, or was the pre-publicity intended to stir it up and get people watching it? Probably we shall never know, but it left a nasty taste.

The programme itself was extremely effective in showing the total horror of war. All too often battles are shown in a macho way, which glorifies them.

It was particularly pleasing that the Renown disaster wasn't altered for dramatic effect; indeed the only odd thing was the destroyer helmsman being told to steer 'one point to starboard' - very, very precise!!

I was left with the realisation of the responsibility we all have to ensure the real heroes are recognised and remembered by following generations by using that old lady Endeavour as a centrepiece.

Mike

Date for your Diary

Our Trust AGM for 2004 will be held on Friday July 23rd at 7.30pm in room 3 (Canteen Room) at Wesley Methodist Church in Elm Road, Leigh. We have decided to move to Wesley so that we can have a good sized room on the ground floor in order to provide easy access for all our members. So please mark this date in your diary and perhaps we can have an even better attended meeting than last year. Further details about the nights events will, be in the next edition of this newsletter.

I have been asked by the remaining members of what was the Southend and District Dunkirk Veterans Association to make you aware of their Anniversary Church Service. They are all members of the Endeavour Trust and Frank Grove their very last Chairman tells me that the service will be held at St. John the Baptist Church in Church Road, Southend on Sunday 30th May 2004 at 11am. God willing, all seven will be in attendance as will the Mayor of Southend and they would be very pleased to welcome any members of the Trust who are able to attend. They laid up their standard on Sunday 10th September 2000 and it is kept at St. John the Baptist Church for safe keeping. 

Keith

Membership Renewal Now 1st September

Over the life of the Trust, our membership has risen from about thirty five to about one hundred and seventy. Whilst this is great and I hope it continues it also has its downside; as people have taken out membership with the Trust, I have given them a renewal date twelve months on from joining. This has resulted in a situation now where we have members needing to renew their membership in most months of the year which creates an awful lot of work.

Therefore, at the last management meeting it was agreed to move everyone's membership to the same renewal date, the beginning of our financial year, 1st September of every year. So, from now on, everybody's membership is due for renewal on the first of September.