Welcome to the Spring 2026 Newsletter

Welcome to the Spring 2026 Newsletter in Endeavour's centenary year!

In this issue, we present Robin Tothill's account of the 2025 return to Dunkirk. We update you about the mast, our mooring and the winter maintenance, and our 2026 sailing schedule is online. We also have a couple of personnel changes; a new patron and a new membership secretary.

We announce three events - the annual summer social at Osborne's and a Centenary Dinner in November, and the Leigh At War memorial service at St Clements.

Please drop us a line if you have any comments, or post a message on our Facebook page. 

Dunkirk Return 2025 Report

With apologies for the delay in publishing a report, we are delighted to present Robin Tothill’s account of the 2025 Dunkirk return, courtesy of the Association of Dunkirk Little Ships. 

Leigh on Sea to Ramsgate
Monday 19th May, it was a 5.00am departure from Leigh-on-Sea, the weather was overcast, with a wind easterly F2. Endeavour LO4l, slipped her lines from Bell Wharf taking the ebb tide down the Thames Estuary, destination Ramsgate. Some Endeavour background information for you. She is a cockle bawley with a length of 35' and more importantly a draft of just 3'6" and built by Cole and Wiggins in 1926, so very shortly to become a centenarian. 

Mast Replacement, Maintenance, & Mooring

The mast replacement saga was finally completed in November when a pristine, laminated, exact replacement was delivered and placed on board. The main reason choosing this type was cost. 

Our good friends, Marmus, a local boat survey business, came to our aid by first making precise measurements of the old mast and transmitting them to the manufacturers who, once fabricated and preserved, delivered the mast to Old Leigh. As Marmus had commissioned the replacement, they were presented with the account and, most generously, cleared it at no cost to the Trust! 

A Change of Patron

Dame Helen Mirren has been the patron of the Leigh-on-Sea Endeavour Trust since then Chair Mike King invited her to take up the role in 2021.

Summer Social at Osborne's

The Hoy Shanty Men Entertain in 2025

The ever-popular Endeavour Summer Social for 2026 has been announced! It will take place at Osborne Bros on Billet Wharf at 7 for 7:30pm on Friday, 26th June, with tickets priced at £25 per person.

This event is open to all members and friends and is always an enjoyable evening! 

Centenary Dinner Announced

2026 marks Endeavour's centenary year. 

Endeavour holds a special place in our hearts for what she represents; the men that worked her and boats like her in and around the Thames estuary, the extraordinary heroism and sacrifices of the Leigh Dunkirk crews and the inspiring story of our community coming together to ensure her restoration.

2026 Sailing Schedule Online

The 2026 Schedule is now online and attached for those receiving the newsletter by email. 

Please do get in touch and ask if you can take a trip—we want Endeavour to be used by the community!

 

Leigh at War Memorial Service at St Clement's

The 2026 service to mark “Leigh at War” will be in St. Clement’s churchyard on Mon, 1st June at noon. 

It marks 86 years since that miraculous moment when so many were saved from the beaches of Dunkirk, assisted by the brave of the crews of the Navy and the ‘little ships’. The sad loss of three of our local fishermen, Frank & Harry Osborne and Harry Noakes, plus naval rating Harold Porter on board Renown is testament to this. 

In the event of poor weather, the event will move inside the church.

 

AGM 2025

The 2025 Annual General Meeting of the Leigh-on-Sea Endeavour Trust will be held at the Leigh Community Centre 71-73, Elm Road, Leigh-on-Sea, SS9 1SP (map) at 7pm on Thursday 13^th November.

All members are welcome to attend.

The agenda is linked below.

Agenda 

Minutes 

Welcome to the Autumn 2025 Newsletter!

Welcome to the Autumn 2025 Newsletter!

In this issue, we bring you news of an incident during the Nore Race that has caused some damage to the boat. We also report on the very enjoyable Summer Reception at Osborne Bros. 

We're delighted to bring you a story about Leigh Fisherman Ted Potter, who built the most delightful models of Endeavour just before the millennium. 

Please drop us a line if you have any comments, or post a message on our Facebook page. 

Drama at the Nore Race 2025

After last year’s successful completion of the Nore Race’s short course, it was decided to enter
again this year and continue showing the flag.

Summer Social at the Osbornes

Sixty members and friends gathered at Osbornes Cafe, Billet Wharf, on 17th July on a fine summer’s evening. A BBQ skewer meal was served by the friendly staff and enjoyed by all, while the mastless Endeavour lay on her mooring nearby.

There was quite a bit of chat about where the new mast might come from (see story) among other topics. 

A Model Subject

Endeavour in her original form, originally owned by Dave Spurgeon, now by his sons

We’ve previously reported on the remote control model of Endeavour built by Jimmy and Barbara Waters, but that wasn’t the first time Endeavour had been rendered at small scale.  Or the second. Or, indeed, third!

New Subscriptions Due

Would members please note the new subscriptions due on 1st September.

Would those who already pay by standing order please amend accordingly.

Those who have not yet set up a standing order are encouraged so to do.

As previously announced, the new rates are as follows:    

Individual  £20
   
Retired  £15 

Family  £30

Oh We Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside!

How lovely to see so many happy faces from some of our members enjoying a trip out along the seafront on Endeavour on the 16th of August! 

Endeavour Book Coming Soon!

With 2026 marking the centenary of Endeavour’s launch, the Trust is currently hard at work putting together a book to celebrate her remarkable story; the little ship from humble beginnings that became a war hero and a film star!

We’re reviewing old documents and fact checking everything we can to make sure we tell the story as best we possibly can.

Of course, any story about Endeavour is really a story about the people that built her, worked her and restored her, and we’re hoping to celebrate the Old Leigh fishing industry as a whole. 

The book won’t be ready for a while, but as soon as we have a publication date, we’ll make sure you know it and how to order a copy. 

Annual Laying Up Supper Details Announced

The Leigh-on-Sea Endeavour Trust Laying Up Supper will be taking place at 7pm on Friday 7th November 2025 at Essex County Bowling Club, 21 Imperial Avenue, Westcliff-on-Sea, SS0 8NE (Map).

This is a vital fundraiser for the Trust, and is always a good evening out!

Welcome to the Summer 2025 Newsletter!

Welcome to the Summer 2025 Newsletter!

This issue is very Dunkirk-focussed as Endeavour has just returned from the memorial events marking the 85th anniversary of the rescue. We bring you the story of the trip, including media appearances, and a new way to track Endeavour when she's out and about. We have also included an article about Harold Graham Porter, the naval rating that was on board Renown when she was lost on the return from Dunkirk along with her crew of three members of the Osborne family.

We also bring you the announcement of a Return to Dunkirk BBQ evening to be held at Osborne Bros in July.

Please drop us a line if you have any comments, or post a message on our Facebook page. 

Back to the Beaches - Dunkirk 2025

Endeavour has recently returned from Dunkirk where she took part in the memorial events marking the 85th anniversary of the evacuations. This was the first return for ten years due to the interruption of Covid in 2020, and it also marks the first time that there would be no veterans present. 

Endeavour left Leigh on Monday, 19th May, for Ramsgate, where it assembled with the sixty six other Little Ships in the Association of Dunkirk Little Ships flotilla. On board were skipper Alan Barttram, mate Andy Lewis and a crew of Cameron McGregor,  Carl Pullen,  Justin Hitchcock,  Robin Tothill and  Bill Shirley.   

Harold Graham Porter

When Renown hit a sea mine in the early hours of 1st June 1940, four men lost their lives. They are commemorated on the memorial in St Clements' Churchyard. Three of them-skipper Harry Noakes, engineer Frank Osborne and deckhand Leslie 'Lukie' Osborne-were cousins, all part of the Osborne family that continues to fish from Leigh to this day, and whose descendants Andrew and Graham Osborne became joint presidents of the Trust in 2024.

The forth was Harold Porter, and he is often assumed to be another Leigh man. He was actually a naval rating that was assigned to Renown when she reported to Southend Pier for duty in May 1940, and could easily have not gone to Dunkirk. Born in West Bromwich in 1921 to Sidney and Mabel Porter, Harold Graham Porter's father was a jeweller. Between 1934 and 1938, Harold attended the prestigious public school Malvern College, but apparently was not particularly academic as a quite blunt report of his death in the school journal records.