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.

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!

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. 

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.

Return to Dunkirk

This May will see Endeavour return to Dunkirk for the first time since 2015. This pilgrimage should take place every five years, but Covid put pay to the 2020 trip.

This marks the 85th anniversary of the Miracle of Dunkirk, the rescue of the British Army from the French coast from what should have been a crushing defeat by the vastly superior surrounding German army.

A Trip in Memoriam

Our esteemed membership secretary, Chris Burls, and his wife Connie recently took a trip to the National Memorial Arboretum near Alrewas in Staffordshire, where they took the time to view the Dunkirk memorial. They were able to reflect on that momentous day and how we are connected to it via Endeavour and the other Leigh ships that went over to rescue the men from the beaches, most especially, of course, Renown and her crew.

Endeavour on TV

 

Endeavour, vets and film crew at Penton Lock last summer

Channel 5 is currently airing a three-part series about Dunkirk on Saturdays at 21:30, and Endeavour will feature in the as-yet unbroadcast episodes.

Dunkirk: Mission Impossible is presented by former Marine JJ Chalmers with Raksha Dave. The filming took place last year at Penton Lock during the Association of Dunkirk Little Ship's annual veteran's cruise. We should point out that as the film crew were filming from Endeavour's deck, she may not feature as often as other boats at Penton, but she *will* appear in the second and third episodes.

 

Episode 1 is available until 05/12/22 from here: https://www.channel5.com/.../dunkirk.../season-1/episode-1

Ben & Lucy and Sarah Hide — Key Boats During the Dunkirk Mission

The last issue of the newsletter had a lot of Dunkirk-related information. Two of the boats that played a significant role in the Leigh boats' Dunkirk experience were the slightly larger vessels into which the cocklers were decanting the men they’d rescued from the beaches and the mole.

The Ben and Lucy was a wooden steam drifter, while the Sarah Hide was a steel drifter/ trawler. The boats had a fair amount in common.  Some digging by Rob Everitt and Fraser Marshall led to us finding photos of these boats and some more information.

The Sands of Dunkirk

Photo Montage by Fraser Marshall

In 1961, journalist, military historian and novelist Richard Collier published a book entitled The Sands of Dunkirk about the 1940 evacuation, a copy of which has recently found its way into the hands of the Trust.

The book used personal recollections and wove them together to tell the story from the first-person perspectives of those that were there. Long out-of-print, the book provides an interesting insight into what it was actually like for those involved.

In the book there is a section, slightly under a page in length, that talks about the Leigh boats. The first part is about an incident that occurred when Endeavour arrived at Dunkirk and encountered heavy shelling. The later part gives harrowing detail about the loss of the Renown.

Sub. Lt .Martin Solomon, Commander of the Leigh Boats at Dunkirk

A rare photograph of
Martin Solomon

This is a slightly expanded version of the article that appeared in the newsletter, due to the greater amount of space we have available.

Sub. Lt. Martin Solomon was the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve commander in charge of the Leigh boats at Dunkirk.

Martin Herbert Bernhard Solomon was born in Kensington, London, in October 1915. His father had served in the First World War, where he received the Military Cross, and was a prominent British Zionist who, after the war until his death in 1948, advised the British authorities in respect of Jews in the British area of Germany.

Solomon was educated at Rugby and Christ's College, Cambridge, and became a theatrical manager and producer in London, working on shows at venues including the Savoy and Kingsway Theatres. One show for which Solomon was producer was 1937's Flying Blind at the Arts Theatre, Westminster. The lead was James Mason, just as his ascent to Hollywood stardom was beginning, opposite the actress who would become his first wife, Pamela Kellino. Solomon would also manage the rising stars John Mills and Leigh-on-Sea-born Michael Wilding.

Who Were the Leigh Men at Dunkirk?

 In this edition of the newsletter, we have presented a long out-of-print account of the Leigh boats at Dunkirk and a short biography of their commanding officer.

We would like to have just as much information on the men who crewed the Leigh boats at Dunkirk.

If Endeavour means anything, she represents not just a wooden vessel that went to Dunkirk, but all of the men of the town who risked their lives to save others in Britain’s darkest hour, and she is also a focus to help us think about the fishing industry over the years and what it means to our town. It is vital that we preserve the connection between her and the town so that she continues to be important for future generations.

When Endeavour Went to Westminster

Fishermen are once again asking for greater control of the seas as the country tries to secure trading deals with the European Union. When we joined the Common Market fishermen were just as militant about their rights and took their protests to the heart of London.

Endeavour’s former owner, Peter Wexham had a leading part in the protest with his partner, Dave Spurgeon. Recalling the protest Peter said: “It was always hard to make a living whilst having a family and a mortgage as well as the expenses of the boat and this was a very hard decision in my life.

Little Ships Deserve Veteran Status

The Association of Dunkirk Little Ships has asked Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Johnny Mercer to give the boats veteran status.

Ian Gilbert, the vice admiral of the ADLS has written to the Minister, “That it be considered that the Little Ships be recognised for their unique role in our heritage” by being designated as “veterans” under the Armed Forces Covenant.

Through a Fog Darkly

Going to sea in fog is not the ideal way to earn a living, but in post-war Britain times were tough. Rationing was still in force until the '50s, wages were low and Endeavour and the rest of Leigh's boats had to go to sea. Joe Deal was skipper then and his crew included the late George Cocks whose reminiscences we have touched on in the past, and who wrote the following account: ‘One morning it was very cold, dark and foggy when Bill and I went down to the boat. Other fishermen were moaning about the horrible weather with quite few wanting to go back home. Dawn was trying to cut through the fog and I said to Bill, "Are we going out?" He replied, "We shall go when the trees come clear on Two Tree Island.”’

Memories from the 1940s

The Trust's Facebook page produces some interesting reactions from followers.

One, Julian Wilson, sent us the picture above of Valerie, a 48ft bawley alongside No 1 jetty opposite the Hope Hotel in Southend just after World War 11. His family owned four bawleys moored east
of the pier and also had two pleasure boats on the Marine Parade pitches. These were New Prince of Wales 1 and New Princess Maud and Mr Wilson recalls Endeavour in Leigh Creek. I remember her just after the war when Dad had reason to come up to our boats on winter lay-ups in the mud berths beyond Johnson and Jago's yard.” He also remembered weekends afloat with 3rd Chalkwell Bay Sea Scouts.

After the war Valerie was fitted out for spratting. Mr Wilson remembers secondhand gear coming from Maldon to re-rig her sails and take part in the first post war Fishermen's Regatta. LO 180 was the company apprentice’s boat. The Ministry and Agriculture and Fisheries and the Ministry of Transport gave grants to owners who took on apprentices to train as seamen. Mr Wilson was aboard and trained by Sidney Cotgrove who was lured from semi-retirement for the job and the boss's son duly became skipper. At one time Valerie held the record for the highest tonnage of sprats caught in a weekend trip.

Mr Wilson's father and his partner Albert Brand had bought a LCT - a Landing Craft (Tank) vessel - which they used as a mothership for the firm's four bawleys and smacks. Mr Wilson said: “We’d shoot our nets, recover them when the cod-end came to the surface, call up the LCT on the e-army sets Dad had fitted on the boats.

The LCT would come alongside and we'd swing the cod-end across into her tank deck, release the haul there before going back to shoot the trawl again.” When fishing stopped the LCT went up river to Billingsgate Fish Market where Mr Wilson senior had pre-sold the fish. Later the boats went white weeding which was big earner for boats when fish were scarce.

Sadly Valerie became 'nail sick' and needed complete re-caulking. Repairs carried out during the war had been hastily carried out using available material. Local competition was tough and contracts
from canneries were running out and sprats had stopped shoaling off the Estuary. Valerie was sold to Norfolk for conversion to a yacht. It is not known if she survives.

Mr Wilson has also written a downloadable document about the experiences of the Southend fishing boats that went to Dunkirk, including Endeavour.

Contact website@endeavourtrust.co.uk and we’ll pass your request on.

Can you identify these people on Endeavour?

If you know any of the people shown here with Endeavour, please drop us a line and let us know!

Fowl Deeds, Foul Weather - Peter Wexham

Peter Wexham took over Endeavour from Joe Deal, his father in law and they went shrimping around 1960.  He recalls Joe's singing constantly in all kinds of weather!

In good weather they were happy songs, but in a gale it was more likely For those in peril on the sea!

"I can remember standing in the cabin with the slider pulled over my head, looking aft on a bleak and sodden night and I can still see Joe standing down in the engine room with oilskin and sou'wester on; with a fish box on its side to shield his face and him singing his heart out."

While fishing off the north side of the channel by the Chapman Lighthouse he and Joe caught a bomb!

"It was about six feet long," Peter says. "We were always catching shells and lumps of aeroplanes and other things we didn't know because they were too heavy for us to lift.  We did get this bomb to the surface and made it fast to the side of the boat.

"This thing was hissing. I expect there was a hole in it where it had corroded. Air was going in and out as we went through the water and Joe was fending it away from Endeavour, the bomb was hanging in a net from two blocks that we used to hoist things aboard with."

Peter Wexham mans the tiller

With their deadly cargo swinging alongside Peter put the boat in gear and steered for the West Leigh Middle buoy, a part of the river where no one normally towed.

"When we got there Joe started to cut the net and told me: "When I say now, put the boat in gear and give her as much engine as you can... then duck!"

The bomb dropped without going bang when it hit the bottom.  Joe had remembered one of the Cotgrove family being killed when his beam trawler hit a mine and blew the transom off the boat killing him and sinking the boat.

Later, while working with Dave Spurgeon white weeding and beam trawling, Endeavour's nets caught a cache of rifles, shotguns and air rifles which the Metropolitan Police had dumped following a firearms amnesty.  These days the Met destroy guns they have recovered but times were different then.

"They were all in working order when they came up," Peter recalls.  "A lot of fishermen were wildfowlers who were grateful for the shotguns."  The rest were dumped near the Nore buoy.

During her working life Endeavour sailed in foul and freezing weather.  Peter had added a wheelhouse which gave some comfort but returning from white weeding one winter evening it began to snow.  Dave Spurgeon was on the wheel while Peter sorted the weed aft.
"It started to blow from the southwest and was snowing heavily. Dave was standing in the wheelhouse door looking over the top to see where we were going.  I came in for a warm and he didn't move a muscle.

Peter Wexham framed by the Thames Estuary

"The spray and snow covered his face and balaclava.  His beard and eyebrows were so thick he looked like he had been caught up Everest.  If he shut his eyes his eyelashes froze together.  It was a very strange sight, but a cup of hot soup did him the world of good."

On another occasion, working off the Outer Tongue lightship northeast of Margate the weather was foul again and Endeavour headed for home. The boat shipped a lot of water and Dave went below to prime the pump.

Peter says: "As he did so there was a shriek as his hand went round the power take-off with the belt giving him, in wrestling terms, an 'Irish whip' which broke his wrist."

A call for the lifeboat went out and when it arrived a large bearded man jumped aboard and said: "Hello, I'm Davy Jones!"

"So Dave is probably the only fisherman to be greeted by Davy Jones and survive.  Dave didn't think it was funny at the time but I'll never forget it."

Peter’s last trip as owner was not to the fishing grounds.  It was 1971 and Britain was about to join the Common Market.  The Government claimed all the resources under the sea, oil sand and aggregate but gave away fishing rights to European control.

Outraged fishermen vowed to protest at Parliament and a flotilla of boats from around the country made its way to the Thames for the journey upriver to Westminster. Among them, Endeavour carrying a handmade banner with SOS on it for 'Save Our Soles'.  The 'o' was in the form of a lifebelt.  "It was a long trip up river and we had some local press with us.  As we went through Docklands all the cranes lowered their jibs to us as we went past.  It was a tremendous sight," says Peter. "I don't think it had ever happened before." 

Dave Spurgeon with Endeavour in the background

"Once we got up the river the police and the Port of London Authority stopped us and we were all told to moor up.  They said one small boat can go through Tower Bridge to make the protest and it was down to Endeavour to do this with the world's cameras watching.  They raised Tower Bridge for us to go up to London Bridge and then back to join the rest of the fleet.  "We were put on a pleasure boat to go up to Westminster Pier.  It had TV cameras on the bow and everyone got in front of them.  Then the skipper gave out over the loudhailer that everyone must move back because he had lost control as the propeller was half out of the water!  "We did our march along Whitehall and the Embankment to Big Ben where we had a coffin with signs on it saying 'British Fish for British Fishermen' and we launched it from the bridge into the water and watched it float down river until the PLA got it out saying it was a hazard to shipping."
 
"It was a sad day and I had a bad headache, which for some reason I always did when I went to London.  I asked Dave to drop me off at Tilbury where I got the train home. The next day I talked to my family and Dave and sold him my share in the business and never went aboard Endeavour again until we found her years later in Rochester."

Artful Surprise

The Endeavour section of John Bulley's Dunkirk mural in Victoria Plaza, Southend

Members of the Trust Committee frequently get asked about the Dunkirk mural in Victoria Plaza. The large artwork by John Bulley has been in place for some time now. His work has appeared on various sites around the town over the years as John follows Banksy by placing pictures on run down sites. A founder of the alternative Estuary Arts Festival John has worked on film sets from Harry Potter to Memphis Belle.

His most famous work is the railway bridge at Camden Lock as well as at London Zoo. The Dunkirk mural was done with help from Shoebury High School, South Essex Homes and Victoria Plaza.

We didn't have room for this in the newsletter, but due to the cramped space where the mural appears, it's difficult to get a decent photograph of the whole piece, however, John Bulley kindly send us three photographs of his draft sketch which we've crudely superimposed upon each other to give an impression of how the full piece looks:

A photograph of the left hand side of the mural with some of the artists from Shoeburyness High School can be found here.

Tales from History

Above: Col Harding addresses members and the Mayor of Southend at the annual dinner

Seventy members and their guests attended the annual dinner held at Essex County Bowls Club in November. Our guest speaker was Colonel Michael Harding, a Windsor Knight who explained how the order was formed by King Edward 111 following the Battle of Crecy in 1346.

Endeavour Fishing in the late 1970s - Stuart Strauss

At the Leigh regatta in September, we were approached by Stuart Strauss. He told us that he had skippered Endeavour in the late 1970s and was able to fill in some gaps we had in Endeavour's working life, shortly before she left Leigh and worked out of Kent. We are very grateful to Stuart for spending time penning some memories he has, which we are delighted to share below with  members and the community.

In early 1976 I was having lunch in a cafe near Glendale Gardens when Mike of Mike's Boatyard came and sat at my table and we got chatting. I told him I was fitting out a boat to go weeding with. "Don't bother with that", he said, "I've recently bought the Endeavour. Come and work that for me".