with
special thanks to.... John & Anne Harman, Ray Harman and David Smythe
for their contributions,
The names of Whitstable's barges live long in the memories of
many people who had connections with the barge trade or harbour.
For those people, the names of vessels such as..... Kathleen....
Savoy.... Cereal.... and Trilby trip off
the tongue as easily as the names of the streets of our town.
However, one barge name lives on in the memories of ALL
Whitstable people.... and yet it may never have traded from Whitstable, may never have visited the harbour and
may never have put to
sea from our waterfront. Even more certain is that it never sailed under the name that now
trips off the tongue as easily as a street name. She was, of
course...... The Vigilant.
The Vigilant arrived under a very different title in the wake of a
tragic accident and she was renamed by
local people. She never left our shoreline and, from the 1920s to the 1960s, became a
permanent feature of the beach on the eastern side of The
Neptune public house.
John Harman explains some of the history and includes photos
from his family album....
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VIGILANT
by John Harman
This sequence of photos was taken back in
1963 when my wife Anne and I came home to the UK for a
brief visit.
© John Harman
The shot above features Anne in the
foreground in the soft light of evening. In the background, we
have the Vigilant barge..... looking somewhat worse for
wear.
The vessel was actually a sailing barge
and my brother Ray tells me that it was originally
called the "Lady Ellen". However, in the
late1920s, it was run down in fog by a steamer far out off
Whitstable.
Although this was before my time, my elder
brothers and sisters recall her being brought ashore by
the Whitstable Sea Cadets with the help of a nearby ship
yard that had the necessary equipment. At that time, my
cousin Harry was the Drum Major and he played a large part
in the process of beaching the craft.
Of course, the vessel never returned to
the water. It was renamed The Vigilant and became the Sea
Cadet's HQ for many years. I have been told that, in the
early days, social events were held in her including
'whist drives'.
A door was inserted in the hull to form an
entrance.... and that door marked the very point in the
starboard quarter where she had been struck by the
steamer!
The photo below was also taken in 1963 -
looking east from the Neptune. It shows the bow of the
Vigilant looking a bit seedy.
© John Harman
In the distance, the long shed of another boatyard (RJ
Perkins) can be seen just to the right of the old oyster store. The tall,
silver section is a sacrificial front with huge doors constructed of
corrugated steel. These could be opened (or completely removed) to allow a
newly constructed vessel out.
At this time, the Vigilant appeared to have been sheathed with
metal in order to protect her or cover up her decay. The sheathing was rusting
and had a bleached look rather than the shiny black of the past.
However, it was not always so. My next photo is an extract
from a picture taken of me in 1947... with the Neptune public house and the
Vigilant in the background.....
Photo kindly supplied by John
Harman
Here, the old ship looks quite trim for
her age. The stouter mast in the centre was much used by
the cadets in the distant past. The more daring ones were
sent to the top to do semaphore with hand held flags!
This mast could be seen from all over town and appears in
many old photographs.
John Harman
Sidney
British Columbia
Canada
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As you will see from our "Where Are
They Now" page, many Thames barges underwent
alterations after they ended their working life.... including
conversion to barge yachts and houseboats. The Vigilant was itself
modified in order to meet the requirements of a Sea Cadet HQ.
Below, John explains the alterations using his opening
photo and bit of photographic trickery.....
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Vigilant
Modifications
by John Harman
As a barge, the vessel would have had a large
main hatch to the cargo hold and forward of the mast, a smaller
one with decking between them. The mast which was hinged at the base
stood on this portion of deck.
In the conversion to the VIGILANT, a cabin top
was built over these two hatches with the mast sticking up through the
top. That portion of deck was now inside the cabin and formed a
balcony of sorts. From the lower hold, it could be accessed by stairs
(a companion way). On the balcony, there was a door in the
cabin top to exit to the outside surrounding deck.
© John Harman
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That elongated cabin can be glimpsed in the
background of another of John's family photos... along with some
characters who were well known in local maritime circles!.....
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Photo kindly supplied by
John Harman
This photo is taken on the beach in front of the
Anderson, Rigden and Perkins boatyard in 1949. In the
background the extended cabin of the Vigilant is
visible.
In the forground, we have Tom Harman (John's dad and
one of the town's most well known fishermen), Ray Harman
(John's brother and a craftsman at the AR&P
boatyard), Mutton Collar and his dog, Charles (John's
brother-in-law) and Una Frost.
They are standing in front of George Harman's first
fishing boat - the Welcome Messenger II. (Note: Tom
Harman was the owner of the first "Welcome
Messenger"!). |
Although the Vigilant never put to sea again, she
inspired many young sailors in her shorebound role as the TS
Vigilant. She also occupied a place at the very heart of the
town's maritime industry - surrounded be seagoing
"friends" as described by John below....
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Bow
of the Vigilant
by John Harman
The photo below shows the bow of the Vigilant in
1963...
© John Harman
The boat immediately behind Anne is
the Gamecock which had recently been bought by Bill
Coleman and was undergoing extensive repairs by him.
Previously, Gamecock had belonged to
the Stroud Family. After refloating at the end of the war,
she was Bert Stroud's fishing vessel and was used for
shrimping. During that time, Bert bought another boat
for fishing - a very fast one. It was an ex German
Navy boat from the war. Strangely enough, it just happens
to be the other boat in the picture - the blue one.
The shed that you can just see above
the blue boat, is the one that local artist and signwriter
Peter Dadd occupied. For years before that, it was Bento
Rigdens!
The large shipyard building to the
left of Peter's shed and the Peoples Free Mission
all went up in flames in 1974 - eleven years after the
photo was taken.
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John's photo helps to show the size of the
Vigilant. It also features the large concrete block on
which the bow rested for many years.
As John has pointed out, the vessel was in quite a
state of disrepair by the early 1960s. Eventually, the passing of
time and the effects of weather took its final toll. The Sea Cadets were relocated to a brick
building in Middle Wall (at the rear of Rooks the
Butchers).and the Vigilant was removed from
the beach for ever. David Smythe describes its demise....
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End of The Vigilant
by David
Smythe
My family lived (1962-66) in what was then called 'The
Old Vines' 48 Island Wall. At that time, it was all one
property and the 'Chalet' Cafe in our garden was called
'The Wigam'. This was run by me and my mum when I left
college.
I was responsible for the demise of the T.S. Vigilant
(about 1965) when it was derelict on the beach directly in
front of the Wigwam. It became so unsightly and was the
joy of many amateur arsonists. So, I offered the Sea Cadet
captain my services to break it up. I and many of the lads
literally pulled it apart and burned the debris on the
beach.
The three foot square concrete block on which the bow had
rested remained there for many years and I am sure people
wondered why this block was there.
Now you know!
David Smythe |
In the years that followed, the nearby boatyard
also closed its doors for the last time and it all looks so very different in
the modern era....
The beach is now empty and the yards have long
been replaced by neat seafront residences. However, memories live
on for those of us old enough to recall the Vigilant as both a familiar feature of our shoreline and
an integral part of the town itself.
For newcomers and younger members of the
community, there are, of course, reminders that ensurethe
Vigilant will never be wholly forgotten. The small section of shingle
that once housed the barge continues to be know by locals as The Vigilant
Beach and the Sea Cadets still proudly wear the name "TS Vigilant" on their caps.
Hopefully, no amount of redevelopment will change that.
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