The Terror Re-born

The last remaining Victorian "working boat" in the Emsworth Oyster Fleet was saved from dereliction by the Chichester Harbour Conservancy (CHC), with the help of the Heritge Lottery Fund (HLF). and in 2004 Terror was moved from a greenhouse in Woodmancote to Dolphin Quay boatyard, just a few hundred yards from where she was built in the 1880's.

Under the guidance of Tim Gilmore and through the superb craftsmanship of Richard Uttley, with the assistance of an apprentice, Sam Poore, who was sponsored by the CHC and HLF, Terror was re-built and is now a fine working boat again.

In a ceremony introduced by Colonel John Davis, the Harbourmaster, on Friday 8¹¹ September, the first day of the Emsworth Food Festival, she was formally re-launched at Emsworth Quay by Jane Weeks (Chairman of the HLF S.E. Region) after a blessing by the Dean of Winchester. The whole ceremony was master-minded by John Tweddell, one of our General Committee members,-in his capacity of Vice-Chairman of the EFF, and by Robert Perry of the CHC.

One who has taken a keen interest in the resurrection of Terror is Ernest Rudkin, who at 101 years of age is surely the only man living who actually sailed in her when he was a young lad. He was there to witness the re-launch ceremony from a vantage point on board the CHC Solar boat, lying close by the quay. We are particularly proud of Ernie as certainly the oldest member of the Trust and, of course, brother to David Rudkin, our Founder.

I was privileged to sit alongside Ernie and to witness the pleasure the whole ceremony gave him. After the re-launch, we were able to follow Terror as with all sails set she sailed down the channel and back. It was an impressive sight and fast, too. Ernie told me that she was known as the fastest boat in the harbour in her day.

The Trust has been involved throughout the restoration, and the Museum displays a history of the Terror as well as a fascinating oral history tape, recorded in the workshop.

Historical footnote. In the course of blessing Terror, the Dean of Winchester said that his daughter forbade him to eat an oyster that day, bearing in mind that it was Emsworth oysters that caused the death of his predecessor in 1902 and the subsequent demise of the Emsworth Oyster industry!

 

Jack Kennett unloading to TERROR
Drawn by Ernest Rudkin's son David
The boys alongside are David Rudkin senior and Ernest, possibly about 1915.

 

Bruce Doxat-Pratt

 

This article is reproduced from The Emsworth Echo, November 2006, produced by the Emsworth Maritime and Historical Trust.

ã Emsworth Maritime and Historical Trust on behalf of the author 2006
 

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