Harrison, Geoffrey Edgar

June 13th, 2007 by JCB
Posted in Obituaries | No Comments »

There are many retired pilots throughout the UK who, although not widely known outside their own District, were dedicated to their work as a pilot and their passing should definitely be recorded in the annals of the UKPA (M). Read the rest of this entry »

Simpson, John A

June 13th, 2007 by JCB
Posted in Obituaries | 1 Comment »

My father, Captain J.A. Simpson, died on 29th December 2006, in his home at Lower Largo, Fife where he had been born almost 93 years earlier. Read the rest of this entry »

Temple, John Christopher

June 13th, 2007 by JCB
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John Christopher Temple 1940 – 2007

Merseyside and the Liverpool Pilots have lost a true seafarer in retired Liverpool Pilot, John Christopher Temple, who died on 22nd January 2007, after six months of a dreadful illness, which he bore with great dignity. Read the rest of this entry »

Sidgwick, Len

June 13th, 2007 by JCB
Posted in Obituaries | No Comments »

LEN SIDGWICK 31.05.1927 - 20.02.2007

Len Sidgwick was born in Middlesbrough in 1927. From an early age he had an interest in the sea, probably inherited from a Master Mariner Grandfather. Read the rest of this entry »

Spall, Jeffrey

July 15th, 2006 by JCB
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Jeffrey Spall

14 June 1933 – 3 March 2006

Born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Jeff left home at the age of 16 and took an Apprenticeship with the Hain Steamship Company of London. Obtaining his Master’s Certificate in 1959 at the age of 27 he rose to the rank of Chief Officer. Read the rest of this entry »

Venn, Alfred William

July 15th, 2006 by JCB
Posted in History, Obituaries | 1 Comment »

Alfred William Venn

My father died just six weeks short of his one hundredth birthday. He was the last known survivor of the Bristol Channel Sailing Pilots.

View the original illustrated pdf magazine article (page 8):

www.pilotmag.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/pilotmag-286-final.pdf

At the height of the industrial revolution, the new coal ports of South Wales became boom towns – the Silicon Valleys – of their day. Great wealth was created and commerce from Swansea to Newport, and good Welsh coal was shipped to the four corners of the world to fuel the new era. Even the great port of Bristol, once the second city in England, was overtaken by the convergence of rail, canal and the inevitable melding of coal, steel, iron and the mighty machines it brought forth. Central to the sea-going operation were the one hundred and fifty or so pilots long heralded as master of their calling. The Bristol Channel is one of the most difficult bodies of waters in the world to navigate, with violent seas, the second most powerful tides and attendant currents, and endless changing mud and sandbanks. To qualify for admittance to the ranks of pilotage took half a lifetime, and the boats matched the same degrees of excellence to which the men aspired. Read the rest of this entry »

MacDonald, Archie

July 15th, 2006 by JCB
Posted in Obituaries | 3 Comments »

Archie Macdonald

Archie MacDonald always wanted to go to sea. Born in 1917 in Greenock, Scotland, he was the youngest son of a boat builder. Read the rest of this entry »