PEMBROKE & MONKTON LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY
By Linda Asman
When this was taken 100 years ago boats were a common sight at Pembroke.
The River Rally
Once again I had the opportunity to join the West Wales
Maritime Heritage Society on a voyage up the Pembroke River. A couple of weeks ago on a grey and misty
day it was on the occasion of the Seafair Haven, but this time it was to take
part in the annual River Rally to Pembroke’s South Quay.
Henry VII (Peter Kraus) greets David James at Hobbs Point.
This time we were lucky.
The sun shone as I boarded one of the West Wales Maritime Heritage
Society’s crafts “Quest” on Hobbs Point along with none other than Henry VII
himself (alias Peter Kraus, Mayor of Pembroke Dock). As usual David James, Secretary of the Society led the way with
“Supporter” to Crow Pool where we rendezvoused with other boats making their
way from various points along the waterway to join the rally. Already there was “Dashing”, Cllr John Allen-Mirehouse’s
boat, the lead vessel carrying the Mayor of Pembroke Cllr Mel Phillips.
The flotilla headed by Cllr John Allen Mirehouse's 'Dashing' arriving in Castle Pond.
Spectators gather at South Quay to welcome The River Rally.
David
James phoned Myrrdin Dennis of PCC to check that the barrage gate was lowered
and at around 2.45 pm the flotilla of boats set off on the journey up the
Pembroke River. It was a lovely
summer’s day, the sunshine rendering the water a brilliant blue, and the boats
cut a colourful spectacle as they sailed along Castle Pond to dock at the South
Quay. Many spectators had gathered to
view the event and join in the activities there and we were greeted by Pauline
Waters, the Town Crier, who welcomed us all to Pembroke. First to step ashore
was The Mayor who declared “This river rally is to
exercise the right of passage up and down the Pembroke River for the people of
Pembrokeshire."
Pembroke Mayor Mel Phillips with Pembroke Dock Mayor Peter Kraus
and Pembroke Town Crier Pauline Waters with granddaughter Ellie.
A right of passage
This is the actual reason behind the river rally which is
funded by Pembroke Town Council and organised by West Wales Maritime Heritage
Society. It dates back to the building
of the barrage when the Council insisted that the rights of navigation of the
Pembroke River be maintained and the gate be lowered by demand: the County
Council have to maintain the mechanism.
I asked David James when the rallies began and he remembers
the first rally taking place in about 1989 “Govan Davies’s boat ‘Pride of
Pembroke’ led the way with guest of honour Sir Geraint Evans, the famous Welsh
tenor, on board and ever since it has been an annual event. Sometimes it coincides with Seafair Haven
but on others it is a stand alone event.
Such is the prestige of the river rally that the Pembroke Festival,
originally held in September, was rescheduled to coincide with it.”
It is largely due to David and his navigational skills that
this event is able to take place. “Basically I act as harbour pilot calculating
the tidal movements, issuing sailing directions to skippers and guiding the
flotilla up the river. The main
difficulty lies in staying in the channel, a winding path marked by numbered
candy striped buoys.”
The other problem is the barrage. “this has to be closed at
5.9 metres above chart datum” David pointed out. “This is primarily designed to keep Castle Pond artificially low
to prevent flooding of the Commons and within these restraints the fleet has to
be rushed in and either stay overnight or dash out smartly!”
A great trip
The Mayor, Town Crier and Henry VII made a colourful trio as
they stood on the sunny quayside with many, including myself, taking their
photograph. I asked Cllr Phillips if
she had enjoyed the trip.
“My brother and I had the most wonderful day” she enthused
“thanks to Rosie and John Mirehouse and also to Frank Penfold who steered us
through 2 foot 6 inches of water!! We were aboard John's vintage and
classic Nelson, apparently the Rolls Royce of its class. It was built in
1963 and rescued from a boatyard in Cowes on the Isle of Wight.
I have never done this trip before and it was great to
see places like Bentlass, Pennar Gut and the Millbacks, all from the opposite
side of the river. We passed the ruins
of the Isolation Hospital known locally as The Pill, where children were
sent who had contracted Scarlet Fever and Diphtheria. My
mum contracted Scarlet fever and Dr Manby told my gran that she had to go
to The Pill. Gran refused saying that the family was isolated
enough in the Millbacks, so he allowed mum to stay at home, providing
the house was fumigated.
Thanks again to all and of course to David James for
organising it.”
Yes, it was a great day and a great occasion: Pembroke comes
alive when the boats come up the river and I can well understand why so many
Pembroke people hate the barrage!
Steam Launch Association Rally
There will be another chance to see a flotilla coming up to
Pembroke as the Steam Launch Association is organising events along the Milford
Haven Waterway and plan to visit Pembroke on Tuesday, August 14th. . They will be arriving at the South Quay at
approximately 15:15 pm.
Last year two steam launches came to Pembroke under David’s
guidance to see how their boats could cope with the river. It was so successful that they decided to
come again this year. David would like
to add that other boats would be welcome to join the flotilla and anyone
wishing to do so, please contact him on 01646 683764.
Contact
If you have any stories or photographs for this column,
please contact me, Linda Asman, on
Memory Lane
For a change and appropriate to this week’s article, I am
including here a photograph of a boat.
There are many in Pembroke who will recognise the ‘Kathleen and May’,
seen here at the North Quay. The last
boat to trade at Pembroke, she is remembered with great affection. There was a time when the West Wales
Maritime Heritage Society had hoped to establish a maritime heritage centre
with the ‘Kathleen and May’ docked alongside but sadly this never
happened. Wouldn’t it have been
wonderful for Pembroke if it had?
‘Kathleen and May’, at the North Quay.
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