Lydia Eva, YH 89 of Yarmouth
In 1930 the Lydia Eva, YH 89, was the last vessel ever built by the Kings Lynn Slipway Co. Ltd. Having been towed directly to Great Yarmouth after her launch, she was fitted out with her engine, boiler and machinery at Crabtrees and undertook her first sea-going trial on 22nd. July 1930. The herring industry had reached its peak in 1913 when 1006 vessels were based at Great Yarmouth, and was in decline at the time the Lydia Eva joined the small fleet owned by Harry Eastick of Gorleston, who named her after his daughter. Equipped with wireless and electric light, and specifically designed to be more efficient than her contemporaries, the declining herring stocks nonetheless meant that the Lydia Eva had a relatively short working life. With decent catches becoming increasingly difficult, she landed her last catch in December 1938. Two months later Harry Eastick sold her and his other remaining vessel to Norford Sufflings, a local firm of fish merchants.
She was sold on to Mr. Geoffrey Banes of the Caernarvonshire Yacht Company and was altered and equipped for a contract with the Air Ministry. Her new career began as a mooring depot for the Air Ministry’s Bombing and Gunnery School at Abersoch, Wales. From there she moved to Ilfracombe Maryport in Cumberland, maintaining and servicing buoys around the West coast. In 1942 she was requisitioned by the Ministry of War Transport and became engaged in salvage work at Weymouth, and then at Whitehaven where she stayed until 1960. In 1966 she was transferred to the Marine Services Division of the Royal Navy at Pembroke Dock in South Wale, where as HMS Watchmoor she was fitted with a new boiler and a higher wheelhouse but after 3 years service she was laid up for sale in Milford Haven.
The Maritime Trust was founded in 1969 in order to preserve vessels that were representative of Britain's maritime heritage. Being the only remaining vessel of her type, the Lydia Eva was purchased by the trust in 1971, and following an overhaul at Holman & Sons in Penzance she returned to Great Yarmouth. Charles Eastick, nephew of Harry, was able to offer invaluable advice. The RAF and Admiralty fittings were removed and Lowestoft company Overy's were able to construct a new but original wheelhouse. By 1973 she was a drifter again, and spent the next five years welcoming visitors on board at her berth at South Quay at Great Yarmouth.
In 1978 she sailed from Great Yarmouth, seemingly to be gone forever, to become part of the Maritime Trust exhibition at St. Katherine's Dock next to Tower Bridge in London. Financial difficulties eventually saw the closure of this exhibition in 1986, and once again she became laid up, this time at the West India Dock.
In 1989 enthusiasts in Norfolk and Suffolk, with support from County and Local councils, formed the Lydia Eva Charitable Trust Ltd, with the aim of purchasing the vessel and returning her to her home port. The project generated tremendous interest, and on 30th. June 1990 the Lydia Eva was towed back into Great Yarmouth harbour by the Port Authority tug, Hector Read. When the Lydia Eva was dry docked in Lowestoft early in the year 2000 it was found that parts of the ship's hull just below the waterline had rusted away so badly that it was not safe to put her on display either in Great Yarmouth or Lowestoft.
A Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £839,000 was awarded to the vessel and work began on 1st. March 2007, when local shipyard Small & Co. hauled the boat out, beginning to strip the hull back to bare metal to enable a detailed survey. The HLF grant and money raised by the trust total nearly £1.2 million, but the trust needed to raise another £100,000 to pay for renewal of rigging as well as restoration of the wheelhouse and crew quarters. The remaining work was carried out by the International Boatbuilding Training College at Lowestoft.
Lydia Eva is listed as part of the National Historic Fleet, registration number 43.
Name: Lydia Eva
Type: Steam drifter
Status: Museum ship
Home port: Gt. Yarmouth
Fishing registration number: YH89
Flag: United Kingdom
Length: 95 ft. (29 m)
Beam: 20.6 ft. (6.3 m)
Depth: 9.8 ft. (3.0 m)
Gross tonnage: 138 tons
Net tonnage: 64 tons
Builder: King's Lynn Slipway Co. Ltd, King's Lynn, Norfolk
Built: 1930
Engine: 1930, Crabtree & Co. (R.H. Hutchinson), Triple Expansion, 10" + 17" + 28" x 20".
Boiler: 1961, Stockton Chemical Engineers & Riley Boilers Ltd., RT Scotch.
Owner: Lydia Eva Charitable Trust Ltd.
Operator: Lydia Eva and Mincarlo Charitable Trust Ltd.
Also named: HMS Watchmoor
Lydia Eva, YH 89 of Yarmouth
In 1930 the Lydia Eva, YH 89, was the last vessel ever built by the Kings Lynn Slipway Co. Ltd. Having been towed directly to Great Yarmouth after her launch, she was fitted out with her engine, boiler and machinery at Crabtrees and undertook her first sea-going trial on 22nd. July 1930. The herring industry had reached its peak in 1913 when 1006 vessels were based at Great Yarmouth, and was in decline at the time the Lydia Eva joined the small fleet owned by Harry Eastick of Gorleston, who named her after his daughter. Equipped with wireless and electric light, and specifically designed to be more efficient than her contemporaries, the declining herring stocks nonetheless meant that the Lydia Eva had a relatively short working life. With decent catches becoming increasingly difficult, she landed her last catch in December 1938. Two months later Harry Eastick sold her and his other remaining vessel to Norford Sufflings, a local firm of fish merchants.
She was sold on to Mr. Geoffrey Banes of the Caernarvonshire Yacht Company and was altered and equipped for a contract with the Air Ministry. Her new career began as a mooring depot for the Air Ministry’s Bombing and Gunnery School at Abersoch, Wales. From there she moved to Ilfracombe Maryport in Cumberland, maintaining and servicing buoys around the West coast. In 1942 she was requisitioned by the Ministry of War Transport and became engaged in salvage work at Weymouth, and then at Whitehaven where she stayed until 1960. In 1966 she was transferred to the Marine Services Division of the Royal Navy at Pembroke Dock in South Wale, where as HMS Watchmoor she was fitted with a new boiler and a higher wheelhouse but after 3 years service she was laid up for sale in Milford Haven.
The Maritime Trust was founded in 1969 in order to preserve vessels that were representative of Britain's maritime heritage. Being the only remaining vessel of her type, the Lydia Eva was purchased by the trust in 1971, and following an overhaul at Holman & Sons in Penzance she returned to Great Yarmouth. Charles Eastick, nephew of Harry, was able to offer invaluable advice. The RAF and Admiralty fittings were removed and Lowestoft company Overy's were able to construct a new but original wheelhouse. By 1973 she was a drifter again, and spent the next five years welcoming visitors on board at her berth at South Quay at Great Yarmouth.
In 1978 she sailed from Great Yarmouth, seemingly to be gone forever, to become part of the Maritime Trust exhibition at St. Katherine's Dock next to Tower Bridge in London. Financial difficulties eventually saw the closure of this exhibition in 1986, and once again she became laid up, this time at the West India Dock.
In 1989 enthusiasts in Norfolk and Suffolk, with support from County and Local councils, formed the Lydia Eva Charitable Trust Ltd, with the aim of purchasing the vessel and returning her to her home port. The project generated tremendous interest, and on 30th. June 1990 the Lydia Eva was towed back into Great Yarmouth harbour by the Port Authority tug, Hector Read. When the Lydia Eva was dry docked in Lowestoft early in the year 2000 it was found that parts of the ship's hull just below the waterline had rusted away so badly that it was not safe to put her on display either in Great Yarmouth or Lowestoft.
A Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £839,000 was awarded to the vessel and work began on 1st. March 2007, when local shipyard Small & Co. hauled the boat out, beginning to strip the hull back to bare metal to enable a detailed survey. The HLF grant and money raised by the trust total nearly £1.2 million, but the trust needed to raise another £100,000 to pay for renewal of rigging as well as restoration of the wheelhouse and crew quarters. The remaining work was carried out by the International Boatbuilding Training College at Lowestoft.
Lydia Eva is listed as part of the National Historic Fleet, registration number 43.
Name: Lydia Eva
Type: Steam drifter
Status: Museum ship
Home port: Gt. Yarmouth
Fishing registration number: YH89
Flag: United Kingdom
Length: 95 ft. (29 m)
Beam: 20.6 ft. (6.3 m)
Depth: 9.8 ft. (3.0 m)
Gross tonnage: 138 tons
Net tonnage: 64 tons
Builder: King's Lynn Slipway Co. Ltd, King's Lynn, Norfolk
Built: 1930
Engine: 1930, Crabtree & Co. (R.H. Hutchinson), Triple Expansion, 10" + 17" + 28" x 20".
Boiler: 1961, Stockton Chemical Engineers & Riley Boilers Ltd., RT Scotch.
Owner: Lydia Eva Charitable Trust Ltd.
Operator: Lydia Eva and Mincarlo Charitable Trust Ltd.
Also named: HMS Watchmoor