Helen : What do you want to tell me?
John : What I want to tell you is I worked in a Company which is a lot to do with the sea, but also my sport has been sailing so they all run parallel together. My sailing activities were worldwide and my work activities, they’re also worldwide as regards the Company.
Helen : Oh, fabulous.
John : So, what I was going to ask you if you had time to browse through, this is a catalogue of the Company I was working for, and …
Helen : Do you know anybody called Vic Jennings?
John : No. That’s a little side-line. Don’t worry about that. That’s just one of the activities that we did, but would you have time just to browse …
Helen : Of course I would, yes, no problem. Do I want to read both sides?
John : Yes, read both sides ‘cos
[at this point, the recording level is very low as Helen looks at the catalogue. What follows is snippets of audible conversation. The interview actually starts at 30 minutes 39 seconds].
1 minute 26 seconds
[Helen reading – background conversation]
Helen : Did all ships have the dead eyes and lanyards?
John : Some do but not normally nowadays.
Helen : I did some tall ship racing when I was younger.
John : Oh, well done. Which ship?
Helen : ‘Winston Churchill’.
John : Oh yeah, we rigged that boat.
Helen : Did you? I did have a chance to go on the ‘Lord Nelson’ …
John : Yeah, we rigged that boat too.
Helen : … I raised a lot of money for a disabled person to go on that.
John : Yeah, we rigged that boat too. Colin Moody designed it.
Helen : Is that swagging or swaging?
John : Swaging. It’s a method of putting mechanical terminal onto wire ropes. There’s a special machine to do it. And then if you open up and see some photographs inside.
Helen : Not just marine then is it?
John : There’s some illustrations inside and you can look at them. But it’s nearly all marine technology.
Helen : Yeah, I see where you’re coming from. Oh, look at these. If only I had the time and the money. Mind you, I’m not fit enough now. I’ve never fancied one of those.
John : A trimaran. Show you a bit more about that ‘Marionette’. That’s one of the richest men in the world.
Helen : Really? What who owns it?
John : Yeah. Signed by a man called John Courtney of Cowes. Very successful boat …
Helen : Still about?
John : Yep. And there’s your Training Ship look.
Helen : Ah! Been up there (laughs). And I got told off ‘cos I’d got my, whatever it is it’s round your neck.
John : Safety harness?
Helen : Yeah, down there instead of wrapped round there. Well, I was sick of course the first time ‘cos we out in a force 10. I can remember going round the Isle of Wight twice and there was all these tankers which I now know what they’re there for and sort of like little Russian men up there looking down on us thinking ‘what the bloody hell are they doing in this weather?’ I don’t think I’d be strong enough now.
5 minutes 57 seconds
John : That was … that ‘Bleury’ was a pop group’s recording studio.
Helen : Oh, was it?
John : But you see all this rod rigging … all this rigging and these are rods, they’re all marine.
Helen : Well, you learn something every day don’t you? ‘Excelsior’, I’ve stayed in there.
John : Southsea Hotel. Well, if you walked under that entrance canopy, we put it in. These are all rod rings. Rod rings a solid bar, it’s not a cable, it’s a solid bar. That was the biggest tent in England.
Helen : What was that for?
John : It was for a religious sect, Christian, a religious sect, but they were all Indians and it was up for about two months and they had a downpour, an absolute cloud burst, and the water ran off that into the road and flooded a village two miles away.
Helen : But they were bone dry.
John : Yep. You see with these pinnacles are, well the wire ropes going across supported it, so there were no pillars, and they could get 25,000 people in there religious … huge contract.
Helen : Wow! Quite impressive that int it?
John : So, that’s that … you can have a look at that. That’s one of the Regattas I went to when I was semi-retired. This is the sailing side. There were eight Kings and Queens there from various countries.
Helen : Really? Oh, that will be interesting.
John : It’s the biggest Regatta ever held for the number of boats. It was the year after I retired. These are only tiny boats but they’re very, very, finely tuned if you know what I mean?
Helen : I’ve never fancied sitting on the outside of a boat. It’s a bit like sitting on the outside of a motorbike. Never really …
John : Well we have to do it al the time when we’re ocean racing.
Helen : Yeah, hanging over the side … oh, here we go. King of Sweden, Spain, Norway, Duke of Edinburgh.
John : Well he was [inaudible] actually. Quite a good party.
Helen : Is that the boat?
John : That’s the boat, yeah. Only small, only three people.
Helen : Really?
John : Yeah.
Helen : Have to bend down when you’re downstairs, below stairs?
John : Well, there’s not much below stairs, nothing at all. It’s just a day boat. Anyway, I’ve just put that in …
Helen : Yes, no worries.
John : And that there is … I forget how many boats there were, I thought they were numbered. Yes, it is. 311 boats, all on one starting line. That’s a joke, but it was a good party (laughs).
Helen : I bet you get a good view here when the boats go by then.
John : Oh yeah, excellent.
Helen : Let me get me pen a minute … just in case … they send you with so much stuff and half the stuff you don’t use … right, when I switch this on, I’ll repeat everything that I’ve just written down.
10 minutes 53 seconds
John : OK.
Helen : You know, what’s your name, blah blah blah.
John : This here is just one of the jobs which we did, was lashing deck cargoes. Ships which had their own cranes didn’t want to go into Southampton Docks, so to avoid the fees, they would anchor in Cowes Roads to avoid the Southampton Harbour fees …
Helen : Like they do in Shanklin with the tankers.
John : … yeah, that’s right, and of course they’ve got their own cranes on board and we would lift … actually on this particular, we made the slings as well. We’d make these slings, and we tow, get the boat and tow that alongside, and then we lowered into it’s cradle and then we would do all the deck lashings all the way round the ship. That’s the crew to keep it in position bearing in mind it could roll through 30 degrees when it’s at sea, so we used to go out to Cowes Roads and sometimes off Lymington and places like that, and mainly we did hundreds of hovercrafts. Lashing hovercraft as a deck cargo. So, that’s just one of the aspects of Spencer Rigging.
Helen : See we don’t do photographs these days do we? Always on a phone.
John : I know.
Helen : I used to hate having photographs taken when I was younger, and I regret it now ‘cos we’ve got none to look back on. Fabulous. [closes catalogue].
John : Right?
Helen : Yep.
John : Before we start, a couple of other things.
Helen : What’s that? Jessica. Is that a boat?
John : You can have a look through that. That boat was built in Spain and it motored to Cowes just to have its mast and rigging set up and it was owned by ‘Mr Corn beef’, an Argentinian but his name is never on any documents.
Helen : Why do they always call ships ‘she’?
John : It’s just tradition, that’s all I can say.
[pause in proceedings]
Helen : It’s palatial isn’t it?
John : Well they’re all like that below decks when they’re new.
15 minutes
John : Keep going. There’s a photograph of us stepping the mast.
Helen : It’s a lovely book. Pictures of these are marvellous.
John : All these were made in Cowes, all these blocks, all these spars. There’s a little bit where she motored from Spain to Cowes, just to get her mast stepped.
Helen : See look at that. Looks quite … well it is complicated i’nt it when you look below deck. All that stuff.
John : Oh yes, these are ships rather than … they’re all built to Lloyds or ships rules. You know, they’re big enough …
Helen : Is this the picture you’re on about, near the front?
John : No, I’ll show you. It’s only a small picture. This one here, where we’re actually putting the mast in the boat and we put in all three masts in one day.
Helen : Stepping the mast. That’s what it’s called.
John : Yeah. The mast goes down through the deck onto the keel. And on the back there, tells you all the Firms involved, and Spencer’s is down there.
Helen : Now this bloke I spoke to the other week had something to do with Spencer’s. Did Spencer’s … I might be getting muddled up with another one. Did Spencer’s close down at one time and then strike up again?
John : No.
Helen : No, it’s not the right Company then.
John : They’re still going.
Helen : Yes they are. That’s lovely that, lovely to keep. Can I switch on now?
John : No, I want you to just read roughly what I’ve said. This is what I was going to say, if you could have just a browse through it because I’ve had a sailing career which … these are representing Britain in British Teams on this yacht ‘Marionette’ and this is in Australia. This is when I guested with the Americas … I sailed one Admiral’s Cup inshore racing with the Australians so …I know that’s got a few spelling errors ‘cos I …
Helen : Oh don’t worry about that.
[Helen reads document]
Helen : All expenses paid eh?
John : Well if you’re useful and appointing a good crew, it’s all done hand … how do I put it? A circuit of yachting and if you’re in on the sort of thing, you get a reputation for being a crew member and you know, it’s sort of word of mouth sort of thing, but it’s …
20 minutes 45 seconds
Helen : The onion patch. Why did they call it the ‘onion patch’?
John : Because the final race is from Newport Rhode Island to Bermuda and Bermuda is known in America as the ‘onion patch’ ‘cos they grew onions there.
Helen : Oh right, I never knew that.
John : Well nor did I until I did that race. See, all these races like the Fastnet, Sydney Hobart and the Newport Bermuda race, they’re all about 600 miles, you know, all out in the ocean and they have a similar format of inshore races and shore offshore races and that’s how these Regattas are made up.
[Helen reading]
Helen : You’ve got a Helen have you?
John : Got a Helen, yeah. She works on super yachts, real super yachts, you know? The man she married was an Australian guy sailing in Cowes and they run this super yacht.
Helen : Fabulous.
John : I could show you a picture of that.
Helen : Where does she live?
John : Onboard the boat. She’s got a house in Cowes as well.
Helen : Now doing grandsons.
John : There they are in there look.
Helen : Yeah I see that.
John : That’s the little boat they’ve got. I’ve spent hours in it. We get, you know, get a few mackerel and things like that.
Helen : Proper living. That’s good [finishes with document]. Now, what do you want me to do then?
John : Well I was just going to show you … it just so happens I’ve just had my 80th birthday …
Helen : Your what?
John : … my 80th birthday and my children gave me this, so all of these are my generation, my sailing, my son’s and Helen’s sailing and the grandchildren’s.
Helen : Oh, fabulous.
John : If you’d just like to have a browse through that. It’s all connected to the sea. This was my first trip across Channel to Cherbourg.
Helen : What a wonderful idea.
John : And this was racing on a 12 metre. This was the challenge for the America’s Cup. This was the ‘Lord Cranemore’ boat and that there is a photograph of that thing up there and I’m in this there and I’m 13 years old and do you know what I’m wearing?
Helen : A day shirt or something.
John : No, a gas coat. Do you remember they used to have them on a bicycle and the only place you could get anything in about 1950, was the Army Surplus Stores? There weren’t any Yacht Chandleries, and this was this America’s Cup challenge thing and all these marks on the sail, they used to photograph it to see the shape of the sail. And this is my Hornet, when I had the Hornets …
Helen : Is that you?
John : That’s me. That was the first Terylene sails Ratsey’s made in colour and that’s Stephen Ratsey and that’s me and that’s my boat. This is sailing my Hornet down in Gurnard Bay.
Helen : It’s another world int it?
John : Well (laughs). And these boats had sliding seats …
Helen : [inaudible]
John : … you could have done … this is racing in Cowes Regatta.
Helen : I’d be one of these that get knocked on the head.
John : This was taken at Burnham on Crouch. We used to trail these boats around behind our cars.
Helen : Did you?
John : Yeah, on road trailers. Gathers all over England. This is when we went to America and that’s me there I think with the sunglasses. We all went to America to race in the ‘onion patch’.
Helen : Is this your son?
John : That’s my son, yes, and the cup we won. After the presentation he sat in it. And this was the end of the Bermuda Race. The boat I did the Bermuda Race in and that’s me up there standing up trimming the spinnaker. And this is the Admiral’s Cup fleet.
Helen : That looks good.
John : And this is the Admiral’s Cup I raced in and it took this boat to America and to Australia. This is sailing with the kids in a friend’s yacht he lent us for the weekend. That’s Helen.
Helen : Luke, Joy, yourself …
John : And Helen.
Helen : Well Helen looks like a mother, doesn’t she? Like a clone.
John : That’s sailing down in Falmouth. These are the Dragons … these are the boats we raced in San Tropez with that invitation I’ve shown you. Well, that’s the boat I was down there in. Then, we’re back to teaching the kids in the Mirror dinghy (laughs).
Helen : Is that round here?
John : Yeah, down at Gurnard Sailing Club, yeah. These is a Cherub we had. Someone gave us a Cherub. We put it down …
Helen : A Cherub?
John : Yeah. A New Zealand designed boat. These are Luke when he was racing with the RYA Junior Club down at Emsworth.
Helen : As I say, it’s another world int it? Wonderful.
John : This is Luke racing in Gibraltar when he won the gold medal with the Island Sailing Club team. The Island Team for the Island Games.
Helen : That’s Helen.
John : Yes, that’s Helen in the West Indies and that’s Luke in another boat he was racing when he was at university.
Helen : What does Luke do now?
John : He’s a Civil Engineer.
Helen : Oh right. On the Island or Mainland?
John : No, he’s based in Totton. His office in Totton and he commutes. This was on the Norfolk Broads. We hired a boat on the Norfolk Broads. Here’s the grandchildren, Joy, that’s the daughter in law. And there we are sailing. This is all down at Newtown Creek in my little ‘Swallows and Amazon’ boat I call it.
Helen : A what er?
John : A ‘Swallows and Amazon’ boat. And these are the kids sailing their own boats, learning to capsize, sailing their own boats.
Helen : How old is he then?
John : Now he’s 10.
Helen : And he’s learning how to capsize it.
John : Oh yeah, you start them off young, and this is … they took this little boat, they’re called Optimists, up to the Lake District. He’s sailing up in the Lake District. Put it on the roof of the car when they go.
Helen : What a privilege.
John : So, that’s three generations …
Helen : That is absolutely wonderful.
John : … of the Bradley sailing.
Helen : Now, if I may, I’d like to come back and take some copies of those photos ‘cos the thing that I’ve got isn’t charged up. Would that be OK?
John : Yeah. I’ve got a row of photographs up there …
Helen : Wonderful. That’s a privilege that, thank you.
John : Right then.
Helen : I can switch on? Yes, no, yes, no …
John : I had a bit of paper by me.
Helen : Hang on, you put it down there look. You don’t need your paper.
John : Can you hear them outside on there?
Helen : No, it’ll be fine.
30 minutes 26 seconds
[Interview commences]
Helen : It just caught you blowing your nose.
John : Did it really (laughs).
Helen : Oh they’re ever so sensitive these ones. Right, I’ve got to ask you all those questions again.
John : Is it on now?
Helen : Yes, it’s on now. My name’s Helen Clinton-Pacey and it is the 14th of February, Valentine’s Day, 2019 and I’m at the home of Ben Bradley and this interview is taking place in his home and I am conduct the interview now. Please could you give me your full name?
John : John Benjamin Bradley.
Helen : And when and where you were born?
John I was born in Gurnard, Cowes, Isle of Wight.
Helen : Your family background including your parent’s occupation.
John : Father was a seaman / shipwright.
Helen : Education and school.
John : Cowes Secondary Modern School.
Helen : And how did you choose you work career?
John : Well, in Cowes when I was finishing school, if you liked aeroplanes you went to Saunders Rowe, and if you liked ships you went to J S Whites.
Helen : So, shall we start from your early memories of childhood and then go on to your shipping ‘cos the least amount of conversation from me is what they require.
John : My earliest memories of being alive, was during the Cowes Blitz, being in the air raid shelter, listening to all the bombs and the noise of the aircraft. I think that was May 1942.
Helen : Alright, carry on.
John : That’s my earliest memory.
Helen : That’s your earliest memory. So, what about school?
John : School? First of all, I went to Gurnard Primary School and then Cowes Secondary Modern.
Helen : And did you have any siblings? Got any brothers and sisters?
John : I had two sisters, they were twins, Janet and Jennifer.
Helen : Older or younger?
John : Younger.
Helen : And when did you leave school? What age were you when you left school?
John : 15.
Helen : 15. So, did you go straight into shipping, marines?
John : I went to … I joined J S Whites in the Ship Drawing Office and I had to wait until I was 16 before I began a five-year apprenticeship.
Helen : And did you go straight into the marine work or did you do anything during school time? You said you were on a boat at 13.
John : When I was a schoolboy, I used to help a Boatbuilder across the road from where I lived called Freddy Downer, who built small yachts and small rowing boats and things like that in a large shed in his back garden.
Helen : Oh crikey! So, when you started full time work then, was it an apprenticeship?
John : Yes.
Helen : And how long did that last?
John : Five years.
Helen : Five years. And you stayed at the same place all the time?
John : Yes.
Helen : When did you start branching out into all these adventures you’ve just been telling me about?
John : Well, they gradually came on, you know, as opportunities arose, they came on.
Helen : Is there anything on your list there …
John : Do you want me to read …
Helen : Yes please, yes you can.
John : OK. Shall I start … right then?
“My first sort of memories of the sea are from my father who was a Shipwright. Before the War, he worked on the Union Castle ships which ran between Southampton and South Africa. During the War, he was seconded to the Royal Navy and worked as a Shipwright in Sierra Leone and Ceylon. At the end of the War, he worked as a Shipwright at J S Whites, and then joined Cunard where he became Ships Carpenter on many of the Queen Liners. As a schoolboy, I first went sailing from Gurnard Luck for races at Gurnard Sailing Club in about 1950, and I also helped the local boatbuilder building boats in a shed at the end of his garden. First job, apprentice Draughtsman, J S Whites, Ship Drawing Office. Studies in Naval Architecture at Isle of White Technical College. Continued sailing dinghies at Gurnard and at various Championships in my Hornet dinghy at venues such as Hayling Island, Plymouth, Thorpe Bay, Brightlingsea etc.
36 minutes
After finishing my apprenticeship, and the forecast of the closure of J S Whites, I joined Harry Spencer, who was Skipper of a 12 metre called ‘Norsaga’ which was a trial [inaudible] for an America Cup Challenge mounted by the P&O Shipping Company, led by Lord Craigmyle involving the test tanks at Saunders Rowe. By chance, an aluminium mast left over after P&O pulled the plug on the project was sold to the Pirate Radio Ship ‘Caroline’ and so started further radio ship contracts including Radio Yorkshire and Radio Scotland. At the same time, yacht racing designers were specifying aluminium masts in place of traditional wooden masts and yachts were made from fibreglass, and in production numbers. Spencer Rigging as it was now called supplied rigging to mast makers such as Spartite and Proctor masts so they could supply an above deck package to their customers who were notable boatbuilders. Around this time, I started crewing an Olympic Class 5.5 metre yacht, and this took me to venues such as Lake Neuchâtel, Lake Geneva, Kiel Germany, Long Island Sound New York, all expenses paid. As Spencer Rigging expanded, it coincided with more international racing events, such as the Admiral’s Cup, which by the 1970’s, up to 19 nations were taking part, each team with three boats. The Mayor’s Cup took place every two years in the UK and up to 20 boats took part in a trial to select the three boat British Team. The last race for the Admiral’s Cup was the Fastnet Race. In America, the event was called the ‘Onion Patch’, the last race being the Bermuda Race. In Australia, it was named the ‘Southern Cross’ the last race being the Sydney Hobart race. I was lucky to sail in all these races in yachts called ‘Marionette’ owned by Andover businessman Chris Dunning. The social program attached to these Regattas enabled one to meet owners of yachts and designers from all over the World on a personal basis. By this time, a growing family required more attention and I was restricted to sailing in one off Regattas such as Classic Yachts in San Tropez and Sardinia, Antigua Week in the West Indies. Business wise, Spencer’s continued rigging some of the worlds most famous yachts and found new markets in supplying marine technology such as high tensile cables and rod rigging to tented structures, roof tie bars and glass wall projects. The next phase of my sailing activities was teaching my children to sail in our Mirror dinghy and later supporting them in their sailing activities, Helen at Exeter and Luke at Loughborough. Luke won a Gold Medal with the Isle of Wight sailing team in the Island Games in Gibraltar. After retiring, I bought a 12-foot sailing dinghy which I sail at Newtown Creek playing ‘Swallows and Amazons’ whilst teaching my two grandsons to sail.”
Helen : Fabulous.
John : Well, I don’t know about that (laughs).
40 minutes 20 seconds
Helen : That will make really spot on …
John : I mean I could go on page after page after page.
Helen : I’m sure you could. One of the questions I want to ask that you have already answered but it was off the tape, is why is it called ‘Onion Patch’?
John : It was called ‘Onion Patch’ because in America, Bermuda was known for growing onions…
Helen : Oh, right …
John : … and the last race in the ‘Onion Patch’ series was from Newport Rhode Island to Bermuda, about 600 miles out into the Atlantic, crossing the Gulf Stream.
Helen : Did you get a prize of onions? (laughs). You mentioned there about family life and interrupting sort of your long excursions, so when did you meet Joy?
John : I met Joy at our friends 21st Birthday Party.
Helen : Was she in to boating?
John : No, she’s never taken to it. She’s done a bit with me like in the photographs in the album but she’s not a lover of the Ocean, and the boats we had, my own boats were pretty …
Helen : Rough.
John : … well not rough, but they were pretty high-speed high tech. There were plenty of capsizes and things like that (laughs).
Helen : So, was she worried when you started taking the children?
John : No, because when we started taking the children it was all … I mean regulations now is fantastic. When I started sailing at Gurnard in about 1949, we had a rowing boat as a Rescue Boat. Now you have to have one Rescue Boat for every eight boats, and they have to be out on the water during the racing.
Helen : Good Lord! You could have drowned if it was a rowing boat, couldn’t you?
John : Yeah, one chap nearly drowned.
Helen : Really? Have you had some …?
John : After a while, Gurnard Sailing Club actually got an outboard motor for it, an old Seagull outboard motor for their Safety Boat.
Helen : Have you had some really close shaves?
John : You can’t go Ocean Racing for 10 years without a few close shaves.
Helen : What’s the one that sticks in your head the most?
John : Umm, approaching the Fastnet Rock in thick fog…
Helen : Ooh err.
John … because you know the Fastnet Rock is surrounded by like a crop of rocks. In fact, I think they keep a couple of goats in the Fastnet Rock for milk. I think the Keepers used to keep a couple of goats I think.
Helen : So, what happened there then? You got there but you didn’t hit any of those little rocks?
John : When we actually found the Light, we were virtually looking up at it at 45 degrees …
Helen : Oh wow!
John : … but we had a brilliant Navigator, an ex-Royal Navy Navigator ‘cos in those days we had no GPS or anything like that and it was literally shooting starts with a sextant, you know.
Helen : So, how many … if you went on to something like that, how many would be in the crew?
John : Nine. There’d be two Watches of four and a Navigator. The Navigator never kept a Watch and out of the … we had four Helmsmen of which I was one on the ‘Marionette’ boat which I did most of my offshore racing in. We had three hour Watches and each person could only steer for three quarters of an hour ‘cos they thought that was the optimum time especially at night, for concentration, you know, keeping the boat going and so it was three quarters of an hour off, three quarters of an hour back on and then the end of your Watch.
Helen : Where would you say is the most … wrong word probably … awesome place you’ve been to?
John : Awesome?
Helen : Awesome, the most … one that really sticks in your … the wow factor?
45 minutes 6 seconds
John : Well, a couple really. The best? I think the best climate I’ve ever come across is in Bermuda ‘cos it’s just T Shirts and a pair of shorts and your scooter.
Helen : Really?
John : Yep. But neither are very advanced ‘cos you could only have one car per house.
Helen : Really?
John : Yes, that was in 1976.
Helen : I don’t suppose it’s changed a great deal then.
John : Well no, but you know that’s what they did on the Island.
Helen : There’s too many cars. What about … what’s the first thing that your son did … I know you said he won a race, what else has he done?
John : Well he was 2nd in the National Student Championships and he’s done lots of sailing similar to what I have. He’s done some offshore sailing and now he’s teaching his children, yeah.
Helen : But you just showed me that book, ’80 years on the water’, which your family have put together, it’s absolutely brilliant and I’ve requested that I can come back and take some photographs because the thing isn’t charged up, but that was a privilege, thank you very much for letting me look at that.
John : I don’t know if you … I’ll just show you something else … this is showing me with a pretty famous Islander called Uffa Fox, and this boat is called ‘Fresh Breeze’ and the table turned over like that and it was a piano.
Helen : Oh!
John : And what he had on the boat, he didn’t have a seat, behind the steering wheel he had a horse’s saddle and he said, “Well, you can sit in a horse’s saddle for hours and hours” so you’d sit on this seat like it was a horse’s saddle and steer the boat. And that’s my boat, that’s a Racing and International one design at Cowes.
Helen : 1966 that one.
John : I’ll just go and get some more. The firm that does … these are my grandchildren and every year on the computer with this Company, they produce this calendar and you can go through them all and this is down at Gurnard, this is down the hill.
Helen : Is it really? Wow! I didn’t think we got enough snow to have that sort of stuff.
John : No, that’s in Switzerland that’s … oh it’s got one of the Zoo.
Helen : And how old are the grandchildren now?
John : Six and Ten.
Helen : And you showed me a picture of your son, sitting in a Cup that you’d won. And how old was he there?
John : Well, I’ll tell you something interesting about that Cup. He was about three I think. Now, ‘Marionette’ was shipped earlier to America so the whole crew were here kicking their feet then, you know, and the chap … have you ever heard of ‘Cherry Valley Ducks?’
Helen : Yeah.
John : Have you? Well, the owner of Cherry Valley Ducks … I can’t think of his name, he bought … he wanted to get into yachting so he bought this yacht, a brand new yacht, money was no object, and he arrived in Cowes Week and he didn’t have a crew, so he was talking to this Sailmaker about what sails he wanted for the boat and all that and the Sailmaker was a member of our crew on ‘Marionette’. He said, “Don’t worry about that” he said, “I can fix you up with a crew” so the whole ‘Marionette’ crew moved on to this chap’s boat and this boat was called ‘Cherry Valley’ but no one knew that was the name of the Firm and that was illegal. You weren’t allowed to have yachts named after a Company. You know, that broke all the gentlemen’s rules. Anyway, we went of into the Channel Race which starts Cowes Week off. We were off to do the Channel Race and we won the ruddy thing you see, we won it outright, won the Cup. So, he was completely new to sailing, this chap Robertson was his name, and he went along to the Royal Yacht Squadron and collected the Cup. Presentation, you know, someone gave him … some dignitary presented him with the Cup. Anyway, he was very naïve, and he took this Cup and he went on a Pub Crawl with it. Oh Christ!
50 minutes 55 seconds
Helen : You know I don’t know why I’ve entered … I thought, yeah, go on.
John : You know he was so chuffed he went over the top. Anyway, no one knows what happened but all he does know, he was the only one living aboard the boat ‘cos all the ‘Marionette’ crew were locals and he woke up next morning, but he never had the Cup.
Helen : Oh, so he lost the Cup.
John : He’d lost the Cup. Anyway, about an hour … we usually finished these Channel Races about three or four in the morning and everybody gets home and goes to sleep for four or five hours. Well, that was … so he had lost the Cup. About, I don’t know, nine or ten in the morning, a Policeman turns up with the Cup and he said, “I believe this is yours Robert, this belongs to you.” He said, “Well, where did you get it.” He said, “They found it in the street last night” and I mean these Cups are valuable, they’re all solid silver …
Helen : Exactly.
John : … and they had it in the Police Station. Well, we phoned up the local Regatta Committee and said, “Well, there’s a Cup.” They said, “Well what’s written on it?” They said, “Well that’s a chap called Robert” and anyway the Police tracked him down and brought the Cup back.
Helen : Fabulous.
John : And we turned up, as I said these races usually finished off Gosport at about … a typical Channel Race would be leave the Solent at Portsmouth, across to Cherbourg, round the buoy at the entrance of Cherbourg Harbour, across to the Brighton Buoy there and back to Gosport, a triangle. About 220 miles. As we gradually turned up to tidy the boat up because it was a bit of a mess after Channel Racing, quite rough conditions, and I took Luke down with he and there he was with the Cup that had been returned by the Policeman and we sat him in it and took a photograph.
Helen : Fabulous. You know these ones you were showing me, somebodies birthday, what a fabulous idea.
John : Yeah, I think that’s Joy’s birthday. She’s in mine early boat down at Newtown.
Helen : Yeah, a wonderful idea. So, what overall in your life then … oh I like that … had brought you the most pleasure?
John : Living!
Helen : Living, living in general.
John : Play hard and party hard.
Helen : Yes, absolutely. Is there anything in your life that you haven’t done that you wished you had?
John : Yes, I’ve never sailed the Atlantic. I’ve always wished I’d did that … the other hobby I took up when I was in the 50’s with a group of friends from Cowes was fell walking.
Helen : Ooh!
John : So, I’ve climbed nearly every mountain in Wales and England and only have one to tick off, Ben Nevis, and when I was 75, I went up and climbed Ben Nevis. Three month later I get a heart attack (laughs), so I’ve got to keep taking the pills now.
Helen : Yes, and now you’ve had your 80th .
John : Yep.
Helen : When did you have your 80th ?
John : 17th December.
Helen : Oh right, 2018.
John : Yeah.
Helen : Right, what I will do, I’ll finish this off, I’ll pause it …
Interview ends
55 minutes 34 seconds
Transcribed May 2019
Chris Litton
