Paglesham and the Last Days of the HMS Beagle

HMS Beagle in Australia, from an 1841 Watercolour by Owen Stanley

This article, published in the Guardian recently, came to my attention shortly after an enlightening visit to Paglesham for lunch with friends. In the local pub, I picked up a book by a local historian called Ann Boulter about the final days of the HMS Beagle, and the search for it in the River Roach.

In a period after the Napoleonic wars, Britain's attentions turned to the expansion of their empire and the exploration of the already conquered territories. HMS Beagle went out as an exploration vessel, initially under the command of Commander Pringel Stokes for the first voyage of exploration then a Commander Robert Fitzroy for the second. Acknowledging the limitations of his information-gathering team, he determined to recruit a naturalist and scientist which brought him to meet Charles Darwin, the most famous man to have travelled on the HMS Beagle. It was on this voyage that Darwin made the observations that formed the basis of his "Origin of the Species".

HMS Beagle was to make one further voyage, to Australia, but then in 1845 the tired ship was passed to the Coastguard for use as a watch vessel. The rivers and creeks of the Essex coast around, and to the north of the Thames estuary, were prime smuggling territory and the river near Paglesham was no exception. The pub nearby, where I went for lunch a couple of weeks ago, was a notorious haunt for smugglers.

It wasn't a glamorous posting, but for former Navy men it offered the opportunity to live with their family as the Beagle was fitted out to accomodate 7 men and their families. There was plenty of work to be done as not only were smugglers to be deterred, the local oyster beds prized by the likes of Benjamin Disraeli, had to be protected.

Unfortunately the Beagle was not well maintained and as it began to disintegrate it had to be moved to a permanent berth in the Paglesham mud, where it finished its days. Eventually it was sold off. Initially believed to be scrapped, an investigation described in the book I bought in the pub, "Watch Vessel No. 7". The search concluded that the remains of a ship matching the dimensions of the Beagle could be detected beneath the Paglesham mud. There they will remain, unless money can be found for an archaeological excavation. 

So far as I can see, the book isn't available on the internet, so if you want a copy you will have to visit the pub and take a walk along the sea wall...

Sculpture Town: Wrestlers by Sally Doig

(Click on the photo to see more pictures at the flickr site)

Not all the sculptors in the Harlow collection are famous names, and Sally Doig is one of the lesser known. This piece, which originally stood outside the sports centre is the only piece of her work I could find mention of. Sadly it seems to be in poor condition, with the surface heavily worn in places.

Sculpture Town: Contrapuntal Forms by Barbara Hepworth

  

(Click on the photos to see more pictures at the flickr site)

Barbara Hepworth is one of the best known sculptors represented in the Harlow collection. Her works can be found everywhere from Oxford Street John Lewis to Winchester Cathedral. This piece was originally created for the Festival of Britain in 1951 when it stood proudly on the South Bank.

In music, contrapuntal refers to two lines going in different directions in one piece. Contrapuntal forms is one of a number of pieces in which Barbara Hepworth examined the relationship between two figures (See also this piece in the Tate collection). Although not as famous as her contemporary Henry Moore, her work, to my mind at least, deserves every bit as much recognition as Moore's.

Sculpture Town: Sheep Shearer by Ralph Brown

  

(Click on the photos to see more pictures at the flickr site)

Another of the collections impressive bronzes, this piece was acquired by the trust in 1955, soon after it was set up. Ralph Brown is a Yorkshireman who studied sculpture at the Leeds School of Art, then the Hammersmith School of Art before studying at the Royal College of Art. It was during this time that he created Sheep Shearer. He subsequently taught and worked in various places, and is currently based in Gloucestershire.

Much of his work features everyday scenes of men and women, and this piece captures the sense of determination and struggle in the act of sheep shearing. 

The Museum of Power, Langford

  

(Click on the photos to see more pictures at the flickr site)

Housed in a former waterworks pumping station in the village of Langford, the Museum of Power pays tribute to the humble workhorses of the industrial age. Stationary engines, water pumps, belt driven workshops; all are showcased here.

The centrepiece of the collection is the giant Lilleshall water pump. One of three to have been housed in the station for the purposes of pumping water to the growing metropolis of Southend-on-Sea (only two would have been used at any time.). The pump and engine have recently been converted back to running on steam (in the early days of the museum, compressed air was used), and this was one of the first public runnings post conversion. It really is a beast of a machine, as can be seen from this clip:

Surrounding the Lilleshall are a number of much smaller engines and pumps, including one from the Davey Paxman and Co of Colchester, an Essex based engineering firm.

Next door is a reconstruction of a belt driven engineering workshop of the sort that would have been common in the days before electricity revolutionised manufacturing. Drills, lathes and saws were all belt driven with a series of axles and gears taking the power from (in this instance) a diesel engine.

Although the engines and machinery housed at the Museum of Power perhaps lack the glamour of the railway engines and so forth, there is no doubt that they played a vital role in Essex's industrial heritage and are worthy of recognition at a museum such as this. 

Sculpture Town: Solo Flight by Antanas Brazdys

  

(Click on the photos to see more pictures at the flickr site)

Whereas some of the sculpture in Harlow is hidden away in nooks and crannies, there is no missing this piece, standing over one of busiest routes into the town centre.

On a sunny day, such as the one when I stopped to photograph it, the sun reflects of the highly polished exterior in a quite remarkable fashion. This striking piece is the work of Lithuanian sculptor Antanas Brazdys. It was originally commissioned in 1982 to form part of a new mall in the town centre, where it stood for a number of years before being re-sited in it's current location. Brazdys was born in Lithuania in 1939, moving to the USA with his family soon after the close of hostilities. After studying in Chicago, he moved to London where he worked for a number of years.

Clearly a representation of a bird in flight, to my mind it is most reminiscent of a migratory goose. It's certainly one of the most distinctive pieces I've seen so far in Harlow...

Easter Walk '11: Old Leigh

(Click on the photo for more pictures at the flickr site)

So the final stop in the Easter Walk was the sea front at Leigh on Sea, better known as Old Leigh. Rows of cockle sheds give way to pubs, restaurants and the like in what is probably my favourite place in Essex. I'm not going to write too much about it now, but will most definitely be returning later in the year.

One of the main events hosted in Old Leigh is the Leigh Folk Festival which bills itself as the largest free folk festival in England. It's a tremendous event, particularly the sunday which features a parade of dance sides at lunch time, followed by an afternoon of music on stages outside most of the pubs.

They were hosting a fund-raising event in Southend to which I ventured, seeing acts like Pancho and Lefty, and The Famous Potatos (pictured below).