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| The Pioneer Sailing Trust Press Release 28th April 2003 Pioneer set for relaunch, 11.45am, 17th May 2003 Brightlingsea. Pioneer, built on the Colne in 1864 is a First Class deep sea Essex smack that was rescued from the West Mersea mud in 1998 will be relaunched 17th May on Brightlingsea Town Hard. The 70ft hull has been totally restored over the last three years at Great Totham and will travel by road to Brightlingsea. She will spend Thursday and Friday 15/16 May in Colchester outside the castle on display for anyone who cannot make it to Brightlingsea. Once part of a fleet of about 150 Colchester registered deep sea smacks working out of the Colne and the Blackwater, she sailed all around the British Isles and North European waters dredging for deep sea oysters and scallops, a trade described as the hardest and cruelest Essex man ever worked. The Skillingers as they came to be known are a distant memory in Essex maritime history. It seem that there is no one still alive who can remember the sight of one under sail. Pioneer will be sailing again in 2004 from Brightlingsea taking groups of people to sea to experience the pinnacle of Essex working sail. During the Pioneer`s second major rebuild of her long life many fascinating stories and connections have come to light. Keith Ruffle, a blacksmith from Brightlingsea has helped make some of her new iron work. His grandfather was her captain in 1904. The grandfather of Shaun White one of the shipwrights now working on the Pioneer was her captain in 1906. As Martin Newell writes in the last verse of a new poem- As if the ghosts of all the men Who`d built and sailed the hardy smack In every nail and plank and sail Had worked as one to bring her back. It is not only this continuity with the past but also the pure beauty of her size and shape that has caught the imagination of artist and poets and all who have seen her. An exhibition about the rescue and rebuild plus work that has been inspired by the Pioneer has been organised by Firstsite of Colchester and will be travelling round Essex libraries. The artists involved are James Dodds, Den Phillips, Mervin Maggs, Janet Harker, Ali Morgan and the poet Martin Newell. Currently at Maldon Library. For further information visit www.pioneersailingtrust.org.uk, get a copy of the book, "Pioneer-Last of the Skillingers" (£7.95 pub Jardine Press) available from Wivenhoe Bookshop and other good book sellers or visit the exhibition. STOP PRESS! The Pioneer is taking a stop-over in Colchester.on the 15th &16th May for public viewing and a pre-launch press photo opportunities in front of the castles main gates. Making an historical link with Colchester's Oyster trade a significant part of towns history since Romans times. The Pioneer Sailing Trust, Scripps Farm, Goat Lodge Road, Great Totham, Maldon, Essex. CM9 8BX. Tel 01621 893830. Registered in England. Company Number 03830241. A charitable company limited by guarantee. Registered charity number 1077522. www.pioneersailingtrust.org.uk |