I have many happy memories of my time as an apprentice at Bolson’s shipYard, which is now occupied by Sunseeker’s. The annual Regatta particularly stands out.
All employees ceased work for the day and were encouraged to enter events like the Greasy Pole, the Dinghy Race, the Flour and Soot Fight and swimming and diving competitions. All these events took place from the slipway at the Number 1 Yard, Ferry Road, Hamworthy at high tide. The Greasy Pole was a favourite. A wooden mast, boom or telegraph pole, most importantly without splinters, was extended over the water with a flag secured at the outer end. The Greasy Pole entrant would sit astride the pole and shuffle along it until he retrieved the flag and brought it back to shore. The next person would take the flag and replace it at the end of the pole and so on. This might seem straightforward enough, but this was a Greasy Pole and it was covered in tallow (the grease we used for launching ships) so many competitors landed in the drink long before they got to the end of the pole. Another Greasy Pole event involved two competitors sitting astride the pole trying to knock each other off with pillows. That wasn’t so bad if you were one of the first entrants but once those old feather pillows had been in the water a few times you felt like you’d been hit with a sack of rivets.
Definitely Poole Quay, not sure if it’s the time
Tom writes about, though. Maybe you know?
The most exciting event for us apprentices was the dinghy race from Number 2 Yard at West Quay Road to Number 1 Yard. There were several different small vessels available and the teams drew lots for them. Once, I remember my team of six drew the heaviest boat. We were issued with ‘Long Toms’, paintbrushes as long as broom handles, for paddles. The start was sounded and we set off with the tide in our favour, paddling furiously with
our broom handled brushes. At first, the lighter vessels forged ahead but once we established a co-ordinated rhythm, we started gaining on them and by the time we reached Hamworthy Lifting Bridge we were amongst them. Our stamina was strong (teenagers don’t seem to get tired) and, realising we could win this race, we put in an extra burst of effort. Sadly, in doing so, we started to go off course, colliding with our opponents brush paddles. This was no Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race and mayhem broke out. The brushes were used as water swabs to drench each other, boats were boarded and capsized and many of us ended up in the ‘Hoggin’ (water). Everything ended in disarray and the race was finished. Who won? Not us, but we had a marvellous time.
The Flour and Soot Fight went much the same way. Two teams in two boats, one carrying soot and the other flour, with the object of the game to turn your opponents black or white depending on your ammunition. One chap I remember was swimming around with a cardboard box over his head and shoulders to protect himself from the onslaught.
Recently I stood on Bill Elkin’s ferry steps where the Shipwright Arms used to stand on the Hamworthy side of the Quay. I thought “Do the employees of boatYards have exciting, chaotic, fun events like that anymore?”
