Tall Ships on the Tyne by Dick Keys and Ken Smith (Tyne Bridge Publishing, £6.99): PERHAPS the largest congregation of sail ever to be trapped in the Tyne was in Shields Harbour in the winter of 1847-8, when 1,700 ships were counted there.
In those days, the Tyne was alive with merchant sailing ships, from humble coastal sloops, manned by a couple of men and a boy, to lordly full-rigged Indiamen, run with all the panache of a crack warship. Their outward cargo was often coal, the Tyne's most important export, but others carried all manner of goods and passengers to ports all over the world. Here, Dick Keys and Ken Smith tell the fascinating tale of these sailing vessels and their brave crews, days which will be echoed in July, as graceful sailing vessels once more visit the Tyne in the Tall Ships Race.
Published: 19/04/2005
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