Gordon Frickers' Blog » marine painting

A moving experience?

Gordon Frickers — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 11:22:01 +0000

Yesterday closed with a classic sunset, we have an invigorating ‘reefed topsail’ day here today, sunny warm and unusual in the tranquil Tarn, an East wind gusting force 8 and 9, wonderful light and an inspiring gale for marine painting!

The past few days post the Monaco Yacht Show have been focused on looking for another place to settle; I must go down to the sea again, the lonely sea and the sky…

Where to rent next, cote d’azur, Loire Atlanique, Bordeaux, Cornwall? all are possibilities and all have merits…

Yesrterday closed with an impressive sunset and to the East an impressively pink sky.

How to find some where to re settle, any suggestions?

Following the cold wet spell pre Monaco Yacht Show, yesterday was a beauty, warm (23 C) sunny and calm, on the be kind to yourself principal I even managed a half hour sunbathing after lunch.

I have made a wish list of requirements, in English and French, shown below to send to my French friends and contacts.

How about writing to the English language newspaper connexionfrance.com?

I have been subscribing for some months and find connexionfrance a lively, informative factual and very helpful for an Anglais en France.

Besides current affairs and stories of experiences in France connexionfrance is a rich source of factual info for any Brit considering living in or returning from France, wishing to tackle the maze of regulations, registering in France, jobs, self employment, healthcare, road rules and so on, recommended.

House spec wish list:

In English and French

Gordon Frickers contact via art-gf@pobox.com or
Skype gordonfrickers
phone GB 0044 (0)1865 52 2435 / / GB M 0044 7588411720
Line de terre : Boitel maison 0563407225

I’m looking for a place for winter, at least 1 year if possible.
I’d accept a winter let following your advice to “get into the area” and be prepared to move again.

Je recherche une habitation pour au moins cet hiver, si possible pour plus….
I’m sociable so would prefere not to live in a remote place or small village,
Je suis sociable et préfère ne pas être en campagne dans un lieu recule loin de toute animation.

Pas plus d une heure de la mer. Un port serait idéal.

Near the sea means within an hour’s drive or less, less is better.
Within 1 hr drive of the sea, near a good beach with sea views would be better. Near a port would be good.

Send photos and description please

I would like:
•   Must have good light, essential. ~ Bonne lumière est une qualité essentielle.
•   ADSL and phone connection ~ Bonne connexion pour ADSL et téléphone
•   Safe parking for car. ~ Stationnement sécurise pour la voiture
•   Living space, kitchen bathroom, bedroom total from 75 sq m ~ Espace habitable de 75 m2 minimum.
•   good economic heating ~ chauffage economique
•   Office & studio with good light. Studio space minimum 3 x 2.5 m &.5 sq m) ~ 20 sq m. would be better ~ Espace habitable de 75 m2 minimum.
•   Dry storage for finished work, materials etc (frames are susceptible to damp). ~Un lieu de rangement sec et sécurise pour les tableaux et autre matériel.
•   Parking for a dinghy on a trailer, maybe at a sailing club ~ Un lieu pour stationner un bateau de 5m avec la remorque (peut être à un club Nautique ?).
•   A proximité d une communauté juive.

D accord, quelle autre possibilité?

What have I missed?

I thought I’d also write to Connexionfrance.com, can you suggest other places to try?
How best to look? I have some web sites:
ouestfrance-immo.com
www.cabinet-olivier.com

I don’t have all or even the best ones.

Robin Knox-Johnston and a famous marine painting

Gordon Frickers — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 12:44:52 +0000

The famous marine painting “Roaring Forties” is a real piece of marine history, much reproduced by journals when writing about Robin Knox-Johnston and a very collectible limited edition and signed by the yachtsman Sir Robin Knox Johnston.

It was as you may be aware produced specially for and in close collaboration with Britain’s most illustrious yachtsman and master mariner, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston.

We had a brief, charming compliament recently re the beautiful Heritage quality marine print of “Roaring Forties”, one of those thing which helps make our work feel worth while.

A constant concern of ours is with quality of reproduction of our pictures on the Internet, the original and the prints look far better than any computer generated image.

The kind remarks below illustrate the point more effectively than we can, read on, enjoy!

This was from a person I met at the Wayfarer World Championship who’s birthday coincidentally is the 16th of December, the same date Robin Knox-Johnston experienced the dramatic moment shown in the painting.

Gordon,

I have received the print and I absolutely love it! I had no idea it would be so alive and so much akin to a real painting. Thanks ever so much.

Kind regards,

J. Browning, Engineer.

Available in a choice of 2 sizes, standard and large you can order your copy of this signed moment from an historic marine adventure, the first non stop solo circumnavigation of the world, direct from page

http://www.frickers.co.uk/prints.html

Ordering your copy is quick, easy and secure using our PayPal system.

Painting progress

Gordon Frickers — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 22:04:41 +0000

August closes, marine painting has resumed in earnest at last following the difficulties caused by having to leave Itzac suddenly due to faulty electrics.

Being a bit out of practice it seems there is more paint on me than on the canvases, a situation I’m hoping to reverse.

Work has recommenced on the new version of the renowned “Trafalgar dawn” (available quickly and securely using PayPal as a signed numbered edition from page

http://www.frickers.co.uk/prints.html), an update written below.

Also on the easel in the past few days, HM Submarine Unique and “Emigration, Plymouth Cattewater and the Samuel Plimsol” ~ here is a brief progress report.

“Trafalgar dawn, the French perspective“; this new marine painting measures 48″ x 12″ and will eventually go into print to make a pair of prints with the existing painting of Trafalgar dawn.

We will show a photo on this blog of the progress very soon.

This new marine painting seems already destined to become like the other version, a classic.

It is already being suggested here in France that it should be displayed in the Musee Maritime in Paris!

This shows great confidence in the artist’s abilities as the picture is still at a very early stage.

So far, after over 100 hours of research we have the underpainting started, this will eventually establish the tones and final composition.

Onboard the Bucentaure we can now see numerous figures set against a horizon upon which the British fleet is emerging.

Researching the French uniforms took almost as long as researching the British fleet positions!

As soon as the painting is sufficiently defined we will show you how it looks and you can try and imagine how the finished version will appear!

While Trafalgar dawn, the French perspective is a long way from finished, “moonlight patrol, HM Submarine Unique” is almost completed.

You may know, Unique was a U class submarine operational during World War 2?

Some of HMS Unique’s history is on the Internet, soon we will bring you more from our own unique research and a picture.

Plymouth Cattewater was back on the easel for several hours today.

A magnificent hand made to special order medium gold swept frame has arrived so at last this splendid painting can be finished.

Gordon Frickers preferes to finish major paintings in their frame after the colouring has had a month or 2 to settle.

You may have noticed paint often changes colour as it dries?

This is one of the reasons Gordon Frickers much preferes people ordering commissions to order well in advance of their delivery date if at all possible.

In this case the work involved has been mostly tinting and glazing.

This fine tuning has included some work on the Mount Batten quarry following comments by Nigel Overton, Heritage Officer, City of Plymouth, the sky has been made a tone more blue, like wise the cliffs of Jennycliffe bay, the buildings have had their shadows darkened and lights brightened, a magical veridian green has tinted the hull of the clipper Samuel Plimsol and parts her sails have had touches of a pink / grey added to enhance the effect of moonlight through the canvas, the sea has benefited from limited amounts of veridian added to the for ground and a number of other minor refinements have been made to the painting for example to the dinghies.

A new photo will follow on this blog as soon as the tints and glazes had dried, hopefully in a few days.

While the light here in the Tarn continues to be excellent for painting, this has been an odd summer for the Tarn.

We have only had one day of 40 C; most days this year have been 25 to 29 C, more like a good English summer than the South of France!

Gordon still managed to get a bit of a tan on the beaches of the cote de Landais and some long swims too!

Hello September, bye bye summer 2010

So how was Plymouth?

Gordon Frickers — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 20:23:49 +0000

My visit to Plymouth, looking back as I try to catch up on work at Itzac, went quite well including some good PR; the bad news was getting up early to be with Gordon Sparks on BBC Radio Devon the good news, Gordon Sparks Sparkie is great fun to be interviewed by,

There will also be a a piece in the Plymouth Evening Herald ~ (circulation about 250,000) by Tristan Nicholls of whom some including David Folley say “the best journalist on the Herald” about the new large marine painting Plymouth Cattewater and the invitation to exhibit next year at the European Parliament in Brussels.

The photo here is a different view of the the Cattewater, River Plym, Royal Plymouth Corinthian Yacht Club from which I used to sail in former family days and looks towards the east shore and my former home at Plymstock.

Besides visiting familiar places and there is more to tell!

On the recommendation of Ian Criddle and Nigel Overton who viewed the original marine painting of Plymouth Cattewater, I have a probable invitation to exhibit at the Plymouth City Museum who are interested in piping the European Parliament to the post.

It was also said having failed to exhibit most of Plymouth’s famous artists during their life time ~ hang on , Plymouth’s famous artists you querie that?

OK, here are a very few, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Beryl Cook, Robert Lencavitz, Alan Cotton, Tim Thompson; the list is a long one and visitors who loved Plymouth include J M W Turner.

Thus I consider to be even mentioned in the same breath as those people an honour I am thrilled to merit!

My conclusion was many people in Plymouth and Cornwall were most kind and supportive during this my longest single visit for several years.

To one I said, “and what can I do for you?” and was very touched when the response was “visit more often“; several others made similar remarks.

None made contrary remarks so maybe my ‘personal development’ is on track despite the isolation of Itzac!

I appreciate very much such kindness and for that I thank them sincerely.

In turn my commitment to Plymouth remains strong and recent work is of interest to Westcountry people in particular including the new large painting “Plymouth Cattewater” and the prospect of an exhibition at the invitation of the European Parliament nest year (a first for a marine artist and probably the first artist from the South West, certainly the first marine artist from Glenholt!

There was also an inconclusive viewing by THE top selling gallery in the South West; the good news being they looked at my work.

The bad news is they want a set of at least 6 large landscape paintings to try and don’t yet know my track record or Résumée on page

http://www.frickers.co.uk/about.html

The biggest downers were not enough time to see what art is selling and where in the South West and not enough time with my friends who these days are also my family.

I am not spending enough time in Plymouth.

Last Monday I crossed the English Channel and now I need a new studio…

Gordon Frickers — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 21:19:02 +0000

I sailed on 19,500 tons of Brittany Ferries new “Amourique” then stayed my first night near Redon.

I have the keys to a friends house where I often help out while passing through, then eventually found my way back to Itzac in the Tarn, Midi Pyrenees.

I have been mostly cleaning my house since. How do so many spiders and so much dust get in a closed house ~ and 3 frogs in the bathroom?

The picture of my cottage was taken last year before the house warming but balloons apart the place has not changed much for 50 years and was in 1825 the village forge.

Yesterday re started painting, a large landscape painting and a marine painting, a new “Trafalgar Dawn”.

The previous painting sold for about £6,000.00 but that was 15 years ago and went on to become a successful, popular print.

We have a few copies left of this numbered signed edition (guaranteed not signed by any of the original officers and crew).

You can order your copy of this most striking painting, easily and securely from page:

http://www.frickers.co.uk/prints.html

Where before we were with the crew onboard HMS Victory, this time we will be with the French flagship Bucentaure with Admiral Villeneuve his officers and men.

The new painting which has been researched over some 10 years, will have a much darker more threatening sky as we look away from not towards the dawn as per the original “Trafalgar Dawn” http://www.frickers.co.uk/marine-art/trafalgar_dawn.html so they should make a good pair.

We in the Tarn today also have a dark sky here with intermittent very heavy rain.

People here say they have never known such bad weather in May and June in the Tarn; where is summer they say?.

I have painted out side in this kind of weather in the Tarn

http://www.frickers.co.uk/landscape/hot_rain.html being an example,

but no one remembers the rain being so persistant in May and June.

Today being Saturday, Saturn’s day or Shabbat, you choose, I try not to work and not to do what I normally do.

I am not an “observant” or religious person, but like to put at least one day a week aside as special from work, besides if I was religious I’d probably become an “authority” and it seems to me we have enough experts on religion!

Also my vision of “G-d”, the Great Spirit is much too 21st and 22nd century for the religious establishments leaning towards what is the nature of the creature/being, why does it have such a bad press these days, why would it be interested in us?

After reading and thinking on the issues for 40+ years, on and mostly off, I am as likely “right” as they are maybe more so…?

I am quite well read in Christian and Jewish philosophy, the New Testement, bits of the Koran, the Torah and Mishnah, also Jewish and other “religious” history so while not “Religious”, I feel I can speak with some sense and with a reasonable broad education behind my thoughts.

Thus this afternoon I drove my car to Albi, a nice town of some 90,000 inhabitants the oldest part of which picturesquely straddles with 3 old bridges the River Tarn and today is best know for a world class museum on Toulouse Lautrec and a much more modest but excellent little museum devoted to another son, Laperouse, the navigator and discoverer, the French answer to James Cook.

Albi has a long history going back at least as far as Astrix the Gaul.

Albi used to be famous for woad, the blue dye notably brought to the worlds attention by naked Britons who painted in the stuff, parading on England’s beaches in particular to oppose Julius Cesar and his mates in if I remember correctly, 64 B.C.E.

I needed some food and urgently, an important part to protect my computer, a voltage regulator.

The electrical current in the remote parts of the Tarn is very unreliable.

I learnt the hard way it is not just the powercuts and spikes.

Equally damaging are the minor surges and fluctuations which gradually blow out vital components in any unprotected PC.

Not helping is a very unreliable upper floor electrical circuit in my cottage.

I’ve been asking my landlords to do some thing for over a year and quite often for the past 4 months… so far zilch.

I have surge protection but did not realise this was not enough so lost my No2 PC worth new some £700.00 plus software.

As my landlords are both lawyers I entertained no hopes of sympathy, apologies or regrets for my loss and was not in this case disappointed!

It has though in effect added 100 Euros per month to the cost of being here plus the inconvenience.

Ce la vie, they are basically pleasant people and I was grateful, to have their help when I urgently needed a studio so lets notch that down as yet another to experience.

I can’t help recalling though that “experience is what you get when things are going wrong“!

Fortunately thanks to the skill of the lads at SPC, Exeter Street Plymouth, my data was saved and installed on a now rather full No3 computer which with more memory added is promoted despite being 10 years old to No2 computer.

Maybe it will do ok as it has had this job before?

The countryside, hills and forests here looks beautiful even with the rain, moist with green and pink mists.

Visibility was about 2 km under low green grey wind swept skies and lost some times in very heavy rain squalls.

Itzac to me now means loneliness.

I too am very fed up with living alone.

I also wish to leave Itzac for some where with more people and a better studio.

I have studio problems not solutions which do not help my work.

There is a demand for me to paint larger pictures.

I have run into a problem with viewing distance.

Viewing distance is a critical component when working on larger sizes of painting, lack of causes perspective and colour relationship issues which waste valuable time and arrest momentum when inspiration flows.

The pictures need at least 15′.

I’m working generally with lack of space 6′ only for me in the present studio so trying to view work in progress is fraught, to dry larger paintings and groups of paintings in the studio is also becoming progressively more difficult’

So, who has a property to rent or otherwise trade out to a house friendly, formidable artist?

Hey it might get you a blue plaque ~ Gordon Frickers, Marine artist lived and worked here 2010 – ? ~ and add value to your property!

On the move

Gordon Frickers — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 15:04:44 +0000

Left Falmouth this morning and drove via Truro and Bodmin to Plymouth.

Good and bad news, in Plymouth I was able to access my emails but learnt my No 2 computer is no more, it has computed its last err, probable cause voltage fluctuations while in France. It seems the solution, a regulator, will cost some £200.00

Slightly better, I was able to collect the French landscapes I’d left with Adrian for some gallery directors to view.

Most of their favourite landscapes were painted plien aire in the Foret de Sivens on hot hot days, hard graft…

I learnt more about the gallery chain expressing interest and the sort of paintings they seem to like and why.

They like my landscape signature “Fricks” and want it to be more evident advising, many clients want to clearly see the signature as a recognisable “mark”.

Hmm, so much for modesty.

I am though only using this painting signature for landscape painting; Gordon Frickers marine painting will continue to be classically signed “Gordon Frickers”

After which I drove through some quite excitingly foul weather, flying spray and flooded roads in Devon, to reach Shilton, a beautiful village in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds where my mate Michael, my web master who delights in calling me his “oldest friend” – I do wish he would re phrase that! – lives in a romantic Chiltern stone house by the village ford.

En route to England and a birthday treat

Gordon Frickers — Mon, 24 May 2010 14:57:20 +0000

Up early ish today and loading my car including with 2 major marine paintings (Plymouth Cattewater and Nelson at Gibraltar 10 Dec 1796) and numerous French landscapes.

One of the objectives of this return to my home port of Plymouth is to find out how the paintings are received, perceived and valued, another is to consider suitable exhibition venues.

The marine art was produced with in mind, next years offer of an exhibition at the European Parliament, that being as far as I know the first time a marine artist from any country has been asked to exhibit at the European Parliament, certainly the first time an artist from Plymouth has been asked.

Thus with a fairly full car, including my traveling easel, paints, and so on I left Itzac sharp on 09.00 on a gloriously sunny morning, first stop Sauternes in Bordeaux with my good friends Isabelle and Jean Marie, the mayor and mayoress of Sauternes.

I admit I love Sauternes,

You may know of Sauternes wine?

The most exclusive white wine in the world comes from Sauternes, itself a very modest village of some 650 souls.

I have visited and painted there several times as part of my “Famous Wine Villages of France” project more of that on the web site.

You can view some of this work on page

http://www.frickers.co.uk/wine/index.html

This is a project I am looking to re start this summer partly because the villages have changed, more so because my work has matured and the new paintings will be even more fascinating.

As I was carrying, most unusually, a selection of about 40 french landscapes and 2 major marine paintings.

I was prevailed upon to show my work, not to hard, to show the art work I was conveying.

My friends know my work well, owning a landscape of Sauternes, also the town hall purchased a fine example, a painting of the town hall (and the gardens of the place de Sauternes)!

Isabelle and I had discussed my stopping as I more or less pass Sauternes on my route North, I had coffee at mid day in mind,

Isabelle had other ideas…

Barbeque and birthday cake, surprisingly a truly excellent Chardonnay from South Africa courtesy of Edward their son who unsurprisingly works in the wine industry and surprisingly has just returned from a tour working in overseas vineyards including in Chile and South Africa.

A wonderful spontaneous lunch, thank you my friends.

After a nap, onward to Bordeaux then te long haul North North North…

French landscape painting, open ended fine art

Gordon Frickers — Fri, 21 May 2010 17:37:22 +0000

Although my reputation is for marine painting, I am working as hard as I can on my Landscape paintings in particular those of Southern France.

I am bringing most of these originals to Plymouth on the 28th of this month for framing as I have several offers of minor exhibitions local to my French address and wish to clear some of these pictures and reduce my stock.
If they sell well I’ll paint some new versions, if not I’ll continue to focus on marine painting.

To really understand these remarkable landscapes you need to see the originals of these French landscapes and soon as things are beginning to move.

A few examples are shown here, these and more will appear in the web site soon join our free RSS feed on the home page if you wish to stay up to date.

Update:
I have in the past few months reviewed and re organized my collection, thus I am now able to put on exhibitions large or small much more quickly and thus economically, and am actively looking for exhibitions for this art work.
I have some 70 paintings under this heading French Landscapes.

30 of which I don’t really want to sell as they are valuable to me as points of reference which I’ll explain more about below.

While most of this sort of painting sell for between 350 and 750 these are certainly worth more to me than a modest £750…
These are the most unusual pictures I have created and are utterly unrepeatable moments because my vision lacks stable colour constancy, part of my extra ordinary sight, as my children used to say “special eyes”.
Of this 30, I prefer to work from them in the studio producing variants because each is an unrepeatable moment when I was working plien aire.

Originally these landscapes were painted not for sale but as pure experiments to help me explore and understand my colour vision and how it relates to “normal vision“.
My sight is most unusual including far more than what is understood by the common term colour blindness and clearly demonstrated in these paintings, I have a very forceful, powerful response to colour to which I have learnt to exclude my learnt colour responses and include some of my spontaneous and direct reactions.

The impetus for their creation was rather as developmental art, a form of open ended research into my own unique and to “normal vision people” strange colour response caused by my very odd colour vision.
All these landscapes are “interesting” more so if you see several together, some are quite exceptional and there is a lot of variety in subjects, in approach, in the very genuine and a sincere search for visual information embodied in this collection.

Previously I have not been very interested in selling these pictures as they have a reference value for me.
However, given my more nomadic lifestyle now and increasing interest in these works, it has been decided to offer some more widely (they have always sold well exclusively via Gallerie Marin, at Appledore) and see what happens.

I’d accept offers I could not refuse… and I have a tentative offer to show these unusual and in some cases very remarkable landscape paintings in New York via the owner of a chain of advertising agencies, their destiny remains undecided.
At the other end of the scale, our local Domaine de Barry also wishes to exhibit my work during August.
They make excellent wine and their regular music and dance evenings at a very popular part of local life so it should be possible to do a deal don’t you think?…

Recently, some of the earlier studies have been brought up to date in the studio which some fine tuning and are now much more appealing.

Almost the entire collection of French landscapes has been re branded and signed “Fricks“.

This for several reasons, the principal being I intend to separate these rather special landscape paintings onto their own web site moving them away from the marine paintings where they are not having the attention they merit and are a distraction from the very fine marine art.

Glenorchy, published by Sea Breezes magazine

Gordon Frickers — Wed, 19 May 2010 16:07:39 +0000

I hear from my friends at Sea Breezes magazine, “Yes we did manage to get the Glenorchy scan to a publishable quality“.

Sea Breezes, Glenorchy the marine painting is in the June issue which is on sale today.
We had a slight problem because of the tight deadline.
I have an excellent 5″ x 4″ transparency of this beautiful marine art painting but no high resolution digital image and my Epsom Perfection 2450 scanner is currently NBG, refuses to talk to Vista.

Glenorchy is on the Sea Breezes gatefold in this issues, a rare chance to have a nice print of this classic Glen Line ship and Empire class tugs, some of the ex William Watkins, Alexander Towing Company tugs.
You can find the picture and more text on page http://www.frickers.co.uk/marine-art/glenorchy_thames.html.

The pop up on this page shows you the painting about life size but is not as crisp, sharp as the original consequently the colours have suffered a bit.

Of course, many of the illustrations here and on www.frickers.co.uk you can view larger than life.

Recently for your enjoyment, we have started to include a grey and a colour scale with the pictures thus if you wish to se them as close as is possible to the image we place on the web you can adjust. yourscreen.

I hop you think, still fun to see though?

The editor is would like to use more of my pictures in the future, probably “Plymouth Cattewater” featuring the crack clipper Samuel Plimsoll next.
Sea Breezes are preparing an article on the Samuel Plimsoll.
I mentioned to my friends at Sea Breezes, the exceelent new-ish Nicolette Jones book “The Plimsoll Sensation” to them (ISBN 978-0-349-11720-1).

Plymouth Cattewater, finished at last

Gordon Frickers — Wed, 12 May 2010 11:59:05 +0000

This new marine painting measuring 30″x48″ (762×1219mm) has absorbed some 200 hours including location visits and research by myself and friends in Plymouth.

The scene is based principally on my numerous memories of Plymouth Cattewater by moonlight and shows the “crack” clipper ship Samuel Plimsoll during the 1880’s, loading emigrants Australia Bound. Colour and tone bars are placed here in the picture margin so you can adjust your monitor/screen if you wish to better view this new marine painting

This painting is intended as one of the center pieces for the exhibition next year offered me at the European Parliament; ~ unless some one makes me an offer I can’t refuse!

I also hope this formidable marine painting will inspire Plymouth City Council to make better use of the site in the same sort of way the splendid “Port of Chester 1863″ inspired Chester council, a splendid story documented on page http://frickers.co.uk/marine-art/chester.html which included a civic reception for the painting and artist.

You can pre order a copy of this painting, quickly, safely and securely for as little as £150.00 using page

http://www.frickers.co.uk/blog/making-a-payment/

There was a time when Plymouth was the preferred venue for emigration from Britain and only London and Liverpool saw more emigrants leave.

The facilities (the buildings on the right) at Plymouth were the best in the country by far, some thing Plymouth can always be proud of.

This historic site has been semi derelict and very neglected since the two large buildings were demolished in the 1930’s and is now up for re development.

The building nearest still stands and is the home of the Mayflower Sailing Club.

Cattewater? because this was a secure anchourage.

In former times ships would load in Sutton Pool and from adjacent beaches and coves which we now call Plymouth.

Then the ships would anchour and await favourable tide and wind.

When departing the anchour was raised and to re secure the anchour a type of derrick known as a Catte was used.

Plymouth as many people world wide are aware was a point of departure for numerous emigrations probably the most famous being the settlement at by the Elizabethans inspired by Sir Walter Raleigh

Prior to the site being used as an emigration depot it’s history includes use by the British Royal Navy as a victualing quay up to about 1840 before the construction of the victualling yards on the River Tamar at Stonehouse.

The Roanoke Colony settlers, the first English colony in the New World, sailed from Plymouth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Colony) as splendidly documented in the book Elizabeth Big Chief The historic site of the Roanoke Colony is off of U.S. Highway 64 on the north end of Roanoke Island, North Carolina

The infinitely more famous Pilgrim Fathers emigrated from Plymouth in the Mayflower, boarding Mayflower from about where Gordon Frickers has composed this painting .

Thousand more people emigrated from Plymouth following those adventurers and famous voyages too numerous to cover here started from Plymouth Cattewater, to name drop a few, Francis Drake, first captain to circumnavigate the world, the Elizabethan fleet to combat the Spanish armada, James Cook navigator and discoverer.

We know the ancient Phoenicians were here trading for tin, they used the beach opposite under Mount Battern and probably the beach where Phoenix Wharf quay and the emigration depot were eventually built.

All would have departed from this same stretch of water, Plymouth Cattewater.

You can pre order a copy of this painting, quickly, safely and securely for as little as £150.00 using page

http://www.frickers.co.uk/blog/making-a-payment/

Of course the history of this splendid port goes back way before the 1880’s as shown here and it is to be hoped Plymouth City Council will develope the site sensitively for our future.

When I have more time I’ll add here credits, principal sources and some of the story of the Clipper ship Samuel Plimsoll, watch this space!