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Library > New Acquisitions > Book Review
Inshore Craft of Britain, in the Days of Sail and Oar; Edgar J March; Chatham Publishing, 2005;
Vol. 1 Shetland, Orkney East Coast of Scotland & England, Thames Estuary; CA 16599.
Vol. 2 Kent Coast, S & W Coasts of England, Wales, West Coast of Scotland; CA 16600
£25 each or £45 for slipcased set.
Edgar March’s books on “Sailing Drifters” and “Sailing Trawlers” had already earned him a substantial reputation when David & Charles published “Inshore Craft” in 1970, only two years before he died. March was evidently not a sailor, but was fascinated by traditional working craft of every kind, and resolved to record the disappearing evidence of unpowered craft. Nor was he a motorist, and relied on public transport and friends to take him to the coastal areas he visited; West and North Scotland he evidently found difficult to reach. He corresponded over forty years with boatbuilders and boatmen throughout the UK, and quotes extensively from their letters. Philip Oke, a volunteer draughtsman on the SNR’s Small Craft Committee, contributes most of the 70-odd drawings and the 120 photographs, some from originals more than 100 years old, are clearly reproduced.
March evidently had a deep respect for the men who worked these craft and writes eloquently of their skill and courage, including a dramatic account of the launch of a Deal galley to assist a vessel drifting onto the Goodwins. John Leather was among his correspondents forty years ago, and contributes an insightful Introduction to this welcome reissue of a perceptive and authoritative appreciation of the men who worked these vessels, and of the boats themselves. – JRPage prepared 29 November 2005