LAUNCH OF A NEW SEAFARERS’ CABIN AT IPSWICH DOCK
THE EVENT
At noon on 26th September, Hamil Clarke, Mayor of Ipswich will officially launch a brandnew Seafarers’ Cabin at Ipswich Dock in front of an invited audience of around sixty people.
The party will then retire for a reception on board the Thames sailing barge Victor moored
nearby on Eagle Wharf.
The event has been organised by David Thurston, Chairman of the Felixstowe & Haven Ports
Seafarer Service (FHPSS), a stand-alone charity (no.272077). From its Centre at the Port of
Felixstowe, the charity operates two satellites – one at Ipswich, the other at Harwich. Two
Chaplains are based at the Felixstowe Centre but also visit ships in the two satellites – Sister
Marian Davey for the Apostleship of the Sea (AOS/Stella Maris) & Rev Simon Davies of the
Mission to Seafarers (MTS/Flying Angel).
THE NEW CABIN
The new cabin has been provided by the Environment Agency. Their project manager,
Andrew Usborne, has been working with Comer Mead of Royal Haskoning DHV and Ashley
Tate of Jacksons, as part of the advance works to build the Ipswich Tidal Barrier.
The Cabin is located on a site kindly lent by Associated British Ports (ABP). Jerry Coleman,
Harbour Master at the Port of Ipswich along with his team, not least Richard Lungley, has
been closely involved in the installation and fitting-out of the Cabin which features a lounge
area and a chapel along with telephone and Internet facilities.
THE PORT
Ipswich has a long history as a port dating back to its origins in the Anglo-Saxon era. It is still
very much a working port catering for:
-
containers
dry bulks – aggregates, grain, animal feed, fertilisers and cement
forest products from Scandinavia and the Baltic states
general cargo with regular sailings to and from the Caribbean and Cyprus
roll-on roll-off (RoRo)
The Port welcomes around 1,000 vessels a year and handles around three million tonnes of
cargo.
THE SEAFARERS
Without Seafarers, shipping would come to a standstill. Several thousand Seafarers find
themselves in the Port of Ipswich every year – for the vast majority, a strange port in a
foreign land. We read all too often about the perils of life at sea – sinkings, piracy,
abandonment without pay but there are other, less dramatic but grindingly oppressive stresses
faced by all Seafarers.
Continued….
Most of us get to home at the end of the day, escaping the work-place and relaxing with
family and friends. We can go out – for a meal or a drink, for a walk in the park, to the gym
or to do some shopping.
For the Seafarer none of this is possible. The contract may be for a year or longer. Some
ports are too dangerous to go ashore and others cruelly deny access. Faster turn-arounds
mean little if any time ashore – the days of a sweet-heart in every port are long gone. It is not
at all uncommon for eight weeks or more to elapse before a Seafarer can get off the ship.
In these circumstances, having a somewhere safe within the Port affords the Seafarer the
opportunity of a break. In Ipswich he or she can take a stroll to our Cabin to call home, use
the Internet, relax, meet new people, have some peace and quiet in the chapel and if required,
have a private meeting with a Chaplain.
OUR PRESENCE AT IPSWICH
2002 – 2007 The Second-Hand Caravan
The Chaplains based at Felixstowe had been visiting ships in the Port of Ipswich for many
years but it was only in 2002 that a physical presence – “a drop-in centre” - away from the
ship was achieved. The AOS Chaplain, Greg Squirrel had the original idea but it was his
successor, Tom Dickinson who brought it to reality with the assistance of his MTS
counterpart, Andrew Paine.
Tom had been thinking of hiring a portacabin but Dave Fletcher of Orwell Navigation
Services put him in touch with Nick Fenn whose company was leaving the Port and who was
only too pleased to donate a caravan free gratis. Meanwhile Harbour Master John Swift had
come up with a site alongside the Marine shed. Tom secured a budget of £1,600 from
FHPSS for refurbishment of the caravan. The launch was held in October 2002 with the
Mayor, Richard Risebrow and his wife performing the opening ceremony.
2007 – 2013 The Previously-Loved Portacabin
The Caravan gave good service for several years but in 2007 it was replaced with a secondhand portacabin. By this time Donald McEwen had taken over for the AOS from Tom and
Geoff Moore for the MTS. Local volunteers were particularly helpful including Brian &
Mary Warren.
2013 – The Brand-New Portacabin
Subsequently, Sister Marian led for the AOS and Rev. Simon Davies for the MTS in trying to
keep the portacabin fit for purpose but in the end maintenance costs became prohibitive.
Talks between the Chairman David Thurston and Jerry Coleman, Harbour Master, led to a
new Cabin. Rachel Attrill of the Felixstowe Centre has been vital in looking after both the
previous premises and the décor of the new Cabin.
Continued….
BUT WE WEREN’T THE FIRST! – THE CHAPEL-SHIP HELENA 1869-1880
In researching the topic of Seafarers in Ipswich we came across the fascinating story of the
Chapel-Ship Helena which was in operation at Ipswich Dock from 1869-1880.
The Ipswich Journal of Saturday 6th November, 1869 gives a description of the conversion of
the vessel to a chapel-ship and the stirring, if not now politically correct let alone ecumenical,
opening ceremony
Rev. R.H. Whiteway was responsible for St Clement’s Parish including its quays and
wharves along the Orwell. He took on Rev. George Daniel, an erstwhile missionary, to visit
the Seafarers on their ships. Seeing that other ports had floating chapels, an approach was
made to the Admiralty which agreed to release the Helena then moored at Sheerness, on
condition that Rev.Whiteway arranged the move. Mr Curtis of the Ship Launch inn agreed to
take this on and the Commissioners agreed for her to be moored at the north end of the Dock.
Mr Curtis supervised the conversion. A third at the stern end, previously the officers’
quarters, was to be the residence of Rev. Daniel. As well as a study and a sitting room, it
included a servant’s room, kitchen, sleeping berths and a vestry. The remainder was
converted to a chapel by the removal of the top deck. This was replaced with corrugated iron
under-clad with wood, allowing the lower deck to serve as the floor of the chapel. The
outward appearance of the ship was essentially unchanged except that it was approached by a
stage from the shore through two iron gates, one for the Rev. and the other for visitors. Every
care was taken such that the Chapel had all the fixtures and fittings typical of the period. Mr
Cunnold of Ipswich, a builder, excelled himself with the wooden fittings including benches,
communion rails and pulpits. The light came from windows in the port-holes augmented
with gas light. All told, the Chapel could easily seat over 500 people.
Two services were held on the opening day - 3rd November. The first was led by Ven. R
Groome Archdeacon of Suffolk who drew analogies between seafaring, events in the New
Testament and the voyage of life along with a passing reference to “….Rome, the false and
apostate church….” The second, in the evening, saw a congregation of over 600 – people
were even turned away. Rev. Whiteway took as his theme the miraculous draught of fishes.
On 6th July 1880, the Journal reported that following a fall in congregations, the powerful
steam-tug Sampson would be towing Helena away to Sheerness en route to Portsmouth.
The Helena had an illustrious history. She was built for the Admiralty at Pembroke Dock as
a 16-gun, 549 ton warship and launched in 1843. Two notable successes operating off West
Africa in the 1840s were the capture of the slave-ship Unaio, releasing over 500 hundred
slaves and the slave dhow Messuri Kliej. She went on to see service off North America and
in the West Indies. She returned to Portsmouth in 1861 to serve as a coal hulk and then a
police hulk before arriving in Ipswich. After her departure in 1880 she once again became a
police hulk at Chatham. Her end came when she was sold for breaking-up in January 1921.
CATERING FOR THE SEAFARER AT IPSWICH DOCK
1869-1880 - THE CHAPEL-SHIP “HELENA”
Picture from “Ipswich Remembered 2” – Suffolk Record Office – reprinted 1982
2002 – 2007 – THE SECOND-HAND CARAVAN
Photo with & courtesy of Tom Dickinson, AOS Chaplain
2007 – 2013 - THE PREVIOUSLY- LOVED PORTACABIN
Photo from FHPSS website
2013 – THE NEW CABIN
Photo by David Thurston