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| Mark and Gloriana – Richmond’s new celebrity couple |
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Mark Edwards runs Richmond Bridge Boathouses on Richmond Riverside. As well as carrying out repairs he builds new wooden boats, and has revived many types of traditional wooden river craft long out of use, such as the Thames wherry and shallop, using 18th and 19th century illustrations and models in the National Maritime Museum as guidance for his accurate reconstructions. Mark has taught short courses explaining traditional boatbuilding for the Environment Trust, built the skerry rowed by the Trust’s team in the Great River Race last year, and was one of the speakers at the Thames Life in Art evening (more information here). One high-profile project was the 17th century wooden submarine commissioned for the television series ‘Building the Impossible’ by the BBC, and many of his boats have appeared in films with a historical setting. Late last year he was commissioned by Lord Sterling to build a new royal row-barge (to be named Gloriana) to be presented to the Queen for her Jubilee celebrations. The 23 metre long wooden boat now taking shape on an industrial estate in west London resembles a scaled-up version of the 19 metre Prince Frederick’s row-barge, launched in 1732 and now in the National Maritime Museum. On 12th January, BBC’s The One Show did a feature on the row-barge, filming its construction and an interview by presenter Giles Brandreth with Mark and Lord Sterling. Gloriana is not to be confused with the non-rowing barge (temporarily converted from a hotel boat called ’Spirit of Chartwell’), which will carry the Queen at the river pageant; Gloriana, however, will head the procession. Gloriana’s design has to take account of modern insurance and safety considerations - an engine, watertight compartments and structural design checked against computer programmes run by naval architects - but she is designed to be rowed in the traditional way by 18 oarsmen. When leading the Jubilee pageant on the Thames, she will be rowed by Queen’s Watermen and carrying ceremonial trumpeters. At present the boat is a stark hull with a timber framework clad in plywood planks, surrounded by scaffolding and with her internal rooms only just beginning to take shape, but by April a gilded, carved and painted vision of royal splendour will emerge from her unprepossessing warehouse home for launching and testing. Mark’s team of 20 includes both experienced local boat-builders and apprentices learning traditional methods, and his Richmond workshop has been a training ground for many teenagers who have started with few formal qualifications but have acquired relatively rare and valuable knowledge and skills. If Mark was a building, he’d be listed for his contribution to the character of the riverside. As it is, we should be grateful for his invaluable role in maintaining traditional skills on this stretch of the Thames and for being a good friend to the Environment Trust. When Mark returns to his usual workshop, Gloriana will probably be kept at Richmond, and will also become part of the local scenery. Jenny Pearce |
