MEMORABILIA
A collection of adverts, letters etc. that have kindly been sent to the site by visitors and do not appear elsewhere under a particular heading.
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A cartoon found in the Gravesend tug offices and kindly sent in by Capt. David Brown.
It would now appear, from information received from various people via guestbook and Mess Room that this was printed as either a postcard or Xmas card soon after WW2. It was sent by Captain Jack Arnold to various people marking his first trip as Skipper of SUN X out of the River to aid a damaged ship on the Goodwin Sands. This could well have been the Helena Modjeska, which ran aground there in 1946. At the time various newspapers carried accounts of people involved in the salvage, including a Deal JP, being found in possession of tinned food alleged to have come from the cargo of the casualty. I believe the charges were all dismissed in court after the salvage master stated that it was normal practice!!! I have seen no particular reference to the Tug crew being involved, but I wonder if it accounts for the 'bubbled' remark from the Naval forts crew on the cartoon. My thanks to all who have supplied info.
The cartoon is signed Pelham Jones 1946. Pelham Jones was a fairly well known marine artist of the 1930's. He also illustrated a book by Frank C Bowen, [who wrote A Hundred Years of Towing, the Watkins history, in 1933], entitled Sailing Ships of the London River, which was published in 1930. All very intriguing!!
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 Sun Tug advert from 1928.
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Kindly sent by Harold Russell.
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1907 letter to Captain Jonathan Russell, Master of Columbia. Kindly sent by Harold Russell.
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William Watkins ad, 1928.
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Ship Towage ad, 1959.
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Carnival float, probably late 40's or early 50's, featuring models of Monarch and Rumania which could have been made of wood by Clifton Slipways. It apparently appeared in a Gravesend May Day parade and also the London Lord Mayors Show. Info from George Boyd. Photo STL colln.
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Actor John Mills and Capt. D. Coles on bridge of Kenia. Photo believed taken during making of the film 'The Long Memory' in 1952. Photo M. Wemban Colln.
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Childrens entertainer 'Uncle Danny' and Ray Fothergill's sister Jennifer [1st and 2nd left] at a Watkins childrens Xmas Party. Photo R. Fothergill colln.
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A 1926 letter from John Stewart Wartkins to Captain Jonathan Russell. Presumably refers to the General Strike of that year and offers an insight into the thinking of the time. Document courtesy Harold Russell.
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Another rare gem courtesy of Harold Russell. Originally an article in "The Empire Illustrated" magazine it was republished as a separate supplement, bearing the cover shown above. Comprising only four double sided, almost tabloid sized, pages it contained quite a lot of information, much of which was to re-emerge ten years later in Frank Bowens book.
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Newspaper cutting from Harold Russell.
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A Statement made by Captain J. Russell to the Union Castle Steamship Co after he witnessed the events described in 1925. Courtesy Harold Russell.
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Letter from John Rogers Watkins to Capt. Harold Russell. Photo Harold Russell
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Three clippings from the Gravesend and Dartford reporter about the Cervia tragedy. All kindly supplied by Peter Merchant.
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The above sheet from the Cervia memorial service was given to Mike Houckham by one of Alf Dunlop's daughters when she visited Cervia at Ramsgate recently. Mike has kindly passed it on to the site.
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Courtesy Mike Houckham
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Telegraph from Oceana, recovered in 2009 from the wreck in the Orkney northern isles by members of the Scarborough Sub-Aqua club. Photo Rob Broadhead.
Copy of recent article in Kent Messenger courtesy Doug Hardy. -------------------------------------------
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