PERSONAL NEWHAVEN MEMORIES
The French banana carrier DJUNGO that brought cargoes of West African fruit to Newhaven.
Peter Lamb
SUSSEX QUEEN - here seen alongside Poole Quay on a refuelling call.
Poole Maritime Trust
A FAIRMILE PASSENGER LAUNCH - some sported funnels.
Peter Lamb
Pleasure boats and paddle steamers.
By Peter Lamb
NEWHAVEN.
Whilst I have never lived in Newhaven it has featured a lot in my life. As a boy I lived in Southampton and loved the docks and ships so it was with great delight I visited Newhaven in 1963 to see the wonderful Cross Channel steamers coming and going. The purpose for my visit was to go aboard the old paddle steamer CONSUL that was owned by friends of the family and based at Newhaven for the summer, undertaking a series of coastal cruises from Brighton and Eastbourne. These cruises were spectacularly unsuccessful due to serious mechanical issues that bugged this 1896 built veteran.
A few years later I worked for the banana importing company of ELDERS & FYFFES (later known as FYFFES GROUP). I was based in Southampton but when that port was unable to cope with cargoes owing to unavailability of labour or strikes, ships were rostered to discharge in Newhaven. This practice took place from the late 1960’s to, around, 1980. Mainly cargoes came from the Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Surinam and Jamaica. There were a large number of ships of various shapes and sizes involved in the trade. Our agents, at Newhaven, were Fisher Duforest, later known as James Fisher.
It was not unusual to spend three or four days at a time at the port. In the early days my colleagues and I stayed at the MERCURY MOTEL that was located off the Seaford Road. Latterly, for reasons of convenience and ambience we transferred our allegiance to the Yacht Club located opposite the commercial discharge berth. The club was run by (I guess) a husband and wife team with a dog called Bosun ! The accommodation was very comfortable and the food excellent. When excess sea conditions prevailed it was not unusual for a ship to be unable to berth and days were also lost to inclement weather. In these instances we explored the area and I was very impressed with Seaford seafront. Being a ship enthusiast the busy harbour was of considerable interest to me and it was lovely to see some of the old BR ships laid up or soldiering on !
Now retired I am very much involved with maritime history and, in particular, the smaller coastal passenger ships that used to operate around our coasts. I wonder if any reader can assist with any information, ephemera or photographs of any of these interesting vessels that, either, operated or visited Newhaven since WW2.
Ex RN “FAIRMILE B” launches were introduced to the Sussex Coast in the late 1940’s /early 1950’s. I have already seen reference to the JOHN McCLEOD but wonder if anyone can add to this or have and information on “DUNKIRK” or “ANZIO”. I know there a couple more that came over from the Channel Islands.
Paddle steamers – the list is rather long : “FRESHWATER”, “SUSSEX QUEEN” (1961), “CONSUL” (1963), “RYDE”, “SANDOWN”, “WHIPPINGHAM”, “RYDE”, “WAVERLEY”
I will be very appreciative of any input in respect of the above PLUS any photographs of the banana ships from that fascinating and busy period in the historic port.
Thanking you,
PETER LAMB – Now residing in Bournemouth.