Maritime Woodbridge ’07
last September was a great success, its many attractions giving pleasure to
about 10,000 visitors.
One of the things that makes
Maritime Woodbridge a very special event is that everything in the packed programme
is absolutely free. As one disabled
and not well off lady told us, “It was a great pleasure to go to an event
where there wasn’t somebody holding out his hand for a Pound every few
minutes.”
Visitors commented on the friendly spirit of the event, which was
created by the enthusiastic and voluntary involvement of so many different
Woodbridge people, businesses, clubs and societies, led by a small working party
of traditional boat enthusiasts. This
made it truly a community effort.
From the riverside, the Cruising Club, the Yacht Club, the Rowing
Club, the Canoe Club, the Tide Mill Trust and the Sea Scouts were involved, as
were businesses like the Tide Mill Trust, the dock owners, the two traditional
boatyards, Suffolk Sails and Classic Marine. We were also supported by a large
number of classic boat owners who brought their craft, including newly restored
Thames Sailing barge Victor.
Again, members of local arts groups (The Woodbridge Art club, The
Deben Players, Company of Four, Musicology, the town’s Brass Band, the Ipswich
Gilbert & Sullivan Society and two local shanty groups) all took part. And
various bodies in the town gave us grants, to add to the main grant from the
Lottery fund.
We themed the event to our Anglo-Saxon heritage, in collaboration
with the National Trust at Sutton Hoo. We arranged for Sae Wylfing, the
half-size replica of the Sutton Hoo treasure ship, to be brought from
Southampton. Also, we
staged lectures each day by Dr Sam Newton, the
leading Anglo-Saxon scholar, as well as mounting demonstrations showing how the
Anglo-Saxons lived.
There was therefore a considerable educational element, and this
was extended in our very successful exhibition. We had a display illustrating
the maritime history of the town, and stands from, for example, the National
Trust, the Old Gaffers Association, the RSPB, Suffolk Coasts and Heaths Project
and the International Boatbuilding Training College. There were demonstrations of rope making and coracle
building, plus the opportunity for children to try their hand at paddling the
coracles.
Each day was rounded off by Sea
Fever, a free live show featuring nautical music, song, dance and verse,
which was attended by around 800 people.
We are building on our success in 2007 to make the show bigger and
better this year, when the theme will be Viking, and will
feature historical re-enactments.
