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''SB Lady of the Lea'' is a spritsail Thames sailing barge, the last such barge to be built in England. She was originally built to carry armaments and gunpowder from Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills down the narrow canals and rivers of London to Woolwich. She was later sold to private owners and rebuilt. She currently competes in Thames Sailing Barge matches, as well as taking part in various naval festivals. ==History== She was built of wood in Rotherhithe in 1931 by 'Hyam & Oliver' (boat builders, who operated well into the 1960s) for the War Department, for the carriage of explosives from Waltham Abbey. She was built small enough to pass under the low bridges of the River Lea and Bow Creek in London. The builders followed the original plans of other Thames sailing barges over a century ago. She is 72 feet (21.94 metres) long, 12.98 feet (3.96 m) wide and 3.97 feet (1.21m) depth. It was originally tiller steered and stumpy rigged, meaning she had no top mast or top sail. Built at the cost £1,500. The hull was built by 4 men in six months. The bottom was built of pine (doubled up) and the sides of oak and elm with copper fastenings and brass knees. Unusually, the sails were white and not the normal russet colour (of other Thames barges). To deal with her part open river and part canal journeys, she was horse and sail propelled.〔 The main hold was fitted to carry TNT. It could carry up to 500 barrels of gunpowder, as well as other armaments.〔 The barge travelled from Waltham Abbey, down the River Lea, to Bow Creek and then via the River Thames to Royal Arsenal Wharf, Woolwich. The Naval Armament vessels had a crew consisting of a master and three men. They wore blue serge (twilled cotton) uniforms with brass buttons.〔 A model display can be seen at the Royal Gunpowder Mills at Waltham Abbey showing her at work on the canals.〔 In 1939, she moved to Tring.〔 A petrol engine was added by the Navy in 1943, this was replaced by a diesel in 1980.〔 In 1946, she was sold to William Aslett (from the Small Craft Disposal Board), and moored in the Milton Creek at Crown Quay in Sittingbourne.〔 and subsequently sold to her present owner. She was largely rebuilt between 1980 and 1990 including doubling the bottom and lower hull. She has a wheel, main and mizzen masts, a bowsprit, and rudder. Her current sails are a jib, foresail, topsail and mainsail on the main mast and a mizzen sail on the mizzen (rear) mast.〔 Later, she was sold to Mr Brian Pain as private yacht barge, with a "Rochester Tutors" logo on her topsail. She is now based at Standard Quay in Faversham.〔 She is listed in 'The Illustrated Guide to Thames Sailing Barges' by Rita and Peter Phillips, that takes parts in exhibitions and matches. She first competed in the Swale Barge Match in 2006, along the Swale.〔 In 2009, she appeared on Griff Rhys Jones BBC One series Rivers with Griff Rhys Jones. A model of 'Lady of the Lea' still exists in the London Canal Museum. On 17 April 2012, she was seen in a TV programme on BBC2 called ''Our Food''. The episode features Kentish foods, with Giles Coren describing how Thames sailing barges were being used to take fruit from Kent to London. It was mostly, filmed aboard 'Lady of the Lea' on the River Medway with a “a special guest appearance from Edith May”. She appeared in Faversham's Nautical Festival 2012, on Faversham creek with another restored sailing barge ''Cambria''. On the 14 August 2012, she took part in the Swale Barge Match, coming third in the Bowsprit class.〔 On the 30 June 2012, she took part in the Passage match (along the Thames towards Harwich) but came last. 〔 In the 2012 Championship sailing matches, she came second behind ''Edith May''. She took place in the 52nd Pin Mill barge match (from Suffolk out to sea and back) in 2013. In the 2013 Championship sailing matches, she came joint third with ''Repertor'', and behind ''Niagara'' and ''Edith May''.〔(【引用サイトリンク】year=2013 )〕 She is one of a current (of 2013) sailing fleet of 57 barges. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「SB Lady of the Lea」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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