NEMT History and Airbrushing

In the Significance Statement of the National Maritime Museum, Small Boat Register, says about Peggy, one of the oldest cobles still sailing:-

As a fishing coble she worked long lines, salmon nets and pots for crab and lobster. Upon leaving the fishing industry Peggy was used as a pleasure boat at Hartlepool, before being bought in poor condition by an NFHT enthusiast in 2007. Restoration was undertaken in 2008 at the boatyard then owned by Fred Crowell, at South Shields. Further comprehensive restoration led by Dave Parker was completed in 2017 by NFHT and NEMT volunteers at the same boatyard. Now kept on the river Tyne and in almost original condition she is in the ownership of Northumbrian Fishing Heritage Trust.

Continue reading

Posted in Misinformation | Leave a comment

Recent Newsletters

Dear All,

On the 21st April, I received an email from the Chair of NEMT, nemaritime2020@gmail.com saying: “Dear member, We hope you have had an enjoyable Easter. Please find the April 2025 newsletter attached as a pdf.

This was somewhat at odds with his previous communication I received from him, which was from a different mailbox, alec.renwick@nemaritimetrust.org.uk:-

Mr Dawson,
After recent termination of your membership of NEMT; we have since received a £15 payment by standing order.
Therefore, a refund by cheque has been posted using registered delivery today to the address listed in your membership details.

The April 2025 Newsletter announced re the lifeboat Henry Frederick Swan, “Weather permitting, we expect to relaunch at about 13.30 – 14.00 on Saturday 26th April”, and I hoped to catch Mr A Renwick, to ask if it was he who signed the cheque as it was never delivered but more generally, it appears that he is more interested in broadcasting lies about myself than in checking the accuracy of his own records. *

Continue reading
Posted in Correction | 2 Comments

NFHT and NEMT

When I acquired the Coble, Peggy in 2007, I lived in Greens Place with good views over the river Tyne to North Shields and Tynemouth and it was not long before I joined NEMT but by 2014 I had fallen out of favour, not with NEMT but with South Tyneside Council and decided to settle in Amble. My first attempt failed because I had trouble selling my house in Greens Place.

I had first put it on the market in 2014 but various estate agents had failed me and when I returned to South Shields in 2015, they failed me again so I sold it privately with two of NEMT’s volunteers as witnesses and for that I was extremely grateful because I was then able to afford to make a home in Amble in the late Summer of 2017. It did however, take a legal firm in Newcastle to dot the i’s and cross the t’s and the sale was officially said to have been completed in 2019.

Continue reading
Posted in Archive | Leave a comment

NEMT v NFHT : 2

From Part 1 of the divide, it would appear that a chairman, Mr A Renwick, of the charity, NEMT, is running it as a private group, and apart from 2 different versions of the NEMT AGM of 2023, that I recieved from another of NFHT’s Trustees for discussion, I have not seen the minutes of any of their AGMs since 2018 apart from the pair associated with the AGM of 2022.

At that meeting it was noted that, NEMT’s close association with the NFHT was referred to with Martin Wilson suggesting a long-term amalgamation might be a good idea but it got no further and it appears that the suggestion that the communications between the boards of trustees and the membership was described as much in need of improvement fell on stony ground as well. The volunteers of the two trusts had been working as one since at least 2015 but it appears that from 2020 that the Trustees were not working to achieve the same aims.

Continue reading

Posted in Archive | Leave a comment

Claim and Counter Claim

Between the Trustees of NEMT and one of its long standing Members.

At the beginning of 2023 it was becoming clear the Chairman of the North East Maritime Trust with the help of people like Keith Barnard was deliberately withholding monies owing to the Northumbrian Fisheries Heritage Trust. One of the tactics employed by them to delay the payment was to accuse me of making slanderous accusations and sending aggressive personal emails but they were lying, found out, and the debt of £13,000 was paid in May 2023.

It took four months to go through the legal wrangles before the debt of £13,000 was paid and I can confirm that I have never recieved an apology from either Mr Renwick or Mr Barnard.

Mr Barnard and Mr Renwick parted company before the failed attempt at a relaunch of the Henry Frederick Swan in 2024

Mick Dawson, 1st March 2025

Continue reading
Posted in Correction | Leave a comment

Why nemaritimetrust.co.uk

and not nemaritimetrust.org.uk

‘.co.uk’ or ‘.uk’ mean much the same thing and they are ideal for any business or individual who is solely UK-based and really wants to let people know that they operate within the UK.

‘.org.uk’ is extension designed for ‘organisations’ – which can be a slightly grey area when trying to figure out what exactly defines an ‘organisation’ – but for the purpose of domain extensions it simply means ‘non-profit organisations’ and includes charities.

In 2007 when I was looking for a domain name for the North East Maritime Trust, ‘nemt.org.uk’ was not available because it in use by the North East Mountain Trust which had been going since 1980 but ‘.co.uk’ was and while nemt.co.uk fitted the bill, it had been taken by Alec Renwick who was one of NEMT’s founder members and a combination of events led me to use nemaritimetrust.co.uk for my website without much thought behind the choice between ‘name.co.uk’ and ‘name.org.uk’ having been made.

Continue reading

Posted in Correction | Leave a comment

Golden Gleam – January 2025

The Coble just inside the NEMT Shed. She lay in the corner of St Peters Marina for a few years, photo mislaid, and it took quite a few years to get her under cover.

She laid well wrapped up at St Peters because NFHT boats were barred from the Wapping St Workshop and Slipway while Chair of NEMT tried to seize control of this website, nemaritimetrust.co.uk, from its owner who had maintained it and its predecessor since about 2008.

Called ‘Broken Promise’ on Facebook, 2022-24.

One will have to ask the current Chair of NEMT, info@nemaritimetrust.org.uk, why he relented in the case of the Golden Gleam while the Rachel Douglas, Favourite and the Sovereign remain excluded from the slipway off Wapping Street, South Shields.

Posted in Golden Gleam | Leave a comment

NEMT and the Coble: Golden Gleam

marinechandlery.com • 10 January 2025
•••
We’re proud to be supporting the restoration of the historic sailing coble, Golden Gleam, in partnership with Northumbria Fishing Heritage Trust.

This incredible project is now underway at the NEMT workshop in South Shields, Wapping Street, where work has already begun on stripping back layers of paint to reveal the challenges ahead. We’re excited to supply materials and follow the progress of this important restoration, preserving the legacy of our region’s rich maritime history.

Stay tuned as we share updates on this fantastic project.

North East Maritime Trust

#GoldenGleamRestoration #NorthumbriaFishingHeritage #MarineChandlery #MaritimeHistory #BoatRestoration #UKboating #uksailing

Golden Gleam gets to the NEMT Workshop in January 2025!
Posted in Golden Gleam | Leave a comment

Golden Gleam, 8-Jan-25

Better late than never!

Continue reading
Posted in Golden Gleam | Leave a comment

NEMT: ~~ Before and After the Bedford ~~

Her restoration by NEMT began in 2019 and took about two years. She was built by Lancelot Lambert at the Lawe and was launched from the Lawe Building Yard, Dec 21st 1886. Miss Bedford, who lived in the South of England, bequeathed £1,000 to the Lifeboat Society Trustees for the lifeboat to be named Bedford in memory of her brother who was an engineer with the Tyne Improvement Commission.

Continue reading
Posted in General | Leave a comment