Beaulieu River

The history of the boat is extremely interesting and worth a read. She completed a very eventful circumnavigation between August 1966 and May 1967 and then spent 35 years in dry dock at Greenwich. Unfortunately, during this period, her condition seriously deteriorated. There was a campaign to save and restore her and, in 2005, she was relaunched for a second (and equally eventful) voyage around the world.

On her return, she was put up for sale and was eventually bought by business partners Eileen Skinner and Rob Thompson. Their aim was ‘to retain her in the UK as a fundamental part of our sailing history, to make her available for people to see and sail and to inspire a new generation of young people’.

In recent years, she has been on public display in various locations and completed classic regattas and public events. Visitors can also visit the boat and even book sailing trips on her (prior to Covid obviously).

Check out the Gipsy Moth Trust (gipsymoth.org) for more information.

Further up the river is the quaint hamlet of Georgian cottages, Buckler’s Hard.

Built by second Duke of Montagu in the 18th Century, it is also part of the Beaulieu Estate. It was originally intended to be a free port for trade with West Indies, but quickly became a base for shipbuilding. The hamlet had access to sheltered, but navigable waterway with gravel banks capable of supporting slipways for vessel construction and launch. Timber for hulls was also readily available from the surrounding New Forest.

The yard was successful in winning several royal navy contracts and, over a period of 60 years, built 43 naval ships, including 3 that fought at the Battle of Trafalgar.

There is still much evidence of this history today, both outside and in the renovated buildings. A visit into the Maritime museum and the refurbished shipwright’s cottage  are worth while.