Boat Builder
Britain was just recovering from World War Two when a couple of Shaldon lads could be seen each morning rowing across the estuary in a flat bottomed punt. Trevor Jackson and Vernon Mole, apprentice boat builders at Morgan Giles yard, pulled their way through the waves, come snow, wind, ice or fog, and enjoyed a bit of sky larking too. After many years of concentrating on Admiralty orders, repairs to MTBs, minesweepers and lifeboats were ongoing. But at last, they could turn again to civilian orders and revel in the creativity of building conventional craft of carvel and clinker: Dragon class yachts of 12 and 16 feet length, a pair of wooden trawlers for local owners, and quay punts ranging from 2.5 to 10 tons in weight. Two particular mornings, the lads’ attendance at the yard was interrupted by strange circumstances. The first followed a gusty night - thousands of pit props, washed away from the clay pits above Newton Abbot, blocked the river. They spent the morning collecting them up and the clay company bought them back for one shilling and nine pence each. The second occasion was when they saw what seemed to be an old coat caught in the eddy at Shaldon. Sadly, it was the body of George Hartnell, a Harbour Pilot, who had slipped off the steep end at Teignmouth Point. A large house close to Lifeboat Lane was used for all the administrative needs of the yard. Francis Charles Morgan Giles and his son Michael were based in an office upstairs along with Secretary, Miss Atkinson (“Prudence” to the workforce). Ken Collyer, a very able and meticulous draughtsman/designer and 2 or 3 others occupied the Drawing Office above, in what was called the Penthouse. The ground floor housed reception and the wages office run by Reg Winsor. Incredibly, on pay day, he carried the wages for the entire workforce on a tray in full view.
Along Strand to the clocking-out shed at the far end of the factory. Bob Jackson ran the Blacksmith’s shop with his assistant, George Nicholson, the twosome had the skills to produce anything in iron or shape metal into whatever else was required. “Chiefie” Barrett, a large Ex-Navy man ran the stores like a naval ship and no apprentice tricks ever fooled him. Apart from the “joke” chit for a wickless candle or bucket of air that the apprentices arrived with, Chiefie could always put his hand immediately on whatever was needed. His flat-footed sidekick Arthur shuffled around the stores, keeping his eye on the gates, in case the apprentices arrived late or left early. Luckily for Trevor and Vernon, there were three other ways of “escaping” if necessary!
Trevor started his boat building apprenticeship at Morgan Giles in 1948. A blueprint of the Morgan Giles yard remains boldly etched in his memory, allowing us to savour its multiple components. The Tinsmith and Coppersmith shop was worked by Percy Scagell who lived at Bridge View from 1934 till his death, and colleagues Lionel French, Peter Symonds, Harry Hampton and an apprentice. All the metal pipe work was down to them and the MTBs and Minesweepers had particularly complex pipe work. They plumbed in systems and installed asbestos lagging - now known for its deadly properties. In the upstairs Joiner’s shop, the Foreman, Bert Tucker, was succeeded by George Rowe, Landlord of the Lifeboat Inn. A dozen joiners and almost as many apprentices produced all the furniture, carpeting and galleys for the fitting out. They made up masts, the larger ones up to 90 feet long were made from hollow sections of silver spruce glued together to make them very strong. In contrast, the accompanying spars were lightweight. A platform led from there to the Rigger’s loft, the domain of sharp-featured Bill Hutchings, a small, wiry man without an ounce of fat on him. Unfailingly pleasant and helpful, he had the onerous task of making up the wires, ropes and rigging. His work was so precise it ensured problem-free stepping of the masts.
Below the loft was a large stock of “grown oak” crooks in a myriad shapes and sizes for use as templates to make almost any shape of knee, stem or stern post. At the northern end of the yard, a 2-floored building known as the lifeboat shed was where the Monaco Cruisers were built, also Reg Matthews’ and Tony Chapman’s wooden trawlers the last pair to be built in Teignmouth. Upstairs was a long open floor called the mould loft where several Dragon class yachts, small launches and dinghies were built. Ken Collyer would set off the lines and details of any newly designed boats in tailor’s chalk. Once satisfied that every line was correct and fair, the shipwrights made up the moulds and templates. If their work was accurate (and it was!) the whole thing would fit together like a jigsaw puzzle.
Standing sentinel in the yard was a boiler over a wood burning fire sprouting a network of pipes carrying a supply of high pressure steam used for shaping timbers. In the saw mill beneath the Joiner’s shop, Chiefie Barrett’s son, Owen cut and prepared all the timber needed by every department. Morgan Giles was a hive of industry that continues to resonate across the world.
After one year as an apprentice boat builder with Morgan Giles, Trevor built himself a punt in Dolly Strang’s coal shed in Shaldon. It was 11 feet long and cost him as many pounds. As his experience grew, so did the risks and on days when they had to cast lead ballast keels, they took their lives in their hands. Literally “walking the plank” without safety rails or barriers, each man carried a ladle filled with 10 pounds of molten lead. Given the close contact with lead and asbestos, it is a miracle there are still some left to tell the story. In 1959, five 30 feet yachts named after big cats were built in “Big Shed” for Dartmouth’s Royal Naval College. Number 788 was Leopard. Below this floor, in the old air raid shelter, the labouring gang was led by Foreman, Bill (Greybird) Matthews who was also Teignmouth’s Chief Fire officer. Their business included moving boats about and they made up cradles with long runners below like a giant sledge. Planks brushed with hot tallow were placed below the runners enabling large vessels to be moved with ease, using levers or a winch - a system with its roots in centuries past. South through a large door gave entry to a shed, the largest open space in the yard housing 4 slipways for launching and hauling out boats up to 110 feet long. Here, Admiralty orders for minesweepers and MTB were carried out. At the top, the veranda was divided into small stores for boat owners whose craft were laid up in the winter, using all the space not required for new building. Painting and varnishing was carried out by Percy Woodgates and his team, Ken (Spike) Jones, Warwick Lee, Harry Rowlands and Bill Butchers. Two flights of stairs above Big Shed was the Toy Shop where a great many fine dinghies, yachts and laminated frames were produced for the Monaco cruisers, a range of luxury motor boats which almost led the change of direction for the company through the use of plywood and laminated hardwood framing, air powered tools and modern glues. Ironically, the emerging market’s demands were partly responsible for the gradual downfall of the yard. Its death knell sounded loud and clear with the arrival of GRP- fibre glass to us landlubbers. Part of Big Shed was converted to accommodate GRP work and half the workforce left to go into house building or engineering for Centrax. For Trevor, it marked the end of the skill and satisfaction found in producing beautiful boats from the most suitable timber available. Trevor later continued his boat building career in Australia. The world famous yard entered its final chapter with the move away from traditional methods coupled with the death of its founder, Francis Charles Morgan Giles. The company was kept going under management for a while but the tragic death of the new chairman, John Roberts in a road accident led to closure of the yard at the end of 1969. Now almost 50 years after closure, It is clear that the name of Morgan Giles will live on long into the future.
Compiled by Viv Wilson MBE
