Author Archives: Bertie Wheen

The Woolverstone Project

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by Julia Jones

I sometimes feel that we don’t do enough for people with disabilities on the Deben. I’m correspondingly glad that we are near neighbours of The Woolverstone Project. I know that many Deben people are already involved with the Project either as volunteers or as fund raisers or financial supporters. Perhaps you, or someone you love, benefits from its activities? This article is for those who may not already know about the project. Perhaps they, like me will feel that they could do more to support its work for people with physical or mental disabilities. Time spent on the water does us good.

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The Waldringfield History Walk

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In 2025 Gareth Thomas, supported by other members of the Waldringfield History Group, devised a History Walk as part of the two-day community event Waldringfield Beach – memories of the timeline, held over the weekend August 30th-31st.

We are grateful to the WHG and Gareth Thomas for permission to reprint this (first published on their website) for others to enjoy.

Presented by Gareth Thomas
Illustrated by Jackie Brinsley

Walk map by Jackie Brinsley

JB 2026

To download a pdf copy of the walk either scan the QR code below or click here.

➢ The walk starts at Waldringfield Village Hall where parking is free.
➢ The walk is just under 5 kilometres and is likely to take about 2½ hours.
➢ There are sections where the ‘going’ may be muddy.
➢ The walk is circular and returns the walker to the village hall car park.
➢ The ‘Maybush’ is situated about half-way round.
➢ There are twenty recommended stopping points as shown on the map

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A New Chapter for Deben Boatyard

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by Sam Whitworth

The Larkman family hand over to Sam and Kayleigh Whitworth.

Since arriving in Suffolk, we’ve been overwhelmed by the warm welcome we’ve received. The support, encouragement and kindness shown by customers, neighbours and the wider River Deben community have made us feel at home from the very beginning. We’d like to thank everyone who has taken the time to introduce themselves, share their knowledge of the river, and place their trust in us. It has reaffirmed that we made the right decision, and we’re excited to become part of this community.

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Report from the River Deben Association AGM 29 April 2026

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Words by Julia Jones, Photos by Anna-Marie Sellon

Dan Shemming and Matt Lis from Woodbridge Boatyard, giving a steambending demonstration at the AGM.

This was a particularly relevant and enjoyable AGM. Members had the opportunity to look at the exquisite sketchbooks of the ‘creative native’ Jackie Brinsley from Waldringfield before undertaking the essential association business. We also welcomed our new secretary Phil Skinner and new treasurer / membership secretary, Amanda de Margary. Out going secretary Caroline Peeke was thanked for her committed and effective work and also for being prepared to serve another four-year term on the RDA committee. Our co-chairman Colin Nicholson also entered his second four-year term. His is a demanding and varied role which he undertakes with great diplomacy and thoughtfulness, as well as a quiet determination to achieve results or (to quote his own remarks about the current crisis in the upper Deben area between Ufford and Melton) to persuade the statutory agencies to turn words into effective actions.  He deserves our gratitude. (The Minutes of the meeting and business papers will all be available on the RDA website as usual.)

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Learning the Long Way Round

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By Ariana Cottam

Ariana Cottam is a shipwright at Woodbridge & Waldringfield Boatyards. She was a member of the first year group at the Boat Building Academy to have equal numbers of male and female students. As a group they were awarded the Classic Boat magazine’s Rising Star award 2026. Here Ariana offers a glimpse of the work of her award-winning group and shares her first impressions of life on the Deben:

Ariana Cottam on the Deben, sailing Lo Verily (which she helped build)

The path that led to Woodbridge was not a straight one. It wound through regenerative seaweed and shellfish farming, ethical outdoor retail, and time spent guiding people on the water. Different as these roles were, they shared a rhythm of practical, community-based work with a strong connection to the environment. Boatbuilding, as it turns out, gathers all those threads together – craft, place, people, and the quiet satisfaction of making something that belongs to the water.

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The Angelic East Coast Pocket Cruiser

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By Julia Jones

(This article originally appeared in Practical Boat Owner in 2024.)

The 21ft Deben Cherub was designed for competitive class river racing.

It is 100 years since the first Deben Cherub was launched. Julia Jones looks back at the history of this 21ft river racing class:

Cherubs and I first met when I was less than two years old. I don’t consciously remember this, but my mother did. Years later she wrote to remind me that I’d been strapped into my pushchair and parked in the cockpit. The topsides were low enough for me to see out and when the little boat heeled slightly on a windy day, I was able to watch the wave patterns. ‘Over and go, over and go,’ I apparently chanted, allowing my parents to conclude that I was commenting on a wind-over-tide situation.

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The Upper Deben – Understanding the River Upstream

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by Tony Carter

For many people, the River Deben is synonymous with sailing boats, mudflats and the wide estuary between Woodbridge and the sea. Yet long before the river reaches those familiar waters, it begins its journey quietly in the Suffolk countryside above Debenham, winding through fields and villages before making its way downstream. 

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Astrid Dixon / Llewellyn: skippered first all-female crew in the Tall Ships race

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by Julia Jones

Dusmarie.

No-one, sailing through Ramsholt in the later part of the c20th will have failed to notice Dusmarie, moored just below the entrance to Kirton creek, unique, beautifully maintained and always with that indefinable air of capability and class. But what of the people connected with her? Astrid Llewellyn (née Dixon) who has recently died (22.1.2026) grew up on Dusmarie, sailed many thousands of adventurous miles on board, was the first woman to skipper an all-female team in the Sail Training Association Tall Ships race and supported her mother in making a distinctive contribution to girls’ outdoor education.

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So, who’s the oldest boat on the river? A report from the Boats Still Floating 2025 project

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By Julia Jones

The Boats Still Floating project was an attempt to list as many as possible of the boats on the Deben during 2025 (including houseboats) which had been built before 1950. We found 66. Click HERE to go straight to the list. 

Thank you to all who contributed.

I won’t keep you waiting for the answer: in 2025 the oldest boat, still floating on the Deben is TRY AGAIN, built in Guernsey by George le Maitre in 1861. Then, she was registered as an oyster fishing boat. These days she’s a thoroughly capable family yacht, moored at Ramsholt during the summer and owned by Matthew Longfellow. Many ‘owners’ of these historic vessels – Matthew may be one of them – prefer to describe themselves as custodians. They know that it takes unremitting vigilance, care, effort and expenditure of both time and money to ensure that the boat will continue floating even when the former owners are six feet under.

Try Again (1861).

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Some Portable Magic: RDA Books for Christmas and the New Year

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Introduced by Julia Jones

‘Books are a uniquely portable magic,’ wrote Stephen King. Although Stephen King is not on my personal favourites list—and isn’t on this RDA list either—he is undeniably someone who understands about the relationship between words and readers and the ability of books to lift us away from our everyday preoccupations, fire our imaginations and extend or transform our understanding of the world. It doesn’t always happen, but when one finds a book that seems to speak directly to one, one has found a treasure. In this article, for Christmas and the New Year, some of the RDA Committee members and magazine contributors share their finds from 2025.

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