Lymington – a maritime town with its feet in the water celebrates

By Freya Gulliver from ST BARBE MUSEUM, stbarbe-museum.org.uk

The two elements which established LYMINGTON as a flourishing small town are the High Street with its weekly market and the river which provided easy access to the Isle of Wight, the Solent and the world beyond. The river opened LYMINGTON up to trade and passenger transport and came into its own with the rise of yachting in the 19th century, and then in the 20th century as yachting became more accessible through affordable dinghy and One-Design sailing.

The story of Lymington boat building begins at Joseph Weld’s summer residence at Pylewell House on the Solent shore, a couple of miles east of Lymington. Weld invited boat builder Thomas Inman to come and work with him at Pylewell in around 1819. Inman then set up on the Lymington River on the site that is now Berthon and quickly established himself as a leading British yacht designer, designing and building vessels such as ARROW (1821), LULWORTH (1828) and ALARM (1830) which dominated British yachting. Two of them took part in the first America’s Cup race in 1851. After Thomas Inman’s death, the company went into decline and the site was eventually taken over by the Reverend Berthon, inventor of the screw propeller and collapsible lifeboat, and became Berthon Boat Company. In the 20th century Lymington regained its reputation as a centre for excellence in yacht design, home to internationally famous designers such as Laurent Giles and Colin Mudie and in more recent years Rob Humphreys, Jeremy Rogers, Ed Dubois and Malcolm McKeon, amongst others. Today there are also many designers involved in the interiors and styling of superyachts; a global multi-million-pound industry. Lymington boat builders have worked with internationally renowned designers to build custom racing and cruising yachts such as Green Marine, Fibre Mechanics and of course Berthon. As well as the high-end yacht designers there are also local characters such as Dan Bran who built scows and prams by eye in a shed at the end of the river.

ALARM (1830)

The Royal Lymington Yacht Club, which celebrated its centenary in 2022, and the Lymington Town Sailing Club have become a focus for local racing and socialising and introducing young sailors to the sport. The RLYC has also played a part in the Olympic yachting successes of Ben Ainslie, Nick Rogers and Pippa Wilson. The river is also home to the Lymington Rowing Club (established in 1881).

In recent years, the river’s appearance has been transformed by the development of Berthon Lymington Marina and Lymington Yacht Haven. Lymington has long been a vital link with the Isle of Wight and retains its railway branch line because of the ferry service to the island. This has evolved from paddle steamers with town barges to the huge rollon, roll-off ferries that ply the river today.

The appearance of the river has changed dramatically over time. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, it was an industrial area dominated by salt boiling houses whose smoke and steam could be seen for miles around. When this industry declined, the salt marshes were converted to grazing for commoners’ animals and are now a nature reserve. The fashion for the saltwater cure saw bathing houses established at the end of the river (one of which now houses the Lymington Town Sailing Club) and the 1930s cult of sunshine and fitness gave birth to the sea water baths which are still flourishing today.

In 2024, ST BARBE MUSEUM is celebrating the maritime history of Lymington with a dynamic festival and exhibition showcasing the river’s vital role in Lymington life and 1,000 years of innovation in the town – Lymington Afloat from 14th September 2024 to 11th January 2025.

From cutting-edge marine design and a thriving boat building industry to the histories of trade and salt production, this festival will change perceptions about the river and improve accessibility for employment and leisure, with a strong focus on education and young people.

Lymington Afloat will attract residents and visitors to the town centre and waterfront by highlighting a new Town Trail from September 2024 to January 2025, as well as promoting a Festival Weekend on 28 and 29 September. Shops, restaurants, and other businesses and charities will support the event by opening their doors and providing special offers for those who visit Lymington for the event.

The exhibition will highlight the importance of the river to Lymington life and tell the tale of the people and marine related businesses who have enhanced its reputation over the centuries, looking at Geology, Archaeology, Natural History, Local and Social History, Innovation and Sustainability. Objects loaned from the National Maritime Museum will be displayed alongside beautiful artworks of scenes from the river and famous Lymington vessels, as well as objects from the museum’s own social history collection.

One area of focus will be on the mighty ALARM and her role in the establishment of the Lymington River as the centre of yacht building. Between 1820 and 1889, Thomas Inman built 118 yachts for clients from the local gentry, as well as English and French aristocrats. ALARM was a successful racing yacht, winning both the Ladies Cup and the prime trophy of Cowes Week, the Kings Cup, in her first season alone, both of which will be on display during the exhibition.

To begin the education programme which will run alongside Lymington Afloat, a Maritime Industry and Education Partners event, aimed at those who have responsibility for career advice, will be held in partnership with Berthon in the autumn. The evening provided an opportunity to meet marine industry specialists who provided help and information available around careers in engineering, design, architecture, hospitality and all other aspects of working in the marine industry.

ST BARBE MUSEUM is also providing free visits and workshops for local schools, looking at themes within the exhibition that relate to the National Curriculum. Workshops will explore how the geography of an area influences the social development with object handling and map reading; the young people will discover the town’s past and why the water is so important to their town.

The museum’s HAF (Hampshire Activities and Food) programme will also be running water safety sessions with families in partnership with the Sea Water Baths. Their award winning HAF programme provides a full programme of activities and a hot meal for those families on benefit related free school meals.

The museum will also have the Boat of the Future Competition running for very young aspiring yacht designers (between 5 and 17 years), who are invited to draw, paint, write about or to make a model to show how boats in the future will look – what fun!

Conscious that the book in which this article appears may be read by those very far from Lymington, we invite you to visit us in Lymington either during our Lymington Afloat event, or when you are passing. Visit our town, dive into the history and artefacts at our museum, meet Lymington people and enjoy our river, our wildlife and all that this special place offers. You are so welcome.

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