With the imminent removal of the clubship Folgefonn to Norway for restoration, the Club’s archive required a new home.
The archive stretches back to when the Club was founded in 1900. The London borough of Bexley Local Studies & Archive Centre took the archives on long-term loan on behalf of EYC.
A bid was drawn up for funding a conservation and cataloguing project, with ancillary activities. The bid was successful, and the Archives received £32,000 in funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
EYC’s archive consists of General Committee minutes, letters, photographs and photograph albums, news letters and handbooks, as well as many other items that have been given to the Club. It is a continuous story of one Club’s activity of sailing on the River Thames.
This funding has successfully achieved the following:
- EYC Archive is re-housed in more suitable containers and the archive stabilised
- EYC Archive has now been catalogued and is accessible to the community as a vital record of a sailing club on the Thames.
- A Heritage Day was held on 24 June with a regatta show-casing the vintage Hamble Stars in front of invited guests.
- A Film, by Chocolate Films, of the Club’s history and subsequent development was commissioned and shown at the Heritage Day
- A small exhibition was created by members of EYC telling the story of the Club’s physical development, sailing, training and volunteering ethos.
One of the albums has been digitised and can be seen at the following link:
The documentary film can be seen here:
Many people should be thanked for their support. These include:
- Heritage Lottery Fund
- Bexley Local Studies & Archive Centre
- Chocolate Films Ltd
All members of Erith Yacht Club who assisted in many different ways to make the above a success.