Nigel Gray
Nigel belongs to: The Coble and Keelboat Society
Nigel was born near Hexham. He has always been interested in traditional boats and has operated a variety of wooden boats for commercial and recreational purposes. He has recently built his own boat in his garage using traditional tools and techniques.
Nigel was interviewed by Carl Greenwood on 13 November 2005. The interview took place at the Interviewee's living room and lasted 34 minutes and 25 seconds.
The Redheugh Bridge
"I noticed they were building the new Redheugh Bridge"
I noticed they were building the new Redheugh Bridge and I approached the people on the site and I sort of pointed out to them that it’s actually five miles from one side of the river to the other by road, but it’s only five minutes by boat, and they might like to consider hiring a work boat, which I have available, and thought nothing of it. And then about six weeks later, I got a phone call asking if I would like to hire, or they would like to hire my boat and I went from strength to strength really. I got four year’s constant work out of that job, ferrying people, assisting with the building, helping the tugs and actually helping demolish the other bridge by providing workboats to take the lines ashore when the cranes were working and all that sort of thing.
Nigel has 22 memories in the memorynet:
Nigel's memories with a The North East theme:
Interest in traditional boats- The Redheugh Bridge
Boatman's Licence- Plaque
Nigel's other memories:
- Process of building a wooden boat
- Sourcing traditional boat building tools
- The adze and caulking irons
- Superstitions
- What does the sea mean to you?
- Sound of the adze
- Sound of the augur
- Sound of caulking
- Sound of a jack plane
- The adze
- Caulking irons
- Cotton
- Hand brace and augurs
- Wooden caulking mallet
- Jack plane
- Half model and plans
- Nigel at work in his workshop
- Maiden voyage of the Trevisky
This memory has these themes:
The North East | Work
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