Hunched On Rosebud: PZ 87…
(from a painting by Essex Tyler…)
Framed by a dull black rectangle, like driftwood
Reclaimed, the lugger lurches through waters cream
And misty, a linear silhouette, in essence a memorial.
A figure huddles at the stern alone, hunched and crude,
As the vessel, shrouded by a tumult, a turbulent dream,
Surges onward in spirit for time immemorial…
Pete Ray
10th July 2024…
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| ROSEBUD ON THE THAMES... |
The Rosebud became famous in 1937 when local Newlyn folks helped to fund a voyage for the lugger, via Plymouth and Dover, then up the River Thames, where the crew of volunteers petitioned Westminster.
A decision had been made that more than 300 Newlyn homes were slums and should be replaced.
Clearly, the residents were angry and distressed by the Penzance Council’s decision, hence the unusual choice of petitioning…
National newspapers gave the voyage a good deal of coverage, although in the end the escapade had little real effect and the ‘slum clearance’ began anyway, some folks being moved out to the new Gwavas estate.
Ironically however the remaining buildings were actually saved by the 1939-45 war, when they were used to house displaced French and Belgian fishermen and their families.
Those dwellings survive today…
The Rosebud, registered PZ 87 finally ended up rotting on Lelant Saltings, until it was finally broken up.
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