| Caerleon
boys in their thirty bob boat.
Photographed
in the 1950s by Godfrey 'Toshy' Hill.
Some
of the lads clubbed together to find the thirty bob (£1.50)
to purchase the boat which had been laid up for some time
in the mud by Newport's Transporter Bridge. They needed
a name for her. The Italian for 'Unsinkable' was proposed,
but no-one knew what that was, so they called her 'Afon
Dari' because they thought that was the Greek for 'Sinkable'.
The sail was Toshy's tent and the boys fitted her with a
heavy metal rudder from a barge that floated conveniently
downriver to them.
Crewing
the craft in the picture we have, left to right: John Richards,
Elwin Blease, Billy Thomas, Jim Blythe (behind), Clifford
Blythe, Allan Hammett, ? (may be David Davies) and Basil
Cooke.
Jim
(Blythe) told us that the boat was kept on the river bank
during the Summer months and pulled ashore at high tide
to be worked on Winter months in what is now the Ship car
park. "It's a miracle it stayed afloat," he said.
"We didn't take her down river. Our ambition was to
get up as far as the Newbridge. One night we almost made
it, but we returned so late that the police were out looking
for us. We used the tide and had to turn back when the tide
turned."
Godfrey
(Hill) added, "We were in our early teens… John
was a bit older than the rest of us. We rowed it with oars
from a lifeboat. They were really heavy and it was hard
work, but we learned to row! "
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