Edger Cunningham

Solid seasoned timber of a type rarely marketed nowadays. Indeed those timbers go back before the vessels official launching date of 1904. The little Agnes boasts a career dating from 1805 when she first took to the water at Bude as the Ketch
"Lady Acland". In 1904 she was the subject of a skillful piece of shipwrighting, when she was cut in two and lengthened by 13 feet. This alteration was done at Henry Stapleton's yard at Bude, where the Ketch was hauled broadside out of the water onto oak runners.
A complete new elm keel and keelson was fitted and when finished the vessel showed no
Sign of the original cut in her hull. Her 3 ½ inch planking was oak to the turn of the bilge and pitch pine above.
In the course of re-rigging she had the mainmast of the "Wild Pigeon" fitted. This craft
( also Bude owned )had been wrecked outside her home port earlier that year. A square yard from another local wreck, the Austrian barque "Capricorno" supplied the mizzenmast. Thus the "Agnes" of the 20th century was born, treenail-fastened,
Stronger than ever and capable of stemming over 100 tons of grain or coal.
Owned by Nicholas Tregaskers of Bude, she resumed trading to various west country and Bristol channel ports with the occasional runs further afield around the land to the south coast and channel islands. Her work saw her in waters which are about the toughest in the home trade, especially in war time. The coast line from Padstow to Hartland Point has a vicious record of lost ships, but the old Agnes took it in her stride with nothing but the free wind and the skill of her crew of three to drive her. For 15 years she traded without complaint, in peace and war until 1919 when she was sold out of Bude to Braunton (Devon) owners. Her new home laid claim to a large fleet of sail coasters, and owners, They were the pioneers of auxiliary power in these craft. To keep pace with fashion the Agnes accepted her first power unit, in the shape of an Invincible 40 b.h.p, semi-diesel. Though slightly reduced in rig (her flying jib was discarded and mizzen changed to trysail) she still carried a good working spread of canvas.
Up until 1939 the Agnes was a familiar sight in waters from Avon-mouth to Bude though the task of keeping her going in the face of growing motorship and rail competition was a tough one. During this period she was in the capable hands of Capt Billy Mitchell, Senior. An accident which occurred about 1930 is worth recording. At this time she was trading to Solva (Pembroke) and while riding it out off St David's she parted her cable and went on the rocks. Her keel was scoured off flush to the garboards but fortunately her staunch build enabled her to come off without further damage. She was taken unladen to Appledore where a new keel was fitted.
In the late thirties she worked to the tiny North Devon cove of Watermouth apart from regular trips down to Bude.
During the war years the Agnes carried out noble service on the vital grain trade, mainly between Avonmouth, Barry and Swansea. Many of her fellow craft were requisitioned for barrage balloon work at Falmouth and most of them were never traced again. But the Agnes came through to face a post-war world of progressive speed.
By 1948 her old Invincible was deemed past its best and was replaced by a 60 b.h.p Widdop oil engine and another jib was discarded. Her main gaff topsail was retained
Until 1951 though she carried a smaller mainsail than that of her pre 1919 days.
Until 1954 she secured fairly regular employment, mostly in the Bristol Channel
Area, but in August of that year she was laid-up in Braunton Pill and placed on the sale list, For six long months she lay there while nearby another well-known Ketch,
The "Clara May", was abandoned and stripped of her gear and engine and would probably never again go to sea.
Early in 1955 The Agnes went back to ownership in the place of her builder. Her new owner-skipper, Mr Peter Herbert of Bude, soon he had her back in commission and the Ketch responded with the fine performance of 40 cargoes by the end of the year.
The Agnes is now to be seen in the Bristol Channel ports of Avonmouth, Barry And Swansea, and in Appledore or Bideford, even down the coast at Padstow and Wadebridge. Her cargoes are mostly dry grain and millers produce and this in itself is a remarkable tribute to the tightness of her hull. On one passage south in June 1955 she created a stir in Bude when she put into Harbour for the night, The first trading vessel to moor inside the Breakwater for some years. Indeed it is a sad change from those days
Of the not so distant past, when masts and rigging were a familiar spectacle in the Bude Canal.

Since this article was written the Agnes has been sold to Mr A.Barr, a young Scotsman who intends taking her to Australia via Panama. His crew were recruited through a press advertisement in the style of the famous
Cap Pilar Venture, Before the second world war. The Agnes's refit at Bristol will include additions to her present working canvas. Mr Barr is no stranger to Ketches as he went Foreign in another Bristol Channel craft, The Enid, some years ago.