The last of all to carry a commercial cargo under sail alone was Bob Roberts, his command the coasting barge Cambria. He writes in the introduction ‘Much of this book has been written in a barge’s cabin, rolling at anchor in Yarmouth Roads, stormbound under the lee of the Yantlet Flats, waiting to load at Keadby, or while lying idle in London River.’ His story is in today’s jargon – 24/7 – no knocking off at 5.30, for the safety of his barge and her cargo is paramount. It is a way of earning a living from a bygone age and how well he tells that story.
Drawings by Anne Roberts
Preface by Dick Durham, News Editir of Yachting Monthly
‘One of the classic accounts of the Thames sailing barge and the work it did, the men who sailed them and the hard life they lived’
Lloyds List
