Timeline
We’re full steam ahead charting Skylark’s journey over almost ninety years.
Steadily tacking a course, some leads have sunk without trace, others have led to exciting new waters but throughout, it has been fascinating to learn more about this plucky Dunkirk Little Ship and there’s still much more to uncover!
In a nice twist, the Heather Bell becomes one of many steamships built by Clyde
shipyards like Dumbarton’s William Denny and Brothers now plying a trade at Bournemouth. Today, our Skylark IX skiff building project is housed in the Scottish Maritime Museum on the site of the former Denny yard.
Skylark IX’s story begins with the arrival of the British seaside resort and pleasure
boating. This year, a Private Act of
Parliament passes in Bournemouth allowing local landowner Sir G.W. Tapps Gervis to
develop ‘a watering-place’ to promote good health for wealthy visitors.