See Ships for Current News

Both ships now have their own news sections. Please refer to each ships pages for current movements and events.

Ships Close for Winter 2010

Both ships close for Winter at the end of October, refer to the vessel pages for exact dates. If everything goes according to plan they will be returning to Smalls in Lowestoft for winter maintenance.

Lydia Eva Returns to Great Yarmouth - May 2010

If everything goes according to plan Lydia Eva will be steaming to Great Yarmouth on Sunday May 9th 2010. Refer Lydia Eva for more details

Lydia Eva Steams again - March 2010

Lydia Eva has spent a happy 90 minutes steaming around Lake Lothing in Lowestoft. Refer Lydia Eva for more details

Lydia Eva returns to Lowestoft - Dec 2009

Lydia Eva is back in Lowestoft, safe and sound and moored on Small's quay. Work will now start on preparing her for steaming, basin and sea trials which are planned for after Christmas.

Particular thanks must go to all who have helped keep an eye on her since she closed and especially to Ernie Artis and his team of Maritime Volunteers who also lowered the gangway and lashed it to the deck.

We must also be very grateful to James Laird at Felixarc for his huge generosity in providing the tug and crew to bring her back, during what has been a very busy time for him.

Also for the continued help and support of Paul and Trevor at Small & Co.

Without these people, not only could we not have brought her back, we would have had nowhere to moor her anyway! It is all too easy to take people's support for granted, so once again, many thanks to all of you. You are very much appreciated.

Lydia Eva and Mincarlo shut for winter - Nov 2009

Lydia Eva is now awaiting a tug for it's trip back to Smalls in Lowestoft for winter maintenance and the completion of it's restoration.

Mincarlo is still at it's regular mooring in the yacht basin at Lowestoft awaiting it's own move to Smalls for winter servicing.

Lydia Eva returns to Great Yarmouth - 20th May 2009

Lydia Eva has returned to Great Yarmouth where she will spend summer at South Quay opposite Great Yarmouth Town Hall.

It has involved huge effort from many volunteers and staff, especially from Small and Co., to return her to floating and steaming condition. This work will continue over the summer so please visit often.

Mincarlo back at mooring - May 2009

Mincarlo has returned to her regular summer mooring next to the Lifeboat station in Lowestoft.

Lydia Eva Steam Raised - March 2009

Lydia Eva has successfully test fired her boiler and turned over her steam engine. She is still moored at Small and Co. on Lake Lothing.

Mincarlo has moved from her summer mooring in the yacht basin to a temporary home in the Trawl Dock while her mooring is dredged.

Lydia Eva is back in Lowestoft having major boiler works completed, the museum being fitted out and the aft cabin completed. She is currently moored on Lake Lothing.

Lydia Eva will be towed from her mooring on Lake Lothing in Lowestoft up the coast for the 2008 Great Yarmouth Maritime Festival

The huge effort to complete her renovations back to steaming condition shall continue after the festival.

Mincarlo back on station - March 2008

Mincarlo has re-opened for visitors at her summer moorings in Lowestoft. She is usually open between 10:30-3:30 Saturday through Thursday, occasionally on Sunday. Openings depend on available volunteers and suitable weather so please check with the local tourist information office before making a special trip.

Lydia Eva floated for the first time in over a year at 5:45 pm on 18th March 2008. The launching revealed she was water-tight again.

This was a great relief to the Trust, it's volunteers and all the dedicated staff at Smalls Yard.

Lydia Eva is currently at a quay near to Smalls' main yard on Lake Lothing.
Lottery windfall gives Lydia Eva new lease of life

The dreams of volunteers behind a bid to restore the world’s last remaining steam herring drifter and use her as a floating museum dedicated to East Anglia’s once-rich herring industry are at last becoming realised, through a grant of £839,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

A vessel of national importance, the Lydia Eva is a symbol of East Anglia’s herring industry and one of only 60 ships on the National Register of Historic Ships.

Built in 1930, she underwent two conversions before 1990 when the Lydia Eva and Mincarlo Trust was founded to return her to East Anglia and display her in Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft as a museum and memorial to the herring fishery.

But since 2000, when a survey showed that the underwater hull needed extensive repair if she was to survive, she had been laid up in Lowestoft whilst a bid for the HLF grant was prepared.  Just before Christmas 2006 the Trust learned that their application had been successful and the Saving of the Lydia Eva could go ahead.

So on March 1st 2007 the Lydia Eva left the berth where she had lain for seven years and crossed Lowestoft Harbour to the slipway owned by Small and Company.  Here she was safely hauled out of the water, and work at once started to clean the hull and to carry out the detailed surveys needed to decide exactly which steel plates need to be replaced.

Trust Chairman Alan Bagley said that watching the restoration begin had been quite emotional.  "It has taken us a long, long time to get here.  The Lydia Eva is the last one, and that is what makes her so special.  The hull is very thin, so our first task has been to take her out of the water, clean her up and carry out a survey of the hull.  The risk is all in the hull, because without her being water tight we haven't got a project.  Once that is complete we will have a much better idea of what needs repairing, but we are expecting to replace around 60% of the hull.  Then we can go on to working on the superstructure, the electrics, engine and boiler room and the Museum."

The aim is to complete the restoration of the Lydia Eva so that in the early summer of 2008, the 800th Anniversary of the first Civic Charter of Great Yarmouth, she will steam back to her home port to reopen to the public at the Historic South Quay, a memorial to the great days of the herring fishery.

Robyn Greenblatt, HLF manager for the East of England, said: “We are thrilled to support the restoration of the Lydia Eva. This is a great project that will save a nationally important vessel, and another example of how HLF is helping to conserve and open up our maritime heritage in the East. Everyone, from kids to adults will be able to explore the past by actually getting out on the water and experiencing what it was like to be part of an industry that helped to shape the identity of East Anglia.”

The Trust still needs more funding to complete the Project, and volunteers to work on the ships and new Trustees with the professional skills to help to manage the growing business of maintaining and promoting the Lydia Eva and Mincarlo. The Trust will appoint a Learning and Development Officer to work with local schools.