Pete sadly died on Monday 16 January, having been part of the Ship’s Company from the start. His energy and enthusiasm for building the ship will be sorely missed.
In memory of Pete
Pete was a professional violin maker. During his career, Pete worked for the prestigious W.E.Hill & Sons in London for more than five years before becoming self-employed working in Hamburg, Buckinghamshire, Zug, Switzerland and latterly in Woodbridge.
Pete was also a trustee for the Woodbridge Riverside Trust and was a member of the River Deben Association, the Albert Strange Association and the Sea Change Sailing Trust.
For over 20 years, Pete was keenly interested in what was once the derelict Whisstocks boatyard site. He could proudly claim to be one of the first people to campaign for the area to retain a maritime theme which he carried through by becoming directly involved in the Sutton Hoo Ship’s Company which is now located on the same site in the Longshed. Pete also had a keen interest in the Anglo-Saxon era, but more specifically the connection with the Viking ‘Sea Stallion’ project and the research carried out at the museum in Roskilde, Denmark.
Other projects that Pete was involved with included The Cirdan Sailing Trust and the Sea Change Sailing Trust for disadvantaged children. The latter will be completing the construction of the first new Thames sailing barge with World War II. This was not an unusual project for Pete as in the 1990’s he completed a major restoration of his own nine-ton Albert Strange Yawl which was built in 1925 and then sailed it regularly thereafter.
When asked why are you involved with the Anglo-Saxon ship, Pete said that ‘it was just too irresistible as after all the talking and writing, after all the unearthing and processing of evidence, we now have the location and enthusiasm to proceed’.
Pete hoped that this unique project is regarded by Woodbridge as part of their heritage and that the ship will be as worthy and as accurate a reconstruction as it possibly can be. It will of course be the only 7th Century ship of its kind in maritime history and he felt that the benefits were endless and learning unlimited.