Carpenter Ed turns his hand to ticklish Dartmouth repair
SOUTH Hams Council carpenter Ed Turner can add 'armament repairer' to his CV after turning his hand to a rather ticklish repair to one of Dartmouth’s Bayards Cove cannon.
It is one of three cannon mounted on wooden gun carriages with oak axles.
They are part of set of nine originally belonging to the ancient estate of the Seale family, wealthy land owners from the 1800s who lived in a castellated mansion called Mount Boon, since demolished.
Col Sir John Seale, MP, called the first meeting in 1834 to found the Port of Dartmouth Royal Regatta which runs this year from August 25 to September 1.
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The cannon are all numbered, and cast in Dartmouth, and were re-carriaged 15 years ago.
They were bequeathed to the town in the will of a descendant from Bovey Tracey, and are placed on the spot where the Pilgrim Fathers set sail for America on the Mayflower.
Unfortunately one of the quay edge cannon took a bit of a broadside from a van and the old oak axle shattered.
Dartmouth Town Clerk Chris Horan said: “The cannon had been in the wars with a vehicle and it needed some specialist repairs. We asked South Hams District Council staff if they could help.”
South Hams Building Manager Steve Howrihane said: “We took a look and carpenter Ed Turner said ‘I can make a new one in oak,’ which is what he did.
“We went down there with a trolley jack and it fitted to a T. Ed has done a really excellent job, it looks just like part of the original.”
South Hams Executive Member for Assets Cllr Bill Hitchins, a member of the Fortress Study Group South West said: “It is good to know that the skills to keep these important historical treasures intact have not been lost.
"I have a particular interest in early armaments like these cannon and they are really worth preserving particularly if they form such an integral part of our heritage in Dartmouth.”
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