About the Trust: Introduction | Trustees/Volunteers
About the CAMBRIA Trust: People involved
Patron : Rear Admiral Bruce Richardson CB FNI.
Bruce was Chief Harbour master of the Port of London Authority, until January 2007. When Bruce took over the role as patron of the Cambria Trust from Chris Chataway, he stressed that he wanted to take an active part in the restoration of the Cambria, and has been highly influential in providing sponsorship, assisting our move to Sheerness, and giving encouragement for all of our recent activities in relation to securing Heritage Lottery Funding, beginning our restoration process and providing a clear direction for the continuing use of the barge for educational and environmental purposes.
Chairman of the Cambria Trust : Tony Ellis - 1945 to 2008
Tony was founder and former Honorary director of the Dolphin Sailing Barge Museum Trust at Sittingbourne and a founding committee member of the Society for Spritsail Barge Research and the Sailing Barge Association. He was the founder of the Cambria Restoration Project. Tony is a professional administrator with over 25 years committee secretary/advisory council experience and over 10 years senior management experience in property management, services and facilities, personnel, budget preparation, financial, cost control and general administrative services. He is qualified to associate grade with the Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administrators and graduate of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development.
Restoration Project Manager: William Collard
After completing an engineering apprenticeship with Tate & Lyle, William joined the barge owners & operators, London & Rochester Trading Company in 1963 as assistant barge yard manager. He built up a wealth of barge knowledge and has since proved very adept in managing the transfer of Cambria and her dry-dock to two separate locations. He has provided the Trust with numerous items of equipment and has recently organised the transportation of sustainable oak from Somerset to Faversham, so that we have the materials needed to begin the restoration. Having overseen the tendering process, William will now liaise with the shipwright and the relevant authorities to ensure the Cambria is delivered to the highest standards and with the necessary certification for the carriage of passengers.
Honorary Treasurer: Chris Snelling
Chris is a Chartered Accountant with a wide experience of both professional practice and the commercial sector. Since 1991 he has been Director of Finance of the national charity, Community Service Volunteers (CSV). He has unrivalled experience of charity accounting and finance and assocated issues. CSV promotes Active Citizenship throughout the UK through volunteering , training and social action. Chris is a member of the Charity Finance Directors’ Group.
He has a life long interest in sailing barges and other traditional craft and is a member of the Thames Sailing Barge Trust, the Society for Sailing Barge Research (of which he is auditor) , the Kentish Sail Association (of which he was Chairman and Officer of the Day of the Swale Match for several years).
Director: Alan Everard
Alan's father, Arthur Everard was cousin to William Everard who built Cambria in 1906. Alan’s last occupation was with Lazard Brothers, a merchant bank in the City. Alan took up painting and has progressed to solo exhibitions, and now paints for a living.
Director & Secretary: Basil Brambleby
Work party organizer and newsletter editor. Basil has been a tireless worker for the Cambria Trust by organizing the working parties, ensuring health and safety, writing the minutes of meetings and producing the newsletter to keep the membership informed of Cambria’s progress. Basil is always available to provide encouragement, develop workable solutions, organize presentations, and most importantly, provides the tea and biscuits.
Director: Frank Spice
Frank has been a member of the Dolphin Museum Trust and provides a wealth of experience in practical engineering, which he gained with the Royal Engineers and the Armoured Corps. Frank has been associated with barges since childhood and he helped to unload Cambria’s last cargo delivered to Milton Creek in 1969. Putting his knowledge to practice, he was responsible for refloating the Cambria at Sittingbourne and arranging for her placement on the lighter where Cambria now resides in her own dry dock.
Director: Robert Simper
We are very happy to count on the experience of Robert, who has recently championed the restoration of the Maldon sailing barge, Dawn. Robert is a publisher of books about traditional sailing craft of the East coast, and a mine of information about sailing barges.
Volunteer: Steve Richards
Steve works for Kent county council and provides a wealth of local knowledge. He also likes to swap the office for practical engineering skills, and has been invaluable in using his business acumen to generate the financial forecasts, so necessary to prove that the Cambria Trust can efficiently manage the restoration and provide continued support for its financial future when it is sailing again.
Volunteer & Membership Secretary: Mark Chapman
Mark is our most recent acquisition to the working parties and provides a cheerful approach, dedicated hard work and a salty sense of humour. Mark is also an accomplished photographer and has helped to produce our DVD. Maybe one day Mark will appear in front of the camera lens. He hopes to be one of the first to sail on Cambria in a sailing barge match and win a pennant.
Volunteer: Frank Spice Jr.
Son of Frank, he has inherited the art and science of practical engineering and boat handling. His methods of working are efficient and effective and have saved us hours of laborious effort in carrying essential repairs. He was highly involved in the transfer of Cambria to Sheerness and can be counted on to provide an elegant resolution to a particular problem.
Director & Press Officer: David Walsh
David came to the Cambria restoration following a notice in a magazine, and has always found the working parties a perfect contrast from working in a computing environment. As news of the Cambria Restoration grows, David is engaged with providing assistance to journalists and the TV media to tell the story of the Cambria, organize the website and to develop partnerships with local groups to promote the restoration and the educational resources to inform the community of the progress that is being made. He is keen on local history, painting, traditional shanty music and, obviously, getting covered in mud.
