Our History
LITTLE SHIP CLUB
The Old Ship Tavern, Ivy Lane, City of London
The Club owes its formation to a letter in a yachting paper suggesting that during the winter months—the so-called “dead season”—many keen sailing enthusiasts might welcome an opportunity to get together and swap yarns. “Keen but Ignorant” appeared in Yacht Sales and Charters on 6 October 1926 and started it all; that description turned out to be an ironic reference to Robert Gibbon himself.
On 5 November 1926, at the Ship Restaurant in Whitehall, 27 enthusiasts met and the Little Ship Club was born. One proposal suggested that during the coming winter a yachtsman’s study circle be arranged to meet once a fortnight in London, with the aim of improving knowledge of seamanship and navigation. Topics included splicing ropes and wire, sail mending, coastal navigation, construction of small yacht hulls, the various uses and defects of timber, rigging purchases, small yacht cookery, and numerous other subjects. An extract from Yachting World on 13 November 1926 noted that meetings were held on alternate Wednesdays during the “laid up” season, intended both to further practical knowledge and to serve as a social gathering.
By 1986 the Clubhouse had become less suitable for the Club’s requirements, and while the original site was being redeveloped (between 1986 and 1991), the Club temporarily relocated to the Naval Club in Mayfair—a connection that endures with reciprocal membership. The new building was completed in May 1991, and the Club returned to Bell Wharf Lane when the Lord Mayor opened the new Clubhouse.
In 2001 the Club celebrated its 75th anniversary with a Dinner in the Painted Hall at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, along with the publication of its history. Commemorating the 80th anniversary, the Club launched the Round Britain Baton Relay in 2005—returning in November 2006 in aid of the RNLI—and opened a new riverside entrance in early 2006. The 90th year was celebrated with a formal black-tie dinner at Trinity House, with Deputy Master Capt Ian McNaught CVO NMN as guest of honour.
Although the founding members were all men, women were welcomed as full members from 1927—a pioneering move at the time. In 1928 the Club moved its meetings to the Old Ship Tavern in Ivy Lane, City of London, and began offering classes in seamanship and navigation alongside a fortnightly lecture series. By 1932, membership had grown from 27 to over 500, and it was decided that the Club should have a permanent office. Arrangements were made with the Hudson Bay Company, and the Club became tenants at Beaver Hall—a highly successful arrangement that lasted 30 years, during which membership rose from 500 to 4,000.
The training classes became so well regarded that in 1936 the Admiralty used them to train members of the Royal Naval Supplementary Volunteer Reserve, many of whom were Club members. At the annual Christmas dinner in 1937, the First Sea Lord, Admiral of the Fleet Lord Chatfield, announced that the Admiralty had granted the Club the privilege of having its own Blue Ensign defaced with the club emblem—a unique honor in the annals of British maritime tradition.
In 1960 it was decided that the time had come for the Club to have its own home. A long lease was secured on an old coal wharf downriver from Southwark Bridge on the north bank of the Thames. On 15 February 1962 the Lord Mayor of London laid the foundation stone of the Clubhouse in Bell Wharf Lane, which included a lecture hall, restaurant, bar, cabins, and club office. Later that year, Eric and Susan Hiscock delivered the first lecture in the new building.
.png)