There will be some real Mischief Among the Penguins this weekend as I battle to control a large waddle of them in our new Christmas window display. However this will be a mere mini-adventure compared to the antics of our friend H.W. Bill Tilman! H. W. ‘Bill’ Tilman was one of the greatest adventurers of his time, a pioneering climber and sailor who held exploration above all else. He made first ascents throughout the Himalaya, attempted Mount Everest, and sailed into the Arctic Circle. For...

On Thursday evening we had a virtually full house to hear Philip Temple talking about the adventurous expedition that he took part in to land on the remote Antarctic Heard Island and then climb its 9,000ft volcano which happens to be the highest peak in Australian Terriory. The yacht was skippered by none other than H. W. Tilman. The story is also told in full in the newly released book "The Sea and the Snow" which would make a great read for anyone interested in expedition sailing. The...

Our staff enjoy working in the shop mainly because of all the wonderful people who visit us. Take yesterday evening when we met Dr Irving Finkel who was drawn into the shop after spotting our coracle window display. Dr Finkel is the President of the Coracle Society but after a fascinating conversation we discovered he is also a specialist in cuneiform inscriptions on tablets of clay from ancient Mesopotania and looks after the British Museum’s collection of 130,000 pieces. It was amongst these...

To celebrate the release of the fully updated second edition of his famous book "Hand, Reef and Steer" Tom has agreed to give us a fully illustrated talk on the trials and tribulations of sailing with a gaff rig. 15th September 2016 at 18:45 In Hand, Reef & Steer - winner of the Best Book of the Sea Award - Tom explains the different sailing characteristics of classic craft and shares his knowledge of the special skills required to handle them. He describes how to manage heavy loads using...

Wednesday 13th July 18:30 Emma Bamford is an author and journalist. She has worked at The Independent and the Daily Express and is currently Deputy Editor of Sailing Today magazine. Her new book, "Untie the Lines- Setting sail and breaking free" is the sequel to her previous successful book - "Casting Off" Former stressed-out city girl and journalist Emma is living the dream. She's in Malaysia, living on a yacht with handsome traveller Guy, and together they have plans to explore the world's...

Wednesday 4th May 1845. Entrance Free! We have a great talk coming up this Wednesday 4th May! I find sea charts completely fascinating and so I am really looking forward this talk. John Blake served in the Royal Navy and in the Reserve for nearly 16 years as an executive and navigating officer, attaining the rank of Lieutenant Commander. During his naval time he served extensively in sea-going ships and qualified as a navy underwater diver and a naval air defence specialist. On leaving the...

It is back! It amazes me that it ever goes out of print but I think it has happened a few times. I reckon it is a cunning ploy to get people like us to put “It is back!” on our blogs. After all I don’t suppose “It is still here” is very newsworthy. I suppose everyone knows the book, but just in case someone has actually managed to get through life without stumbling across the epic then - This is the Bible of Knots. First published in 1944 and reprinted many times. This new edition has been...

This evening some of us lucky ones are off to the launch of Nicholas Barton and Stephen Myers new edition of The Lost Rivers of London. A lot of painstaking new work has gone into this publication making it completely up to date and with a greater coverage of the lost rivers south of the Thames. It is lavishly illustrated and includes 44 maps. Stephen treated many of Arthur Beale's clients to a fascinating talk on the subject. We have the book in stock at Arthur Beale at a special price of just...