St. Bartholomew's church at Scammonden photographed on the 9 November 2016.

We visited the church whist walking around the nearby reservoir.

The site has been a place of worship since 1615 and this is the third church to be built here. ​

The village the church once served now lies under the waters of the reservoir but the church and a few houses and buildings built on higher ground survived the construction of the dam and the flooding of the valley.

The name Scammonden is unusual and is possibly derived from the pre 7th century Norse word and nickname ''Skambeinn", meaning short legged, plus "denu" a valley, and as such may have referred to an early land owner called "Skambeinn" as in Skambeinn's valley, but equally could have some geographical translation as in a short valley or similar. The village is first recorded in an undated deed of the 12th century. 

Ursula photographed in Cowes on 31 October 2015. She was built in 1953 at Sakuth, Heiligenhafen, Germany, a small fishing port on the Baltic Coast. It is believed Ursula was built as a cadet training ship but may have also played a part in the Cold War with sophisticated sonar and listening equipment originally installed on board.

Built to a traditional design with oak planking on oak frames, Ursula withstood the harsh Baltic conditions for many years, with lead ingots packed into the bow area for ice breaking.

After a major refit in the mid 1990's, Ursula spent 10 years operating in the Scottish Hebrides, carrying passengers on whale watching trips. During this time she was named 'Solais Na Mara' .

Overall she is 23.3m long with a 5.68m beam and 2.40m draft.

Sail area is 153m3.
 
Max speed 10 knots.

Gross Tonnage: 99.5 and DWT = 54.

Accommodation on board caters for 11 crew in 3 cabins, including 2 doubles.

Main Engine is a 250hp Perkins Sabre M215C​.

Silex photographed at Fawley on 24 October 2015.

She is owned by Johannes Østensjø d.y A/S and was built in 1994 as Yard Number 79 by  Simek AS in Flekkefjord to a design by Wijsmuller Engineering B.V. Holland.

Classed as a Terminal / Escort Tug she is 35.11m long with a 10.8m breadth and 5.0m draft.

Main engines comprise 2x Wartsilla Diesel. Type: 6L28B (3590HP 2x2640 KW/660 RPM) with 2 x Volvo Penta TMD 122A Generators.

Max speed is 14 knots with a service speed of 10.5 knots.

Bollard pull is 62 tonnes ahead and 58 tonnes astern.

She is also equipped with fire fighting equipment and oil booms.

Accommodation includes three single cabins, three double cabins an office, messroom, dayroom laundry, galley and washroom.

MMSI - 2015258568000
REG -  NO, Haugesund
IMO - 9085194
Call Sign - LAHW
Tug
Built - Simek, Flekkefjord, NO
Yard No. - 79
L 35.1m W 10.8m
GT 543
Year - 1994

Hoegh Africa photographed on 31 October 2015 in our way back into Southampton after a week away on the Isle of Wight.

She was built in 2004 and up to 2009 was called Hual Africa.

She is known as a PCTC - Pure Car and Truck Carrier.

GT = 57,692, DWT = 21,214 & NT = 21,116.

Built by Stocznia Gdynia S.A. in Gdynia, Poland as Yard Number 8168/5 she is 
199.98 m long overall and 188.00 m between perpendiculars. Breadth is 32.26 m
and Summer draught is 10.00m. Overall depth is 19.98m. Her keel was laid on 30 April 2003, she was launched on 9 December 2003 and completed on 10 February 2004.

Her main engine is a single Wärtsilä 7RTA62U manufactured by Wärtsilä NSD Switzerland Ltd and she has one propeller.

Generators on board comprise 3x MAN 7L28/32H main diesel generator sets and a MAN D2866LXE30 emergency generator.

In total she can carry 6,600 cars over 8 decks.

Crew complement is 27.

She is owned by Africa Maritime Limited who are based in the Isle of Man and is on long term time charter to Hoegh Autoliners Shipping A/S.

Hoegh Autoliners, Hoegh's ship owning history dates back to 1927 when Leif Hoegh founded Leif Hoegh & Co. Initially the owning and operating of tankers formed the mainstay of the companies work however this soon diversified and after operating combined oil/bulk/ore carriers they started transporting cars and other vehicles.  

MMSI - 311594000
REG - BS, Nassau
IMO - 9277814
Call Sign - C6TD3
Vehicles Carrier
Built -  Stozcnia, Gydnia, PO
Yard No.8168/05
L 199.98m x W 32.26m
GT - 57692
Year - 2004
Southampton, 31 October 2015 

LS Eva photographed at Fawley on 24 October 2015.

She is managed by Lauranne Shipping BV. The company was established as a vessel management company in 1996 and has managed over 30 oil and chemical vessels since. At present the business manages 8 tankers, all commissioned  in Romania and Turkey, with an average fleet age of 4 years.

Overall she is 99.9m long with a 15m breadth and 6.068m summer draft.

Cargo tank capacity in her 12 main tanks 5,170.90m3 @ 100% with 122.71m3 of slop tank capacity.

DWT = 4,726, GT = 3,264 & NT = 1,452.

Main engine is a AVM-DPS, Duplicated Propulsion System.

Auxiliary engines are 3 x Diesel Generator Caterpillar, 370 kW each and a single emergency diesel generator,(150 kW)  She also has a 300 kW bow thruster.

Top speed is 12.5 knots. 

MMSI - 236364000
REG - GI, Gibraltar
IMO - 9379478
Call Sign - ZDHU4
Chemical / Oil Products Tanker
Built - Tersan, Tulza, TR
Yard No. - 16
L 99.9m W 15m
GT - 3264
Year - 2007
Fawley, 24 October 2015