WOW – what an amazing day trip on Greta 1892 historic Thames sailing barge from Whitstable Harbour to see the Red Sands Maunsell Forts with skipper Steve Norris, Dominic on the crew, 1st Mate ‘Alfie’ the dog and 2nd Mate ‘Ludo’ the dog. Ludo’s kennel even comes with a sea view where he is in on watch and Alfie is always safety first in his lifebuoy ring! Thank you Crew.

Here is my VLOG of my shots of the Thames forts – what a spectacular sight! The Maunsell Forts are armed towers built in the Thames and Mersey estuaries during the Second World War to help defend the United Kingdom. They were operated as army and navy forts, and named after their designer, Guy Maunsell.

‘Greta’ was launched in 1892 and is one of the oldest remaining Thames sailing barges left in Britain. The heyday for barges came at the turn of the 20th century when over 2,000 were on the shipping registry and working in and around the Thames Estuary and the old London Docks.

Greta has carried ammunition, beer, grain, malt and building products. Early in World War II, Greta was chartered by the Ministry of Supply. Her cargo was ammunition from the Army depot at Upnor near Rochester to naval vessels anchored at the Nore in the Thames Estuary. In 1940 Greta took part in Operation Dynamo to rescue troops from Dunkirk. Only 30 barges remain with a few still working as pleasure craft.

You can read more about Greta here and a trip comes highly recommended.