Maldon fishing boat Skylark back on the Blackwater Estuary

My maternal great-grandmother was a Pitt, a surname (along with that of Claydon, Wright and Handley) synonymous with the heritage of the Blackwater.

William Henry Pitt (1813-1887), who was himself a second generation fisherman, lived in Church Street with his wife, Mary, and their seven children, five girls and two boys - Josiah (1837-1912) and David (1843-1924).

It was only natural those two boys would also work on the river and, sure enough, they both became fishermen. Their boats (or more correctly, ‘smacks’) were mostly built locally – including by John Howard at his shipyard at the foot of North Street.

David Pitt sailed variously in the Three Sisters, the Two Brothers and the Ellen.

Josiah (who is part of my direct line) had the Grace Darling, Josephine, Five Sisters and the stalwart little smack Polly (MN12).

Polly was built by Howard in 1887 and was, in turn, worked by Josiah’s two sons, Ernie (1875-1957) and ‘Boy Wal’ (1882-1971), until they sold her in 1956.

Meanwhile one of David’s sons ‘Old Ted’ (1874-1939) had the Fly (MN17), built in 1875.

And so it went on in the time honoured fashion. ‘Old Ted’ was, in turn, father to four boys - ‘Young’ Ted (1900-1987), Bill (1902-1982), ‘Alfa’ (1907-1981) and Roy (1914-1986) - fishermen all.

Alfa (really Alfred Horace Pitt) spent many working years in a family smack called the Skylark. Just like Ernie and Wal’s Polly, Alfa’s Skylark is still around today.

Some authorities have suggested that it was Howard who built the 35ft Skylark, but she actually started life, not here, but on the Colne, constructed by Aldous of Brightlingsea, around 1877.

Fisherman Alfa Pitt pictured on the right (Image: by permission David Pitt)

She was never really intended for fishing, as she was built as a pleasure boat for use off the newly opened (in 1871) Clacton Pier.

However, by 1905 she had been converted, given the fishing registration CK46 and was with the Mole family, at West Mersea.

Frederick Westhorpe Mole (born 1882) was her skipper up to the beginning of the Great War, when, along with other members of his family, he went off to do his bit for King and Country.

In 1918 he was serving as an Able Seaman cook on board the Royal Fleet Auxiliary steam stores ship Industry.

On October 18, Industry was in the Irish Sea when she took a direct hit from a torpedo, fired from the German submarine UB-92.

The ship went down with 21 crew lost, including Frederick and two other members of the Mole family.

Skylark was consequently put up for sale, purchased by the Pitts and brought here to Maldon, where she became part of the fleet of little cutter smacks that had their moorings alongside the Bath Wall.

Alfa Pitt and brother Roy worked Skylark (re-registered MN4) up to the next war, fishing and dredging for oysters and wining the West Mersea town cup in 1938.

She was laid up during the war years and, with the return of peace, was mostly worked single-handed by Alfa.

She continued to be a familiar sight on the Blackwater, a champion of the Maldon smack races and was still fishing with Alfa at the helm into the 1950s.

By then she had again been re-registered (to MN52) and eventually ended up as a sort of floating pontoon.

A period of neglect followed until she was pulled out of the mud as a wreck and restored.

Sold in 1977 and no longer with the Pitts, a new owner eventually took her to Tollesbury where she was re-built in 1983.

This further lease of life saw Skylark taking part in local races once again – including the Thames Oyster Race to Greenwich.

Following a trip over to Amsterdam in 1985, her owners then moved her to the Isle of Wight in 1986.

Sailing continued from there across the channel and she participated in festivals at Brest and Douarnenez.

By the early 2000s Skylark was again out of commission and in need of attention.

Skylark arriving at Mersea for restoration (Image: Stephen Nunn)

A programme of restoration followed, from 2012 to 2018. After all that, in 2022, her owners decided it was time she returned to the Blackwater where she belonged.

A consortium of people who knew the owner heard of this and immediately showed interest, amongst them a Mersea couple - a husband who hails from Tollesbury and his wife who is a Maldon Pitt descendant.

History has a habit of doing things like that. It’s almost like it was meant to be.

Skylark was finally delivered to West Mersea by low-loader on November 19, 2022, ready for the next chapter in her story.

She is now back in the water, has already been involved in a few races this season and even won some trophies.

She is currently in Tollesbury and, in that sense, her story has turned full circle.