Childhood friends and their folding boat reunited after 60 years (From Falmouth Packet)

Childhood friends and their folding boat reunited after 60 years

3:00pm Tuesday 26th February 2013 in News

Two childhood friends popped into the Maritime Museum in Falmouth recently where they were reunited with a folding boat which had kept them active and amused while they were growing up in the 1950s.

Mark Gregory and Peter Cashell are now both in their 70s and live locally, but as boys they spent a lot of their time lazing about on a lake in Cheshire in Mark’s boat.

They recalled the times when Mark, who became a lawyer, would sit in the front seat of the boat with Peter in the back – a tactical move by Peter. “There were benefits to letting Mark take the helm,” he said. “If I was feeling particularly tired I could sit back and relax without Mark knowing.”

While at the museum, the former Kings Canterbury schoolboys also picked up the paddles for the first time in 60 years and gave a quick demonstration.

The Fairey Folding Boat was developed in the early 1950s by Fairey Marine, an offshoot of the successful World War II Fairey Aviation Company, the company Mark’s father worked for.

Mark’s old boat is on display at the Maritime Museum until the end of March. Mark said: “I am delighted to see it in pride of place in the museum for everyone to enjoy as much as we did.”