From classic boat to kids’ playhouse

Starting life in 1928 when she was launched from the stocks of William Crossfield’s yard in Arnside, Cumbria, the Nobby Empress was probably built by four men in six weeks.

Such was the demand for the Morecambe Bay Prawners, traditionally called Lancashire Nobbies, that hundreds were built to fish the shallow waters of Morecambe Bay and the Solway Firth to fulfil the insatiable Victorian passion of eating shrimps for’high tea’. This demand was driven by the growing seaside holiday trade which had seen a massive expansion with the building of the railways to the coastal resorts of the North West.

There is speculation that the name Nobby may have originated from sourcing some of their timber by using the so called ‘nob ends’ or offcuts from the building of larger offshore fishing boats. Certainly, Nobbies were roughly constructed for a budget price, but despite this proved to be very successful traditional fishing boats. Their shoal draught, low freeboard and wide deck with massive counter stern enabled efficient handling of the huge beam trawls which were used to catch the shrimps. Then, when they headed for home, the Nobby’s bold, high bows made them sufficiently seaworthy to cope with the choppy seas often experienced in these open waters. What’s more their exceptional turn of speed,