Rigged model, Scale 1:24, of the Brixham trawler 'Valerian' (register No. BM 161), with trawl and five extra sails, by Mr T.N. Dinwiddy, Stoke Gabriel, Totnes, Devon, England, 1923, and human figures by Barbara Mary Campbell, Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, England, 1958. The 'Valerian' won the King's Challenge Cup several times in the annual Brixham regatta. During WWII she served as a balloon barrage vessel.
At the beginning of the 19th century, in common with most other large trawlers, the Brixham boats were built with full bows and were cutter-rigged; but later in the century, as they were increased in size, a hull form of finer lines was developed, with a sharply raking stern-post and deep heel.
About 1880 the Brixham trawlers adopted the ketch rig, and this rig with its large gaff mainsail and smaller mizen, known to fishermen as the 'dandy' rig, became the standard rig for the majority of large fishing boats from such ports as Ramsgate, Lowestoft and Grimbsy. Brixham trawlers attained a great reputation for both seaworthiness and speed; and during the early years of the 20th century the fishing fleet consisted of over two hundred vessels. But some thirty years later the number had been reduced to almost negligible proportions, and with the exception of the few which have been converted into yachts, these fine boats are now extinct.
This model represents the trawler 'Valerian' which on several occasions won the King's Challenge Cup at Brixham regatta. The dimensions were: length 78ft 9ins; breadth 18ft 6ins; draught 9ft 6ins. During the Second World War the 'Valerian' was employed as a balloon barrage vessel.
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