White Rose, 1899
The White Rose, 1899
We have recently embarked upon a project to restore a 19th century gaff cutter, White Rose.
The Ashburner Brothers built the yacht, in Barrow in 1899.
The White Rose was sold to the Furness Maritime Trust in 1987, and in April 2007 we moved her into the Dock Museum ready to be restored to her former racing condition.
The conservation of White Rose is a three-year project. The first year is about stabilising her. Year two will focus on restoring her hull, deck and coachroof,
We have discovered quite a lot of "nail rot" caused by ferrous fixings used on the strap floors, several planks will need to be replaced in full as well as most of the sawn frames. Local oak is currently being sourced for the frames and the hunt is on for long lengths of pitch pine for the planking.
Interestingly the boat was extended three time around 1905 to 1912, in the midsection the bow and the central hull overlap, as does the beam shelf, its very neat, clever but will make replanking very very dificult, a similar over lapping techique was used on the transom, eventually extending the boat by 9ft6' to her present length 39' 6" 
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The original deck larch, also shows many of the extensions but is too tired to save, inspection has revied that underneath the deck beams in the main to be sound , as is the pitch pine beamshelf.
The stem, as well as the counterpost will need major work, or possibly replacement, we will know more when we pop some planks, but theres plenty of softwood, we will see!
The third and final year of the project will be about removing her iron keel and replacing it with an original lead keel, rebuilding the interior, fitting deck gear and for the time being a dummy mast, but a full length boom, bowsprit and their associated standing and running rigging. 
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The Dock Museum has acquired funds for this project from the Furness Maritime Trust, Barrow-Borough Council and donations from visitors. “White Rose is a beautiful vessel and it’s exciting to see more of the original boat. You can see the pine hull now that the paint has been scraped off and she is starting to look more like the race-winner that she was for so many years. It was so dramatic having White Rose lifted in through the roof of the building and I’m delighted at the excellent progress that has been made so far.” Sabine Skae, Dock Museum. 
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The History of White Rose
In June 1871 the Barrow Yacht Club was formed and held its first races. At that time there were 42 yachts owned by its members. Amongst them were Thomas and Richard Ashburner, the Barrow shipbuilders, who both were enthusiastic yachtsmen. In 1878 the club received the Royal approval and became the Royal Barrow Yacht Club, Thomas Ashburner later becoming its Honorary Secretary. He and his brother were yachtsmen in the true sense, and their interest in racing produced remarkable success, principally in boats they had designed and built themselves.
The Ashburner yachts were highly successful. Rose, Rosebud and Red Rose all won trophies from the RBYC in their first year of competition. Red Rose was owned jointly by Thomas and Richard and she was sold in 1897 for £200. The two brothers invested the money in what was to become their most successful and famous yacht, White Rose. The Ashburners' racing success was largely local, against similar yachts built at Morecambe Bay and Duddon boatyards. The enduring success of White Rose, built in 1899, gives a better perspective on Richard Ashburner's qualities as a yacht designer.
White Rose was originally a 30 ft. cutter of 6 tons, carrying just under 700 square feet of sail. She was soon lengthened three times, doubling her tonnage and bringing her to 39 ft. 6 ins. overall. With this increase in hull size came more sail, so that in her final form the Ashburners raced her with two jibs, a gaff topsail and a mainsail totalling 900 square feet. The Ashburners, both in their sixties by then, raced her themselves and were reportedly almost invincible in local races.
White Rose was sold during the First World War, soon after Thomas Ashburner had died. Her new owner removed her keel to profit from the then inflated price of lead. By the end of the War she was in new ownership and was not sailed again until 1925. With the yacht in a decrepit state, her owner decided to raffle her and she was won by a local yachtsman, Dr. Coffey. He refitted her, though giving her only an iron keel. She re-entered the local racing scene, again winning most of her races, and in 1928 she took the record for the passage from Douglas to Barrow's Piel Island. The Second War interrupted her career and she was again laid-up. In 1949 Fred Rollinson bought her and restored her to her former grandure, though with a more modern sail plan of only a 450 sq.ft. mainsail and 150 sq.ft. jib. She was again a winner, and in 1973 won the North West Veterans and Old Gaffers Race. Thanks to the efforts of these North West yachtsmen White Rose survived even longer than the Ashburner schooners.
In 1987 Fred Rollinson donated her to the Furness Maritime Trust for the nominal sum of £1. In April 2007 she was placed inside the Dock Museum by crane through the roof. In November 2007 boatbuilder brothers, Hamish and Simon Patterson began work to stabilise the structure and formulate a restoration plan.