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  • Winston Megoran FRSA<br />1913 - 1971<br />Marine Artist
    Winston Megoran was born on 31st October 1913 in Newcastle upon Tyne. By the mid nineteen thirties he had begun to make his mark, exhibiting his paintings and etchings nationwide often alongside other notable twentieth century marine artists including Charles Pears, Norman Wilkinson, Frank Mason and Montague Dawson.
  • Winston Megoran painting in his studio
    His paintings also appeared in a wide variety of magazines including the Yachting Monthly, The Navy, The Sphere, Pictorial Education, The Fleet, The Trident, War Weekly, Boy's Own Paper, the Eagle and many others.
  • Winston Megoran sailing aboard his boat the <em>Cresta</em>
    His arresting and colourful book jacket designs were employed by many of the major publishing houses including for that attractive series, The Mariner's Library, issued by Rupert Hart-Davis.
  • Yachting Monthly & Motor Boating Magazine
    Published August 1936.
  • The Trident
    Published June 1945.
  • Yachting Monthly
    Published July 1967.
  • The Last Grain Race
    Book originally published in 1956.
  • Noone of the Ulu
    Book originally published in 1958.
  • A Book of Ships
    Published 1952.
  • A Book of Ships
    Published 1952.
  • Sailing Boats of Our Coasts and Rivers
    Inside cover from the Eagle Annual 1958.
  • On Sailing the Sea
    Published 1951.
  • The Q Code
    During the Second World War Winston Megoran became a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force and was seconded to the Admiralty in London to provide illustrations for official publications and ship recognition books. Ranging from British warships and merchant fleets to Chinese fishing craft these accurately drawn pictures and silhouettes from varying angles of view ran into many thousands and, doubtless, helped the RAF to avoid bombing the wrong ships! This picture is one of his cartoon style training manuals designed to help aircrew remember the codes.
  • "Llangranog, Cardigan"
    Winston Megoran was also a prolific watercolour painter, often having half a dozen on the go at any one time. He would first put the blank sheets of paper into the bath to soak and stretch before taking them out wet to be stuck down with brown sticky tape on individual drawing boards to dry. He would then do a wash for the sky on each, one after the other, then a wash for the sea or the land in the same way. Then, one by one, he painted in the details. When they were all finished, he bundled them up into packets and sent off them off in the mail to his agent in Birmingham for sale to the UK, North American and Canadian markets.
  • "Sundown"
    Winston Megoran also produced many original etchings and aquatints doing the whole process himself, first inscribing the picture onto the varnished copper plate (itself a difficult task), then etching it in an acid bath, painting the finished plate with the appropriately coloured inks and then rolling off each picture individually on the press he kept in a corner of his studio.
  • Naval Art Exhibition 1946
    Winston Megoran exhibited his paintings and etchings at numerous galleries nationwide. This is a catalogue for the Navy League's Naval Art Exhibition in 1946 where his paintings joined company with those of other notable marine artists including Charles Pears, Norman Wilkinson and Frank Mason.
  • Royal Academy of Arts 1948
    Exhibition catalogue.
  • "Sailing"
    After the war Winston Megoran moved to Weymouth with his family where he worked in his studio overlooking Portland Harbour until his sudden death in 1971 at the age of 57.
  • "Irene"
    Today, fifty years after he died, his pictures are still in demand. This one of the J Class Yacht Irene in oil on canvas painted in 1938 was sold at auction by Christie's in New York on 26th February 2002 for $5,288.
  • What Cares the Sea?
    The sheer quality of Winston Megoran's astonishing technique shines through.
  • Yachting Monthly Tribute by Maurice Griffiths
    To read this article on Winston Megoran written by the notable yachtsman, yacht designer, author and editor Maurice Griffiths click here.

Links

  • Dartmouth Steam Railway & River Boat Company
  • Paddle Steamer Preservation Society
  • Waverley Excursions
  • PS Maid of the Loch
  • PS Medway Queen
  • National Historic Ships UK
  • Books by John Megoran
  • More links…

Contact Us

For all enquiries about sailings and bookings visit the Dartmouth Steam Railway & River Boat Company website www.dartmouthrailriver.co.uk or call 01803 555 872.

For anything which is not an enquiry or booking you can contact us here.

Paddle Steamer Kingswear Castle Trust Ltd. is run entirely by volunteers and is a company limited by guarantee no. 755216 and a charity no. 299931.

Copyright © 2001-2020 Paddle Steamer Kingswear Castle Trust Ltd. except where noted.

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It is now more than thirty-five years since we returned Kingswear Castle to service on the Rivers Medway and Thames.

A year-long major rebuild commenced in winter 2021 that will see her return to service again in 2023.

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