Marchwood
Haslar Yacht Club Rally to Marchwood
Marchwood Yacht Club
Marchwood Yacht Club offers a unique, friendly, and unpretentious venue. Visitors enjoy deep-water pontoon berthing, front-row views of commercial shipping, and warm hospitality.
- Situated on the southwest shore of the River Test at the top of Southampton Water
- A self-maintained, member-run working club embodying the core ethos: "If it needs doing, do it".
- Unobstructed views of massive container ships turning right outside the river.
- A scenic walk up the River Test banks to the historic Eling Tide Mill.
Fleet Status: A fleet of 9 yachts and motorboats from Haslar Yacht Club heavily laden with biscuits, beer and wine.
The Voyage: Day 2 and 3 of the Haslar Yacht Club Solent Tour Rally
The conditions going to Marchwood from Newtown Creek were choppy with wind against tide, force 4/5.
The navigational instructions issues by MYC were very accurate and helpful and we all rafted up successfully. As we did so, we noticed that a seal had taken up residence underneath the pontoon where it studiously ignored all the noise and attention it received.
An Explosive History Lesson
Once lines were secured, the crew stepped ashore into a village that used to be the powder keg of the British Empire. While we were busy uncorking bottles of wine, we couldn't help but marvel at our surroundings. Marchwood Yacht Club sits directly inside the ruins of the Royal Naval Armaments Depot (RNAD), built in 1811 to hold thousands of barrels of volatile gunpowder.
We learned a few fascinating facts from Marchwoods explosive past:
- The 19th-century builders used wooden pegs instead of iron nails for the floors so no one would accidentally spark an explosion with their boots.
- The buildings were designed with "blow-out" slate roofs, meant to direct a gunpowder blast straight up into the sky rather than outward.
- Each magazine had to be solidly constructed with double skinned thick brick walls with ventilation ports.
- The gunpowder barrels were floated into the depot on flat bottomed barges along a small canal running through the magazines and you can still see the location of those canals today.
The site remained heavily fortified into the 20th century. In June 1940, Luftwaffe bombing triggered a massive explosion. Roughly 127,000 lbs of cordite and 229,000 rounds of ammunition blew up, destroying several magazines and shattering nearby village cottages.
In 1943, the modern Marchwood Military Port was built just down the coast to support the D-Day landings. The older RNAD gunpowder site was slowly phased out and decommissioned in 1961.
Today, the historic heart of the gunpowder stores is home to the Marchwood Yacht Club.
Social Events
On our first evening we had the traditional pontoon party enjoyed by all in the pleasant sunshine, a good opportunity to chat to each other.
On our second evening we enjoyed drinks in the clubhouse whilst we watched the memorable partial solar eclipse armed with our special sunglasses before we all sat down to dinner.
Day 3
We watched several massive container ships being pushed into position by 3 tugs for unloading on the other side of the water.
After breakfast some of us took a lovely walk up the bank of the river to Eling Tide Mill, which is recorded in the Domesday Book, although it is possible there has been a mill there as far back as Roman times.
Twilight and the Phantom Sentry
As dusk fell over the old brick blast walls conversation naturally turned to Marchwoods resident ghost, The Phantom Sentry, who is said to walk through brick walls.
A few eagle-eyed sailors claimed to see a shadowy figure floating near the shoreline after hours. I could report that it was the Commodore wandering around in the dark trying to remember where he parked his dinghy but that would not be true!
The Verdict
The rally was a resounding success. We enjoyed fantastic sailing, a brilliant clubhouse supper, and a healthy dose of naval history. Marchwood proved that while it may no longer be the largest explosive depot in the Kingdom, the hospitality there is still dynamite. Thank you to Jem for organising the trip and to Alan Saunders from Marchwood for his help and his informative tour of the club premises.
Anne SD
Last updated 12:15 on 29 September 2026