Eric Bergqvist, in 1979, who was a boat builder based at Lymn, Cheshire and Fiddlers Ferry, alongside the River Mersey took a moulding from the Morecambe Bay Prawner 'Sir William Priestley' built as a lifeboat (1934), by Crossfield's of Arnside, for fishermen in the bay. The original boat is in the Lancaster Maritime Museum, sadly in very poor condition. You can read more about the 'Sir William Priestley' on this webpage here.
The mould was used to make glass-reinforced plastic hulls and decks for completion by home builders. It's reputed that some 20 plus boats were produced from the mouldings, but from our records, the whereabouts of only 14 are known. At 27ft 6in overall, a beam of 9ft 6in and a draft of 3ft 6in these boats have a great pedigree from the classic Nobby hull shape and are relatively easy for the home boat builder to complete.
Over the years the moulds have been through a couple of owners and today reside in Glasson, Lancashire. If any reader is genuinely interested in obtaining either or both hull and deck mouldings, please contact the Association in the first instance.
The table below is replicated using information available from our associations' records and the work of Paul Jolley - South West OGA area who owns the boat, Minx from one of the Eric Bergqvist moulds.
Eric Bergqvist Nobbies
| BOAT NAME | YEAR | OWNER | COMMENTS |
| LINDA | 1983 | Andy Jarvis | Morecambe |
| BERYL | 1984 | Lower Halstow, Faversham | |
| MARY ELIZABETH | 1988 | Built for the opening of the Liverpool Tate - Location Unknown. | |
| FREDA | 1989 | Portsmouth | |
| MINX | 1995 | Paul Jolley | Brixham |
| JEAN | East Coast | ||
| JEAN | Fiddlers Ferry, Merseyside | ||
| TERN | Fiddlers Ferry, Merseyside | ||
| STRUMPET | Fife | ||
| LUCY | Wardleys Creek, River Wyre | ||
| HELEN | |||
| BLACK JACK | Bristol Channel | ||
| PRIDE of LIVERPOOL | Nobby Association | River Douglas - ex Pride, in restoration. | |
| POLLY | |||
| VENTURE | Heswall, Reg. C45 | ||
| Bare Hull | Scotland |
THE MOULDS
Mike Cottam
Mary Elizabeth was also taken from the mould I think?
Andy Jarvis d
Hello, I'm Andy Jarvis, owner and builder of the Linda. I built her starting in early 1983 and used her for shrimping full time until 2000 when I deregistered her, she is still at Morecambe where I still do a bit of part time fishing. I think Eric had only made one hull before Linda, for himself. At the time his price for a hull was £1000 but I had her built thicker than his and the keel filled in and a moulded deck shelf was £1600 delivered to Morecambe!
Clive winstanley
I think it's the 'Tern' in the yard at Fiddlers Ferry.