Winners of ABP ‘Stories of the Sea’ Competition visit Port of King’s Lynn

Caption: Winners of the ABP ‘Stories of the Sea’ competition, 12-year-old William Beck of Kings Lynn Academy (left), who finished third. Winner, 13-year-old Jacob Chalke of St Clements High School (second left) and 10- year-old Thalia Sunday of Clenchwarton Primary, who finished second, are pictured with Kim Kennedy (Port manager at ABP King’s Lynn’s). Picture: Stephen Waller

Associated British Ports (ABP) recently invited the three winners of the ABP ‘Stories of the Sea’ competition to its Port of King’s Lynn, where they helped bury a time capsule to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the opening of Alexandra Dock.

The marine-themed school short story competition was open from July to September 2019 and was organised in partnership with True’s Yard Fisherfolk Museum and the Lynn News.

Judged by local historian and author Dr. Paul Richards, Lynn News Editor, Mark Leslie and ABP Port of King’s Lynn Manager, Kim Kennedy, the competition was open to all pupils aged 9 -16, within the county of Norfolk.

First place was scooped by thirteen-year-old, Jacob Chalke, a pupil at St Clement’s High School in King’s Lynn, who impressed the judges with his story about the experience of a pilot in Alexandra Dock. Second place was won by ten-year-old Thalia Sunday from Clenchwarton Primary School who wrote about solving nautical themed riddles and third place was awarded to eleven-year-old William Beck from King’s Lynn Academy who penned a story pirate.

Debbie Schwarz, English teacher at St Clement’s High School, said: “St Clement’s High School are extremely proud of Jacob for winning the ‘Story of the Seas’ competition. He is a real credit to the school. We are delighted with the prize and, with the help of Jacob, look forward to enhancing our library with some new books for all of our students. Many thanks to ABP .”

Competition prizes included £200 book vouchers and a £600 donation to the winner’s school for first place, £100 book vouchers for second and £50 for third place.

Speaking about the significance of the competition, Kim Kennedy, ABP King’s Lynn Port Manager, said: “Congratulations to the talented winners, who’ve faced some fierce competition as we received a high volume of entries. We were really impressed with the creativity of their submissions and we hope that the premise of the completion – to write on the theme of the sea has inspired them to think about the maritime sector as a career choice in future.”

During their visit to the Port of King’s Lynn, the winners participated in a ceremony to bury a time capsule to be re-opened on the 175th anniversary of the port. The time capsule contained a number of items that capture the history of the port including a port map, a CAD drawing, a copy of each of the winning stories, a photograph of the winners and something picked by the first place holder, Jacob, who also wrote about ‘a day in the life of a 13 year old’ and finally, a grain of Barley which symbolises the port’s significance to the local farming industry.