- Timothy and Shane Spall image for Seafarer Magazine, courtesy Paul Crompton
I’m amazed to find it’s two years since I interviewed the character actor Timothy Spall as he circumnavigated Britain. His wife, Shane has since published a book about their adventures. I caught up with them in a noisy pub at the end of a busy day.
Timothy Spall turned down the opportunity to play a Pirate of the Caribbean so he could circumnavigate Britain in a converted Dutch barge, the Princess Matilda, with his wife, Shane.
Interview by Sandra Kessell for Seafarer Magazine
Why did you take up boating and what inspired you to take to the sea?
I don’t really know. It was a thing that happened when I was ill [with leukaemia]. I said to my wife: ‘When I get over this we can get a narrow boat and do the canals.’ It was our initial plan to get across to France but we decided we didn’t want to do that, we wanted to discover our own country. When we started I couldn’t even read a tide table, I learned to navigate by reading books, but this wasn’t an epiphany. I started to feel the call to the sea and I still feel it – but now I fear it and feel it – though I’m enjoying myself – it’s called life, pleasure.
Who’s the captain and who’s first mate?
I’m the captain and the skipper, my wife Shane is the chief purser, ship’s figurehead and ship’s sorceress. When I lose my bottle she reminds me she believes I can do it. We’ve done 1500 miles so far, the more you know the more there is to find out.
Which is your favourite port?
Everywhere is lovely. One of the nicest feelings was arriving in Douglas as that’s the furthest we’ve been out to sea. When we arrived in Peel on the west coast of the Isle of Man, with its very quaint and beautiful castle, we had to wait on the harbour wall for the tide to come in – it was a microcosm of everything that we have seen, in a way. There were kids playing on the beach, and it was hard to tell whether it was seagulls or the kids screeching as the fishing boats were bringing in their haul of queenies [queen scallops] – it was absolutely idyllic.
Where would you most like to visit?
Wherever we’re next heading is where I want to be. We’re off to the Caledonian Canal, but we don’t plan more than 50 to 100 miles ahead. I hope we can see the Mull of Kintyre, Oban and Loch Ness. We keep a general idea of where we are going, but that’s also dictated by the wind and tide and weather conditions. If we get trapped, we get trapped. we don’t have a timetable. Sometimes I have to go off to work, so we find a safe harbour and leave the boat in purdah. One of the great things about the British Isles is they’re nautical isles with good facilities – though the Princess Matilda is 54 feet long and we pay for our moorings by the foot!
Do you have any seafaring ancestry?
I’d lived in London all my life until recently, I’m a dyed-in-the-wool 100 per cent urbanite. The call of the sea came from out of the blue, there’s absolutely no recent seafaring history in my family. My wife looked my background up and found I’ve got links to the East Coast, to Suffolk, 100 to 150 years ago. Perhaps some were mariners then.
Would you consider sailing a yacht, rather than your barge?
I don’t think so. Having played a hangman [Albert Pierrepoint] I’m well aware of what a rope can do! I can’t see myself running up and down a yacht, unless I could press buttons in and make the sails do what I wanted them to do. I know how hard life must have been before the internal combustion engine and I’m a lazy so-and-so who would rather dictate it all from the wheelhouse.
Could you combine your love of the sea with acting – playing a part in Pirates of the Caribbean, for example?
That did come my way recently, I’d have loved it, but it didn’t work out. I would have been in the Caribbean rather than being on my own boat. I worked with Mr Depp on Sweeney Todd – if I had another opportunity to repeat that experience, I would take it, he’s very, very good to work with.
Which mariner would you like to play?
Captain Bligh or Nelson – or the last person to invade Britain by sea – John Paul Jones. He invaded Whitehaven in the 18th century – they call him a pirate there, but the US Navy think he’s a hero. Sailing the coast you find wonderful things out about your own country!
If the Princess Matilda sank, what would you save?
A bottle of wine and Shane – and hopefully the lifeboat!
Timothy and Shane Spall’s adventures are documented in a book The Voyages of the Princess Matilda and on their blog, www.spallsatsea.com. Their seagoing Dutch barge was built by Peter Nicholls Yacht Builders Ltd.
Original text here: Tim Spall
Sandra Kessell 
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