"Is that Mr Clayton?"

"Speaking."

"Are you the son of Arthur Clayton?"

"That's correct yes."

"I'm trying to find out about Compton Castle. It goes back quite a long way."

"You're right there I don't remember an awful lot about that really."

"Your dad was involved with her?"

"My dad, and my brother. And they're both dead so you won't find out much from them. I knew about it but was quite young at the time."

"Was he a wrestler?”

"I haven't heard that one. I'd have thought it would have been mentioned. I know his dad had a Leyland dealership and he used to sell Austin Sevens and that sort of stuff. That's how they started in the motor trade. Then they started doing buses and a taxi service and road haulage."

"Where was that?"

"Mexborough way, Yorkshire somewhere. He came to Looe around 1966. I was about a year-old."

"So you were quite young when the boat was bought?"

"Yes. I do remember being on it and involved with it a bit, cause we towed it back."

"You were on it?"

"Yes indeed, I was on it. I was on the news, cause they filmed it when it went out of the harbour. It was on the local news. They took a shot of the boat and I was actually on the back of the boat, on the news footage."

 

"Do you remember why it was never finished?"

"No, not really. I don't know why he bought it. I don't know what his plans were. They took it under the bridge. My brother used to live in a mobile home down their and used to work on it."

"That was?"

"Michael. He drowned, and my other brother drowned."

"When was that?"

"Seven or eight years ago. A few miles off Whitby. They were steaming along one morning and for some reason the ship went down and with all the crew. They did an investigation. Rema was the boat.”

" How did your dad die?"

"He was driving my lorry; had a heart attack; just went off the edge of the road and hit a tree."

"He also owned a speedboat?"

"He had a couple of boats. He converted a fishing boat to a 90 ft trawler.

I've just remembered something; when we sent telegraphs down in the wheelhouse we had a brass chain that ran down into the engine room which was four or five links wide. I can't remember why, I think one was broken and my brother made a chain for me. He shortened it all up and banged a link on it. I used to wear that.

Now I think about it, it had some nice glass windows didn't it with all the boats on. There was different boats, different castles. Either mirrors or windows, windows I think. I remember those but that's about all I can remember really."

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