Looking at the first picture you could be forgiven for thinking TS Mercury was a summer camp. Take a look at the alternative view below first! To get on board boys used to go from the pier just opposite the ship. This was because the creek was empty at low tide. The boat in the foreground was known as a ‘cutter’. This and several other cutters were the workhorses of the school being the transportation between the pier head and the ship morning and night. An old cutter was used for ‘coaling ship’. Some cutters were even occasionally sailed in Southampton Water and the Solent.
