Plaque carved to commemorate MV ORARI of New Zealand Shipping Company 1930 - 1958. The plaque is in the Public Bar of The Kings Head, Tollesbury.
The ORARI was commanded by a Tollesbury man, Captain Nelson Rice, for several years during World War 2. After Captain Rice had died, the plaque was brought to Tollesbury by a former Bo'sun of the ship, Mr. Moxley, who together with two former crew members of the ship, the late Henry Purvis and Lennoxton Leavett, presented it to "The Hope" in Tollesbury. It hung on the wall in the Porthole Bar. The Hope public house closed in 2009, but before that the pub had been renovated and the plaque ended up in a skip - from where it was rescued and put in the Kings Head.
Date: 2 December 2007