West Mersea Council Cuttings Book 7 page 40
ARK ROYAL to be reborn
One of the better known houseboats is the ARK ROYAL, now in a state that only wishful thinking keeps her alive. Her origins are the matter of some dispute, she having been here for as long as people can remember.

Mr George Milgate said she was brought her from Heybridge Basin just after the first world war, when she was used as a pontoon by the military. But unlike her namesake, she is still with us - and if Mr Brian Webb, a self employed painter and decorator from Greenstead, has his way, has along life ahead of her in a much modified form.

He is not allowed to scrap her ...
Date: 19 December 1975