Bessie Ellen will be calling in at fourteen ports around the UK, where there will be the opportunity to climb aboard, tour the ship and meet her skipper, Nikki Alford. A passionate sea farer, Nikki has owned and sailed Bessie Ellen for 24 years, lovingly restoring and caring for her. Listed on the National Historic Ships register, Bessie’s remarkable heritage has seen her quite literally witness the changing tides of history. Built in Plymouth in 1904 she started life as a cargo ship, crossing treacherous waters to transport goods between Ireland, Wales and the West Counties. As trade dwindled during the second World War, Bessie found herself heading to the Baltic after being purchased by a Danish captain, Moller, in 1947. This second chapter of her life saw her re-named whilst undergoing a radical transformation with the creation of a large steel hatch, reduction in rigging and a large Hundested single cylinder engine installed. Sadly, by the 1970’s, running her became unprofitable and she lay to rest until being restored back to life nearly 100 years after her initial creation.
Israeli Tour Guide Leads Group to Safety as War Escalates
09.10.2023 - 21:11 / skift.com / Selene Brophy
Israeli-based tour guides are facing a wave of cancellations as the country unites in response to the fatal missile attacks on Saturday. As of Monday, more than 1,000 people had lost their lives.
Intrepid Travel has canceled tours to Israel and the Palestinian Territories until 31 October. The Travel Corporation also confirmed all its October departures had been canceled as of Saturday, noting it had two Trafalgar trips and two Insight Vacation trips planned for the affected region.
All resources are being channeled into providing relief, according to Laura Ilan, a freelance Israeli tour guide based near the Sea of Galilee in the Northern part of Israel, who recounted the events that unfolded on Saturday morning while guiding a tour group of 18 Colombian travelers to famous pilgrimage sites in Jerusalem.
“We left the hotel more or less at 8.30 am. We left the hotel on our way to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. We were supposed to be in Bethlehem in the afternoon, but then, two minutes after that, the siren broke, warning of missile attacks on the holy city,” said Ilan.
“I turned around the bus because I knew it was a matter of seconds.”
Ilan explained how warning systems are activated when there is an attack. “If you hear a siren in Israel, wherever you are, we know that it is so precise that we immediately need to go to the shelters are. I headed back to the hotel, where I immediately went and found out exactly where the shelter is. I took all the tourists there to show them because it’s on every floor in the hotel.”
Jerusalem was full of visitors celebrating Sukkot, a weeklong Jewish holiday five days after Yom Kippur. Ilan had guided the group since the previous Monday, and Saturday was meant to be the final day of the tour.
“I just wanted to make sure that I’m not leaving the tourists on their own. You know, a bit confused and stressed, not understanding what it is to be in a state of war in a country,” she said. “Just the day before, we were standing next to the Kotel, the Western Wall, and looking also at the Dome of the Rock. There were so many people in the Kotel. While Jews are praying near the Kotel, Muslims go and pray in the mosque, in al-Aqsa.”
“But then, within a fraction of a second, everything can change,” said Ilan.
The Colombian group expressed their gratitude in a letter to Ilan. Following is an excerpt of the letter:
Midway through Ilan’s account of the weekend attack shared with Skift, she received another notification that missiles were heading to Tel Aviv.
“I have my app, I can see where the missile is about to hit, whether it’s Tel Aviv, where my parents live, where my children live, or if it comes straight to where we live here in the north. So I just got that warning
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