Buckler's Hard: Award-winning marina gains new facilities

Buckler's Hard Yacht Harbour has been equipped with a further 48 yacht cradles, enabling staff to enhance the service provided for berthing and mooring holders on the privately owned waterway.

The galvanised steel cradles enable the marina and boatyard team to offer the highest standard of care when moving, repairing, and storing customers’ boats.

It follows the previous purchase of 37 yacht cradles, together with 90 motorboat stands.

Buckler's Hard is a former shipbuilding village on the banks of the privately owned Beaulieu River (Image: Newsquest.)

The boatyard has also been equipped with a 17m-high cherry picker that enables boat owners to reach the top of their masts. It also helps employees to carry out maintenance work and repairs.

The new expenditure follows a £2m project to reconfigure and extend the marina.

Luxury facilities were built as part of the upgrade, which also included the installation of environmentally friendly boat pump-out and washdown facilities.

Harbour Master Wendy Stowe said: "Many customers prefer modern steel to traditional wooden cradles. They provide more protection and efficiency whilst moving and working on their boats.

"We are committed to delivering the best possible customer service."

The award-winning Buckler's Hard Yacht Harbour has been given a further upgrade (Image: Beaulieu Enterprises)

The yacht harbour won the title of Marina of the Year at the British Yachting Awards after receiving the most votes for its warm welcome, plus its services and facilities for sailors.

It has also appointed its first apprentice.

Ollie Rickard, 23, is working towards achieving the British Marine apprenticeship standards to deliver the best service for boat owners and visitors.

A Beaulieu Enterprises spokesperson said: "The Beaulieu River offers a beautiful natural setting that provides habitats for more than 200 species of birdlife at the gateway to the New Forest National Park.

"It has been kept special by the custodianship of the Montagu family for over four centuries."

Last year Buckler's Hard played a starring role in a new TV adaptation of the famous Charles Dickens tale Great Expectations.

The former shipbuilding centre was one of the locations used during the making of the series, which starred Oscar-winning actress Olivia Colman.

Buckler's Hard was closed to the public while the production team turned the clock back to the 1800s.

The village, which comprises two rows of 18th century cottages leading down to the water, is the perfect place to shoot a period drama.

In 1966 the Beaulieu River stood in for the River Thames during the filming of A Man for All Seasons, starring Jaws actor Robert Shaw as Henry VIII.