This book reveals the working lives of the vessels, ports, and people involved in Somerset’s waterborne trade for more than 2,000 years. For centuries, Somerset depended on its harbors and rivers for its life blood. This is the story of the county’s ports, pills, and waterways, the unique vessels and skilled men that used them, the cargoes they carried, and the day-to-day practicalities of their lives. This illustrated history embraces the whole coast, each of the ports, the vessels, their characteristics and cargoes, ship handling, owners, skippers and crews, the inland distribution process, and the changes in these activities right up to the present day and the current preservation, restoration, and new build legacy.