A lovely set of images as part of a Graham postcard concerning the steam collier Spiral stranded on Salt Scar rocks. Fred Brunskill advises: ”The ‘Spiral’ laden with coal was aground on Saltscar rocks for some weeks and some local fishermen were employed to dump the cargo to lighten the vessel, this was successful and the ‘Spiral’ was re-floated and taken to Hartlepool for urgent repairs. The ‘Fifi and Charles’ was Redcar’s lifeboat at the time and was often used to ferry the local men backwards and forwards to the ship. The above photo-montage was taken as soldiers from the local army camp assisting the launching crew. At that time horses and manpower was the only was of launching and retrieving the lifeboats.”
Image courtesy of Mike Holliday, thanks to Fred Brunskill for that update.
Yes I do know the name of this one but only because it’s written in the caption when it arrived at the Archive. However now we know it was in June 1915 that the Ficara (a Danish vessel) grounded on Saltscar. The by-line for the image tells it all; interestingly the Swan Hotel is no more (sited on the corner) now occupied by Wilko.
A little undignified for a lord, but Fred Brunskill tells us: ”The steam powered trawler Lord Cecil was a brand new vessel built at Smiths Docks for the Grimsby Beacon Trawling Company. She left the Tees bound for Grimsby but became grounded inside of Westscar and was rolling so violently that during the rescue Redcar’s ‘Fifi & Charles’ lifeboat was damaged in the process. On subsequent tides she drifted onto the beach opposite the bandstand.”
Image courtesy of Mike Holliday, thanks to Fred Brunskill for the update.
Despite the title on this image it is believed to be SS Berg; ashore at Redcar 9th November 1914. As details in Redcar Shipwrecks list give the vessel as SS Berg, perhaps there was a typographical slip? Derick Pearson advises: “In the days of sailing ships, the term SS stood for “Sailing Ship”. Steam ships are termed SS which stands for “Steam ship” because they are powered by steam. If the vessel is powered by a internal combustion motor such as diesel engine or a gas turbine unit, the vessel’s name has MV (“Motor Vessel”) denoting the type of propulsion the vessel has. Now SSRF causes a problem here as SSRF stood for Small Scale Raiding Force which was set up during the early 1940s to undertake “pinprick” raids on the coast of Northern France and the Channel Islands. The raids were designed to gather information and to take prisoners for interrogation while locally having a demoralising effect on the German troops. More generally the unpredictability of the SSRF activities were designed to tie up enemy resources that would otherwise be used on other fronts. Often small boats were used and designated SSRFs.”
Image courtesy of Mike Holliday, thanks to Derick Pearson for the details.
Steam Trawler Caulonia ashore once again at Redcar 25th February 1915. Geoff Ayre tells us: ”I remember in the 1950s going on a pleasure boat (i.e. fisherman’s boat) and at low tide stuck on the rocks was the bow of a ship. Later destroyed, as I heard the ship blown up owing to ships heading for the mouth of the Tees being drawn toward the wreck whilst waiting for the tide.” If any body can assist with a date for destruction, the Archive would be grateful.
Image courtesy of Mike Holliday, thanks to Geoff Ayre for the additional information.
Okay here comes the question again, where was Moss Farm in Loftus, or do they mean Mars Farm? Terry Shaw came to our aid with: “In 2005 I wrote a book ‘The History of Loftus Cricket Club’ after an extensive search I was unable to trace Moss Farm. Redcar library have maps of Loftus dating back to the 1870′s and Moss Farm does not appear anywhere, I presume that the references mean Mars Farm.” and “After further research Moss Farm still cannot be found, however the reference could mean Marsh Farm which was the original name of the Mars Inn.”
Cutting from a collection gifted to the Archive, most of the cuttings coming from the Northern Echo and cover the period 1930 to 1940. Thanks to Terry Shaw for the researches and update.
“The tugboat Sir Hugh Bell ran aground 06/01/1926 on Coatham Sands. The tug boat was trying to recover a buoy which had broken away, and washed up on the beach. It was reported that the tug boat would not be able to get off the sands for the next 10 days when high tides were expected.” Details courtesy of Redcar Shipwrecks list. Now another question why are all the ships called she? Terry Shaw advised: “Tradition is to consider ships as female, referring to them as ‘she’. Although it may sound strange referring to an inanimate object as ‘she’, this tradition relates to the idea of a female figure such as a mother or goddess guiding and protecting a ship and crew. Another idea is that in many languages, objects are referred to using feminine or masculine nouns. This is less common in English which tends to use gender-neutral nouns, however referring to ships as ‘she’ may refer to far more ancient traditions. Interestingly, Captain Ernst Lindemann of the German battleship Bismarck referred to his ship as ‘he’, in view of its awesome power. In popular parlance, the tradition of naming ships ‘she’ has now become less common. It’s worth noting that the shipping industry newspaper, Lloyd’s Register of Shipping, now calls ships ‘it’.
Image courtesy of Mike Holliday, thanks to Terry Shaw for the information update.
Mr Arthur Gill’s retirement with Mr Vic Caney and Mr Fothergill. Were you there?
Back right there is Billy Winspear and Brian Atkinson, in the middle back is Arthur Summers, can you help with any other names?
George Brown tells us: ”I worked in the boiler shop, Desmond Want is bottom right corner . Second from left is Edgar Noble . Top left corner looks like George Gill. More names for this photograph as passed to me by Mr Brian Atkinson. Back row: Man with spectacles Mr R. Milner, ??, tie and pullover Mr J. Shaw, ??, ??, forward a little Mr J. Boardman, next Mr M. Wilks, Mr J. Preston, Mr Brian Atkinson, Mr G. Gill. Next row: Mr E. Noble, forward Mr B. Shaw, Mr A. Crispin, Mr W. Fothergill, half hidden is Mr J. Gill, right is Mr Desmond Want. Front as you read is Mr A. Gill and Mr Vic Caney. Hope this fills a bit more of the gaps the rest may come to us later?” Image courtesy of Eric Johnson and thanks to George Brown for the updates.
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