CRAFTSMANSHIP
YARD VISIT: NORTH EAST MARITIME TRUST WORKING MUSEUM
THE LAST TYNE-SIDERS The volunteers keeping the Tyne’s shipbuilding history alive WORDS BARRY PICKTHALL PHOTOGRAPHY PPL PHOTO AGENCY
H
ere’s a yard hidden away in the industrial
Below left:
from 20 or more volunteers all with mugs of tea in their
heritage of the North East, a veritable time
Famous painting
hands, preparing to sit down with their lunch boxes for an
capsule harking back to the great ship and
by Edwin Straker
engaging natter.
boatbuilding days on the River Tyne when
of the Northumberland
gave me a guided tour starting with the covered slipway
years the two aircraft carriers HMS Ark Royal and HMS
coble Blyth,
where the coble Peggy, which volunteers had fully restored
Illustrious slid down the slipways, together with my far
typical of the
a few years ago, was awaiting a winter refit. “It’s as much a
more modest classic yacht Sea Jay.
comercial beach
club as a museum” Landells explained. “A lot are retired and
boats in the
have found it a great place to come. We have craftsmen
North East
from all walks of life and the shared expertise means there’s
World War Two kept the coal, iron and shipbuilding industries well stoked but by the mid-60s and early 70s, shipyards along the Tyne were struggling under cost and
not much that we can’t tackle in house.”
delivery pressures from Korea and Japan. And along with
Below right:
them crumbled the smaller boatyards sandwiched between
Cutaway and GA
asked, and immediately, a shout from the circle of lunchboxes
the large slipways that fed like pilot fish off their larger
of the Rhodes
joked, “None: There’s no room here for know-alls!”
commercial cousins. Now, the ships, the yards, the skilled
6-tonner Sea Jay
jobs, and the cacophony of sounds that once surrounded
“How many boatbuilders do you have in the group?” I
Perhaps not,but judging by the workmanship on the restoration of the Bedford, a traditional pulling lifeboat
the river have all gone, with one exception – the North East
Facing page: The
currently on the stocks, there is no shortage of woodworking
Maritime Trust working museum in South Shields.
museum; The
skills here. Built in 1886 by LB Lambert at South Shields for
team of retired
the princely sum of £330, she’s a pulling, surf lifeboat
themselves busy maintaining the past by restoring wooden
craftsman – all
measuring 33ft 2in (10.1m) LOA, 10ft 8in (3.3m) beam, with
boats up to 40ft (12.2m) long with strong links to local
volunteers
3ft 6in (1.1m) draft and was propelled by 12 oarsmen. A
Here, a keen band of skilled volunteers, all retired, keep
history. The two sheds and slipway where wooden fishing cobles had once been built, was re-opened as a working
ballast tank, when filled, provides extra stability. After her naming ceremony, the lifeboat’s capabilities
museum in September 2005, ironically the same month
were tested. With crew in place, she was filled to the
that The Lyme Bay – the last new ship to float down the
gunwales before a word from coxswain led to her cork plugs
river – sounded the final death knell for the industry.
being removed. The boat emptied itself in just 52 seconds.
I found the museum, more a traditional boatyard, tucked
72
Alec Renwick, Chairman, and historian Steven Landells
great ships like the Mauretania, Carpathia, and in later
Later, competition from the RNLI ‘s next generation of
down Wapping Street, once a thriving ship and
motorised lifeboats stationed at North Shields split
boatbuilding strip alongside the Tyne, during my search for
opinions, with The Tyne Lifeboat Society maintaining that
any signs of John Swinburne & Co, where my own
their surf rowing lifeboats were better suited to local
traditional Rhodes 6-Tonner Sea Jay had been fourth in a
inshore conditions. A motor was fitted in 1935 but proved
line of five 27ft (8.2m) wooden classics built between 1964
unsuccessful. Before finally being taken out of service in
and 1965. My unexpected arrival drew a warm welcome
1937, the Bedford was launched on 55 occasions and saved
CLASSIC BOAT APRIL 2022
