Although a major employer for many years in Beverley, little obvious evidence remains of the once thriving shipbuilding industry on Beverley Beck.
Walk along the Beck towards the River Hull, though, and plenty can be seen of the shipyard and ancillary industries that played an enormous role in the growth of the fishing port of Hull.
Cook, Welton and Gemmell Ltd owned the shipyard at the Grovehill site from 1902 to 1963, the glory years of this important industry.
But the story did not start there.
The first iron ships were built and launched by Henry and Joseph Scarr in 1882 at their Beckside works, close to Jack Taylor Lane.
Around the same time, Vulcan Iron Works was opened at Grovehill, but lasted for only a year before being taken over by Cochrane, Hamilton and Cooper, who themsleves went into liquidation in 1902.
Cook, Welton and Gemmell Ltd took over the site, and when they closed in 1962 CD Holmes used the site to fit whinches and engines to their ships. The shipyard, despite changes in ownership, closed in 1977.
Work at CWG was focused primarily on the fishing industry, and the skilled workforce were in the vanguard of modern trawler building.
Draughtsmen worked on-site to design the modern ships needed for Hull’s ocean going fleet. From there, joiners constructed scale models before the physical work of building the ship began.
Platers and riveters, using steel cast on-site, built the keels, before an abundance of skilled crafstmen prepared the ships ready for launch. With six boats able to be built at any one time, the shipyard was never quiet.
Launching a boat was an occasion in itself, and drew admiring crowds of schoolchildren to watch a perfectly-orchestrated launch – and receive a drenching in the process.
The hard work did not end here. Only the hull was taken down the River Hull to Princes Dock, where armies of fitters added the machinery needed of a trawler.
The men who worked here can be rightly proud of their role in the ongoing prosperity of Beverley.
Special thanks to the Beverley Guildhall for the images used to illustrate Iron Ship Building in Beverley
Looking at the photo of the shipwrights with their ‘hammers’ brought back to me the sound as they hammered away whatever was holding the ship from sliding into the Hull. I don’t think there were many/any places where ships were launched sideways!
Very interesting article. Would you perhaps have any information of the type of iron/steel being used by the Scarr yard, for Keel buildings, circa 1914 ? Did they too have a casting shop, or did they always buy-in from Low Moor?
Kind regards
I live on a boat now in the warm West indies, and when I was a kid we used to watch the ships being launched and dodge the wave and the rivetters would throw red-hot rivets into the river for fun. All gone now, but not forgotten. Thanks for the memories.