The Ship Breakers

With the decline of the use of wooden ships a new industry developed in Mablethorpe and Sutton-on-Sea: Ship Breaking.

In 1877, Sutton-on-Sea was linked to National Railway network. Goods began to come into the town by rail although goods landed by ship continued to be economical for a while. The wooden ships were being replaces by iron and sails by steam. The old wooden ships had to be disposed of, in fact, they were recycled!

A wooden ship would be beached and towed up onto the sands in the high tides of the Spring. During the Summer, they would be museums of ships artifacts.

In the Autumn when most of the visitors had gone, the ships would be "broken."The ballast was used in building the sea defenses and roads.

Any iron was taken as scrap. Wood was gathered together and sold in great wood sales in the Spring.

Local builders and farmers used the wood for fences and construction work. Many houses and barns are built with timber for the old ships.

Six ships were dismantled in the Sutton area - three at the main Pullover while the others were at Church Road, Acre Gap and Sandilands Pullover.

For further reading get the book called
"The Wrecks and the Wreckers of Mablethorpe" by Peter Chambers. Price: £9.50.

It is on sale at Robert Watsons Hardware in Sutton-on-Sea and at Mayfields - the Jewellers, the Shell Shop, the Paper Rack, the Lifeboat Station in Mablethorpe.

Or send £11.00 (£9.50 + 1.50 p&p) to:

Peter Chambers
42 Gibraltar Road, Mablethorpe
Lincolnshire
LN12 2AT