Historic fishing cobles from Northumberland to take part in annual Bridlington sailing festival

They will be part of the annual Sailing Coble Festival at Bridlington in East Yorkshire from July 19-20.

Built over 70 years ago, the 29 foot Royal Diadem II is the oldest of the quartet having been completed by the Amble boatyard of J & J Harrison in 1948.

As with most fishing cobles of that time she was built as a motor coble but carried auxiliary sail due to the uncertain reliability of engines.

Originally built for William and Albert Silk of Newton by the Sea, she was one of vast numbers to be seen at every port, harbour and coastal village on the north east coast of England. Now owned by the North East Maritime Trust (NEMT) based at South Shields, she has been a regular attendee at the Bridlington Festival for a number of years.

Another Amble built coble on show will be Providence, a 27 foot example from the same J & J Harrison yard and completed in 1949. Originally named Providence II she had various names and ports of registry before arriving at Whitby in 1993. Still based in that town under private ownership, she underwent a complete restoration in 2017 by Steve Cook, one of the last remaining traditional boat builders on the north east coast.

The coble Kathleen, also built in 1949, was from the Seahouses yard of Dawson and Beverley. At 27 foot she is one of probably only two cobles built by that partnership still surviving. She was originally based at Boulmer and fished by William Burn Stephenson.

Discovered in quite a dilapidated state at North Shields in 2019, she was fully restored by a team from the Bridlington Sailing Coble Preservation Society (BSCPS) under the leadership of retired coble builder John Clarkson.

The final member of the quartet is the 1976 built Gratitude, again a fine example from the Amble yard of J & J Harrison and built by Hector Handyside. Hector was the renowned Master Coble Builder who started his career boat building with Harrison's in 1948. At 26 foot in length she is perhaps more on the lines of a typical Yorkshire sailing coble and was built for Dave Wharton of Whitby.