Many people over the years have drowned in the vicinity of what might be called Blyth Bay. There were also a number of tragedies one of which involved the Blyth Lifeboat. April 7th 1810 started off as a dead calm day, but a sudden storm blew up. Many local fishing boats were caught up in what was to become a disaster. Several boats got into difficulty. At Blyth the lifeboat was launched with a crew of 17 men off Hartley Bates. They rowed out to the cobles in distress and rescued 11 men including their tackle! They were making for land back at Hartley Bates, though others wanted to return to Blyth itself which would have been a safer option, however efforts were made to return to Hartley Bates. On attempting to land there, they were inundated by the huge waves and the steersman was badly injured. Without steerage the boat broke in two and the men cast into the sea, all 28 suddenly fighting the sea for their lives. On shore at least 2000 people had gathered and witnessed the spectacle. It is said that people on shore saw fathers, sons and brothers perish in the storm just a few yards from shore. Some individuals were almost saved, but in the end only 2 of the 28 were saved! Nine of the 28 were men of Blyth. It was discovered that the life boat was not built to specification, made of elm with iron fixings instead of wainscot and copper bolts as contracted.
It seems that losses at sea took place regularly off the east coast. John Wallace's book The History of Blyth lists a number of them from 1673 through to 1869.
Sometimes too, bits and pieces turn up on Ebay that shed a light on past tragedies. I recently bought a post card of such an event, the sinking of the 'Clitus' on April 15th 1908 when 5 hands were lost and 7 were saved.
Philip
