The Tadorne

We had to laugh at ourselves the other day, setting out to find some wreckage we had been told was in the sea . . . at high tide. We didn’t find it!! Today we tried again . . . at low tide. Success.

This is the same bay at Howick as here, close to where we are staying. And it was around here that, on the 29th of March 1913, there was a tragic shipwreck. It was a stormy night when the French trawler Tadorne foundered on rocks and the local lifeboat crew set out in a rowing boat to to the rescue. They managed to rescue 25 of the men, putting their own lives at risk in the process. Five trawler men died and were buried in the churchyard at Howick. 

A centenary of the event was held in 2013, attended by descendants of both the trawler men and the rescue crew. We found at our house a lovely little book telling the whole story. One bit that amused us was the fact that Countess Grey of Howick Hall had a French maid, who acted as interpreter during the rescue. 

I liked this photo for the way it shows so many layers and colours in the rocks, but the important thing is that ‘bit of rock’ sticking out. That is actually the boiler of the Tadorne, still standing there, after a century of being battered by the waves - a reminder of the danger of the North Sea and the bravery of the men who put their own lives at risk to rescue mariners in distress.