The wreck of the Ragna

With visiting friends we went to a windswept St David's and after eating lunch in a hurricane visited a  small exhibition of recent artwork by  Warren Heaton about the Christmas 1901 shipwreck of a Norwegian  vessel off Aberfelin, a tiny coastal settlement on the north coast of Pembrokeshire.

The 655 ton Norwegian wooden barque was carrying a cargo of coal and coke from Cardiff to Brazil when she was caught in a gale and blown off course. She hit rocks on the coast of North Pembrokeshire and foundered in Aberfelin bay, despite the local peoples' efforts to direct her to safe anchorage. Three of the crew of twelve died  but local men and women managed to drag the rest from the  waves and they took them into their homes to look after them. With seafaring and fishing the predominant occupations for men they knew that life on the ocean wave frequently ended in death too. Most families would have experienced the loss of friends and relations at sea, often with no body to bury. As it was, the three drowned sailors from the Ragna were buried in a local cemetery and subsequently provided with a fitting memorial. [NB Slow to load]

The large, four-panel painting* shows sailors being pulled from the water by local men and women who were equally praised for their courage, care and hospitality. It was by no means a unique event on this rugged coastline but one that has been rendered especially vivid by this creative endeavour.

*Somewhat incompletely collaged by me here.

https://www.pembrokeshirecoast.wales/event/st-davids-room-the-wreck-of-the-ragna-by-warren-heaton/2023-07-16/

Extra: St David's panorama