Steeped in the fishing tradition
OUR charming photograph shows Cullercoats cobles, painted and renovated in readiness for the salmon fishing season.
The scene was captured on this day in 1934 – exactly 85 years ago.
The Tyneside coastal town remains synonymous with the fishing industry and the sea.
Life was hard, and the Cullercoats fish lass became a popular subject for the burgeoning Cullercoats artist colony. One of the most notable of these artists, Winslow Homer, took up residence in Cullercoats in the late 19th century. He depicted fishwives many times, hard at work and poignantly waiting for their men to return from sea.
Cullercoats’ early years saw it involved in the salt and coal industries. The salt industry thrived with salt pans all around the bay. The high demand for salt as a preservative saw a new pier in place by the end of the 17th century.
The pier also allowed the transportation of coal by sea and, with the coal and salt industries flourishing, Cullercoats was one of the busiest ports on the North East coast, until the emergence of the railways in the late-1800s took business elsewhere.
This left fishing as the main industry and two piers were built on either side of the harbour to provide shelter for the many open-top fishing vessels, or cobles, launched from there.
The area has a strong lifeboat tradition. In 1848, a coble taking a pilot to a ship further out at sea capsized with the loss of all on board. In response to this disaster the local landowner, the Duke of Northumberland, funded the setting up of a lifeboat station in Cullercoats.
The award-winning station remains a vital asset in 2019.