COCKLES & COURAGE
For over a century the cockle boats of Leigh-on-Sea have brought shellfish ashore for our delectation, but in 1940 six doughty vessels, including the recently restored Endeavour, joined the heroic mission to bring home stranded troops from Dunkirk
How cockle boats from Essex played their part in one of history’s most famous rescues – at Dunkirk in 1940
Thirty miles from London, the quaint Essex fishing town of Leigh-on-Sea sits on the northern bank of the Thames Estuary. To the west, Hadleigh Castle, with its ancient presence, watches over the shoreline and the small boats on mud moorings, while across the estuary roll the Kentish hills, often disappearing behind a heavy fog, especially in the cooler months. Dotted with wooden cockle sheds, vessels and World War II pillboxes, the town has a palpable sense of place and history.
The coast is integral to Leigh-on-Sea’s character and, during the 19th century, proximity to the capital allowed the local fishing industry to boom – the catch varying over the years from shrimp to cockles to whitebait to oysters. Since the early 20th century, cockles have been the main shellfish harvested from the Thames Estuary and the town’s leading fishing family remain the Osbornes, who established their seafood company, Osborne Bros, in 1880.
COLLECTING COCKLES
In those days, wooden cockle boats were sailed into the estuary and anchored until the tide lowered. Then, men would jump overboard onto the sandbanks and silt to rake cockles from the seabed by hand. Cocklers would return to shore and, using a yoke (a long wooden beam held across the shoulders), would
carry baskets of cockles from the boats to cockle sheds where they were steamed and the meat separated from the shells by a sieve. This process was repeated all year round. With the exception of bad weather, the work was not excessively dangerous, however, caution was taken as most fishermen at this time never learnt to swim. The Osborne family still run a successful seaside café and fishmongers opposite their current cockle boat mooring.
Sally Osborne, from the fifth generation of the family, explains how cockles are fished using a dredge today. Ten tonnes of cockles can be fished in just three hours, the quota permitted by the Kent & Essex Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority, which decides when and where cockles can be fished in the estuary. She stresses that sustainability is paramount in today’s cockling industry and that cockles are only fished between June and October. They are still prepared for consumption by steam and sieve, though the equipment has had an upgrade.
BRAVE BOATS
In Leigh-on-Sea’s fishing history, it’s a team of six early 20th century cockle boats that are best remembered: Defender, Endeavour, Letitia, Reliant, Renown and Resolute. They were modest 36ft long wooden boats – called ‘boiler boats’ and later ‘bawleys’ as seafood was cooked using boilers – with a hold for cockles and very little protection on deck. Endeavour was built in 1926 by Cole & Wiggins and was the first cockle boat to be built with an auxiliary engine, marking the transition between fishing under sail and engine power. Come 1940, one year into World War II, the cargo was about to change from cockles to men, when they joined Operation Dynamo, the Admiralty’s ambitious plan to evacuate British and French troops stranded on the beaches of Dunkirk in Northern France.
In May 1940, Prime Minister Winston Churchill commanded small and commercial boats to leave the safety of England’s southern shores to help collect as many stranded soldiers as possible. Just after noon on 31 May, local Leighon-Sea fishermen jumped aboard the six cockle boats, sailing 30 miles across the Channel to become part of the legendary 850-strong flotilla of Dunkirk Little Ships – only one of the cockle boat crews had gone beyond Ramsgate before.
That evening, the Leigh-on-Sea cockle boats rescued many hundreds of men, ferrying them to larger vessels in a hellish environment. Later that night, on the homeward journey, Renown developed an engine problem and had to be towed home by Letitia. Suddenly, at around 2am on 1 June, there was a mighty explosion caused by a sea mine and Renown was reduced to splinters of wood. All Arthur Dench, Letitia’s skipper, could do was pull in the tow-rope. Tragically, Renown’s crew of four died in the explosion, including two of the Osborne family. These brave men are commemorated in an annual service that takes place on 1 June, while a memorial in St Clement’s
Churchyard is a permanent tribute to their courage. Operation Dynamo saved a total of 338,226 men from certain death.
A VESSEL SAVED
After World War II, the remaining cockle boats returned to work, with some fading into obscurity. Local fisherman Peter Wexham began fishing on Endeavour in 1960 after she’d been converted into a shrimp boat in 1952. As brown shrimps began to disappear from the Thames Estuary by 1970, the trade shrank and Endeavour eventually ended up in Chatham dockyard in Kent. When the Great Storm of 1987 hit southern England, it damaged this old and weak vessel, causing her to sink.
Thankfully, the story didn’t end there. Early in 2001, a group of Leigh-on-Sea locals, including Peter Wexham, heard news that Resolute was in a boatyard in Kent. They immediately set out to assess her condition but when they arrived, they found Endeavour, risen like the phoenix. She was in a bad way but the group of locals bought her for just £1, determined to restore her to seaworthy condition. In July 2001, a public meeting about Endeavour’s future resulted in the formation of The Endeavour Trust and a £100,000 restoration project began.
Two highly experienced boat restorers, Brian Kennell and Shaun White, undertook most of the work, assisted by Trust members. As much of the original timber as possible was retained, supplemented with new oak, opepe for the keel, pine, iroko, Douglas fir and larch. Volunteers oiled the new oak, and completely new spars, sails and rigging were made. A new engine and electrics were fitted. In 2005, Endeavour underwent a detailed survey and was deemed ready to sail, with surveyors noting that ‘the work has been carried out to a very high standard’. She returned to Leigh-on-Sea, where she was painted in her original colours – Shannon green for the hull and red anti-slip decks.
Beautifully maintained today, the vintage cockle boat, along with fellow survivor Letitia, is part of The Association of Dunkirk Little Ships and recently starred in Dunkirk, the 2017 Warner Bros blockbuster movie written and directed by Christopher Nolan. The Endeavour Trust uses its little ship to encourage young people to engage with sailing and Leigh-on-Sea’s maritime history. Educational parties are taken out to experience the way cockling was undertaken in the past and to learn about Operation Dynamo. Rob Everitt of The Endeavour Trust couldn’t put it any better when he says: ‘Stepping onto Endeavour is stepping into Leigh-onSea’s history.’
‘That evening, the Leigh-on-Sea cockle boats rescued many hundreds
of men, ferrying them to larger vessels in a hellish environment’