| |
|
| Our
History - 'Sea View' and
St. Abbs
|
'Sea view' -
Our house
was built in 1880 as a
Fisherman's house, as were most of the similar houses built in Briery
Law at approximately the same time.
Each one
had a small building attached to the main house especially for the storing and repairing of fishing nets.
However, during the 1900's the
enterprising fishermen and their families would move themselves into the net store for the summer months. |
|
|
|
The rear patio at
Sea View - the cottage is on the left |
|
|
Then they would
'let' their houses as a holiday home to the wealthy from
Edinburgh city! |
 |
|
The sandy beach at
Colgingham |
|
St. Abbs - The village
was originally known as 'Coldingham Shore' before it was renamed at the end of the 19th century.
Named after Saint Ebba, who had lived from about 615 to 683AD,
the story is told that in the mid 600's, 'Ebba', a Northumbrian Princess, was landed safely at Coldingham Shore after her boat was caught in a storm in the North Sea. |
| It is presumed she was so grateful for her survival, that she converted to Christianity.
Becoming a nun, Ebba founded the abbey of Coldingham, where she became
the Abbess and eventually a Saint. Her
Abbey was destroyed by fire and never rebuilt; but she was
remembered, if only by the Laird who gave the village her name. Her feast day is August 25th. Although the village,
Coldingham Shore, had long been used by
fishermen to moor their boats, the men and their families living in nearby Coldingham,
so they had to walk to
and from the shore. |
| Only about a mile and a half distance, this
doesn't seem too bad until we realise that the fish they had
caught also had to be carried home and this heavy work was usually
undertaken by their wives
and daughters!
The first house actually built in St. Abbs was 'Rock House' in the
harbour, which was constructed
in the mid 18th century. By 1832 it was recorded that sixteen families
were
living at the Shore (St Abbs). They
were all probably all earning their living as fishermen at the
time and this tradition continues, as Fishing
boats still sail from St Abbs today. |
|
|
|
Rock
House |
|
|
The Lighthouse - There
have been many shipping disasters in the North Sea, some of them
very close to St. Abbs and the rocky coast line so, in 1820, a
Signal Station was established on the cliffs. However, after the
sinking of the 'Martello' on Carr Rock in 1857, the Northern
Lighthouse Board recommended the building of a lighthouse at St.
Abbs Head. |
|
|
The Lighthouse at
St. Abbs Head |
|
The Lighthouse was built and the
lamp first lit 1862. Three resident keepers maintained the lamp
and used oil to generate its light. The lamp was converted to electricity
in 1966 and finally automated in 1993.
In 1876 a fog horn had
been installed at the Head and it was the first audible fog signal
in Scotland. The original foghorn was driven by a hot air engine
before being replaced by oil driven ones in 1911 and then by a
diesel engine in 1955.
|
| The fog signal was discontinued
in 1987 although the horn is still in place and can be reached
at the edge of the cliffs by a railed path from the lighthouse.
The Lifeboat - During
a storm and in dense fog, on the 17th October 1907, the cargo vessel 'Alfred Erlandsen'
struck the Ebb Carr rocks. The Life boats were launched from Eyemouth and
Dunbar and the crews then rowed them for thirteen hours, in appalling
weather, to get to the Ebb Carrs and try to rescue the seventeen sailors on board. Sadly, when
they arrived on the scene they found the ship had gone down and
all the sailors were lost. It was this disaster that prompted a local appeal
by a Miss Jean Hay. She was so very distressed by the loss of
the Erlandsen and all the souls on board, that she repeatedly
appealed to the authorities for a lifeboat to be stationed at St Abbs.
|
|
|
The slipway was built in 1911
and then an RNLI boat was stationed there and kept in the open
at the top of the slipway. The boathouse was built in 1915 and
then in 1964 it was adapted to house a more modern Oakley
class lifeboat.
However, ten years later, the
all-weather lifeboat was withdrawn following the placing of a
new, Waveney Class, 44ft lifeboat at Eyemouth.
An inshore
lifeboat station was then established at St. Abbs, with an
'Atlantic 75' lifeboat. Alistair's son, Paul, is now one of the
three the Coxswains.
|
|
|
|
The
St Abbs Inshore Lifeboat |
|
| The Marine Reserve at St Abbs is
very well known and famous world-wide for divers. Shore diving from the rocks on the outside of the harbour wall is possible, to a depth of about 15 metres and many trainees to do their initial sea dives here. More experienced divers take a boat trip out to various wrecks and well known diving areas off shore. |
|
|
