The Yorkshire Belle in Bridlington Harbour after a pleasure cruise | |
History | |
---|---|
Name | MV Yorkshire Belle |
Builder | Cook, Welton & Gemmell Ltd |
Launched | 1947 |
General characteristics | |
Tonnage | 70 tonnes (69 long tons; 77 short tons) |
Length | 79 feet (24 m) |
Beam | 20 feet (6.1 m) |
Installed power | Diesel |
Propulsion | Motor |
The MV Yorkshire Belle is a pleasure cruiser based in Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. [1] She was built by Cook, Welton & Gemmell as a replacement for the original Yorkshire Belle, that was lost in the Humber estuary during the Second World War after hitting a magnetic mine, sinking with all hands. [2] She was part owned by the Pockley family who ran a syndicate for business purposes that included local people. John Cross Pockley, known as ‘Jack’ skippered her between 1947 and 1973. Yorkshire Belle became renowned within the Yorkshire district.
Yorkshire Belle weighs 70 tonnes (69 long tons; 77 short tons) gross and has a length of over 79 feet (24 m), a breadth of nearly 20 feet (6 m) and a depth of 5 feet 7 inches (1.7 m). With two eight-cylinder Gardner engines each giving 152 hp she can carry up to 198 passengers. The ship was fitted out with her diesel engines in 1951 and is the last of six pleasure boats from Bridlington that operated between the 1920s and the 1950s. [3]
She is fully licensed with a lounge bar and is equipped with a public commentary system for pleasure cruises and sightseeing tours along Flamborough Head and the Yorkshire coast. [4] As well as cruises to Flamborough Head, there are also special extended cruises to the Bempton Cliffs RSPB reserve offering close-up views of the cliffs, lighthouse and caves. [5]
She was bought in 1982 by her current owner Mr Peter Richardson, [3] who complained in 2007 about the UK's implementation of EU law restricting the Yorkshire Belle from sailing to Scarborough from Bridlington. Under the EU ruling, trips for Class C vessels were not allowed to go more than 15 miles (24 km) from a point of refuge, but the UK implemented it as no more than that distance from their home port. Richardson stated that the ship had regularly sailed between the two Yorkshire ports for the a period of 15 years up until the ruling. [6]
In 2008, she won Winner of The Sunday Times Best Boat Trip in Britain and was highly commended in the Remarkable East Yorkshire Tourism Awards for 2017. [7]
The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to the south-west, and Lincolnshire to the south across the Humber Estuary. The city of Kingston upon Hull is the largest settlement.
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is on the Yorkshire Coast at the mouth of the River Esk. It has a maritime, mineral and tourist economy. The fishing port emerged during the Middle Ages, supporting important herring and whaling fleets, and was where Captain Cook learned seamanship and, coincidentally, where his first vessel to explore the southern ocean, HMS Endeavour, was built. Jet and alum were mined locally, and Whitby jet, which was mined by the Romans and Victorians, became fashionable during the 19th century.
The Yorkshire Wolds are hills in the counties of the East Riding of Yorkshire and North Yorkshire in Northern England. They are the northernmost chalk hills in the UK and within lies the northernmost chalk stream in Europe, the Gypsey Race.
Flamborough Head is a promontory, 8 miles (13 km) long on the Yorkshire coast of England, between the Filey and Bridlington bays of the North Sea. It is a chalk headland, with sheer white cliffs. The cliff top has two standing lighthouse towers, the oldest dating from 1669 and Flamborough Head Lighthouse built in 1806. The older lighthouse was designated a Grade II* listed building in 1952 and is now recorded in the National Heritage List for England, maintained by Historic England. The cliffs provide nesting sites for many thousands of seabirds, and are of international significance for their geology.
Bridlington is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is on the Holderness part of the Yorkshire Coast by the North Sea. The town is about 28 miles (45 km) north of Hull and 34 miles (55 km) east of York. The stream called Gypsey Race flows through the town and enters the North Sea at the harbour.
Bempton Cliffs is a section of precipitous coast at Bempton in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is run by the RSPB as a nature reserve and is known for its breeding seabirds, including northern gannet, Atlantic puffin, razorbill, common guillemot, black-legged kittiwake and fulmar. There is a visitor centre.
Flamborough is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately 4 miles (6 km) north-east of Bridlington town centre on the prominent coastal feature of Flamborough Head.
Buckton is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Bempton, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is near the North Sea coast, and about 4 miles (6 km) north of Bridlington. It lies on the B1229 road. In 1931 the parish had a population of 174.
Bempton is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, near the border with North Yorkshire. It is near the North Sea coast and Flamborough Head, and is situated about 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Bridlington. It lies on the B1229 road between Speeton and Flamborough. It is served by Bempton railway station which is on the Yorkshire Coast Line that runs between Hull and Scarborough.
The MV Karina is a single screw passenger vessel, which formerly operated from Douglas, Isle of Man for the Laxey Towing Company. She operated on a selection of cruises along the Manx coast. She is registered on the National Register of Historic Vessels, certificate number 1893.
Flamborough Head Lighthouse is an active lighthouse located at Flamborough, East Riding of Yorkshire. England. Flamborough Head Lighthouse acts as a waypoint for passing deep sea vessels and coastal traffic, and marks Flamborough Head for vessels heading towards Scarborough and Bridlington.
Tower Belle is a passenger boat based in Bristol Harbour in England. The vessel is operated by the Bristol Packet Boat Trips company on pleasure and educational trips in the City Docks, on the River Avon to the Chequers Inn at Hanham Lock and Beese's Tea Gardens at Conham. Tower Belle was built in 1920 in Newcastle upon Tyne by Armstrong Whitworth, originally known as Wincomblee. In the 1950s and 1960s she worked in London, finally coming to Bristol in 1976.
The MV Regal Lady is a 1930 built steel passenger boat moored at the port of Scarborough, North Yorkshire. She is a National Historic Ship, owned and preserved by Scarborough Pleasure Steamers. The ship participated in Operation Dynamo at Dunkirk, was decommissioned in 1946, and in 1954 was moved to Scarborough and renamed from Oulton Belle to its current name.
The Yorkshire Coast runs from the Tees estuary to the Humber estuary, on the east coast of England. The cliffs at Boulby are the highest on the east coast of England, rising to 660 feet (200 m) above the sea level.
Flamborough Lifeboat Station is a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) lifeboat station located at Flamborough in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. There used to be two lifeboat stations at Flamborough; one on the north side of Flamborough Head, and on one the south side. Since 1993, the village has just one lifeboat station on the southern side of Flamborough Head. The station operates a B-class Inshore Lifeboat Elizabeth Jane Palmer (B-820).
Bridlington Lifeboat Station is a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) lifeboat station based in Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Having been instituted in 1805, it is the oldest working RNLI lifeboat location in the Yorkshire and the Humber region.
Filey Lifeboat Station is a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) lifeboat station located in the town of Filey, North Yorkshire, England. It is one of eight operational RNLI lifeboat stations situated on the Yorkshire Coast.
Royal Air Force Bridlington, or more simply RAF Bridlington, was a Royal Air Force station located in Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, between 1929 and 1978. Several units operated at Bridlington, Air Gunnery Schools, Initial Training Wings, and an Air Sea Rescue launch unit, but the longest occupier, was No. 1104 Marine Craft Unit (MCU). The station consisted of various buildings across the town that were requisitioned for RAF use before and during the Second World War. Outside of this time, the RAF presence was mostly in the harbour area and as it was such a small unit, No. 1104 MCU was looked after by other RAF Stations nearby.
The Yorkshire coast fishery has long been part of the Yorkshire economy for centuries. The 114-mile (183 km) Yorkshire Coast, from the River Tees to the Humber estuary, has many ports both small and large where the fishing trade thrives. The historic ports at Hull and Whitby are important locations for the landing and processing of fish and shellfish. Scarborough and Bridlington are also sites of commercial fishing.
Bent Rigg Radar Station,, was a radar site located at Bent Rigg, 0.6 miles (1 km) south of Ravenscar, North Yorkshire, England. Several radar stations had been located in the Ravenscar area from 1938, but a more permanent site was built at Bent Rigg in 1941, which was crewed by technicians and other staff from the Royal Air Force. Bent Rigg, and the wider location around Ravenscar, was deemed "attractive" for the siting of long-range finding equipment. It was originally part of the Coastal Defence/Chain Home Low (CD/CHL) system, designed to detect shipping. Later, it was upgraded with more powerful equipment as part of the Chain Home Extra Low (CHEL). The last recorded use of the station was in September 1944, and it is believed that the site closed soon afterwards.