Wreck

When the tide goes out at Berrow, near Burnham-On-Sea, the bones of a long dead ship stick out of the sands as a stark reminder of a savage gale and a gallant rescue at the end of the last century.

 

It all started during the first days of March 1897 when a howling south westerly gale swept up the Bristol Channel, bringing with it high seas, driving snow and sleet.

 

Many ships soon found themselves in distress, among them the Norwegian barque SS Nornen which had tried out to ride out the storm in the lee of the Lundy Roads but had found her anchors dragging. She was being driven towards Berrow mud flats. The crew desperately tied to save her, but were fighting a losing cause.

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Uploaded on May 30, 2014
Taken on May 30, 2014