File:Beverley Shipyard c1900s (Archive ref PO-1-14-218) (37983547461).jpg

English: Beverley Shipyard c.1900’s.

There are indications that shipbuilding was carried out in the Minster Town of Beverley as long ago as the twelfth century. The firm of Cook, Welton and Gemmell was founded in Hull in 1882 on a site known locally as ‘Sammy’s Point’ by William Gemmell and two other colleagues from the then famous Earles Shipyard of Hull. The site was known locally as ‘Sammy’s Point’ and was formerly occupied by the Garrison of Hull. The first vessel which the newly established firm constructed was the ‘Precursor’, a 90ft. steam smack and one of the earliest powered fishing vessels ever built. The firm then bought the Beverley yard at Grovehill in 1901-1902. In the period between the two World Wars, they produced many notable steam trawlers, tugs and coasters. At the outbreak of World War Two, the Company had completed about a thousand ships, and even the Admiralty approached them for assistance in the design of craft to meet the menace of mine and u-boat. The image shows the ship ‘Vera’ being launched sideways into Beverley Beck, c.1900’s. They were taken over by C.D.Holmes in 1963. You can now buy a high quality print of this image from www.picturearchives.org/eastridingphotos/scene-at-shipyar...

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