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THE WRECK

MetadataFramesRelated records
Metadata

WORK ID: NEFA 21712 (Master Record)

TitleYearDate
THE WRECK1960 1960-01-01
Details Original Format: Standard 8
Colour: Colour
Sound: Silent
Duration: 5 mins 42 secs
Credits: Individual: Austen McOlvin Laws
Genre: Home Movie

Subject: Ships
Industry



Summary
A home movie by Austen McOlvin Laws of the shipwreck of the MV Yewglen, which ran aground off Beadnell Point in Northumberland on the 27th February 1960. Filmed between February and October of that year, the films shows the ship after the initial disaster, with people looking over the wreck plus high winds and waves crashing over the vessel causing ...
Description
A home movie by Austen McOlvin Laws of the shipwreck of the MV Yewglen, which ran aground off Beadnell Point in Northumberland on the 27th February 1960. Filmed between February and October of that year, the films shows the ship after the initial disaster, with people looking over the wreck plus high winds and waves crashing over the vessel causing the bow section to come away. The final part of the film in October shows the now rusting vessel plus debris now strewn along the shoreline. The...
A home movie by Austen McOlvin Laws of the shipwreck of the MV Yewglen, which ran aground off Beadnell Point in Northumberland on the 27th February 1960. Filmed between February and October of that year, the films shows the ship after the initial disaster, with people looking over the wreck plus high winds and waves crashing over the vessel causing the bow section to come away. The final part of the film in October shows the now rusting vessel plus debris now strewn along the shoreline. The film begins with general views showing the cargo ship MV Yewglen aground off Beadnall Point. Along the shoreline beside the Yewglen, people walk around looking at the stranded boat. Along a quayside a small girl in a red jacket and headscarf throws stones into the water. The film cuts to show the girl walking along the shoreline near to the Yewglen. With the tide coming in a view of the Yewglen shows the bow section missing. A crowd gathers watching the waves crash against the shoreline as well as the cargo ship. In the water beside them is the missing bow section bobbing up and down. A red lorry arrives driving along the rocky shoreline. General views show waves crashing against the stern section of the Yewglen and the bow in the water close by. The film cuts to show a rowing boat plus debris from the Yewglen washed up on the rocks. In the distance the stern section can clearly be seen to be badly damaged and rusted. A woman walks along the shoreline and points out the wreck. More close up views of the rusting ship follow. The film ends with the woman walking away from the wreck past large pieces of rusty debris.
Context
A ship’s watery graveyard at Beadnell Point The beautiful melancholy of a shipwreck off Ebbe’s Snook, Northumberland. One foggy morning off Ebbe’s Snook on 29 February 1960, loaded with lime and cement, the Glasgow-built coaster Yewglen ran aground on the perilous rocks after a navigational error whilst the captain slept. Locals and visitors are fascinated by the storm-savaged shipwreck, flotsam scattering on the shoreline. Abandoned, the rusting hulk remained an alluring landmark on the...
A ship’s watery graveyard at Beadnell Point

The beautiful melancholy of a shipwreck off Ebbe’s Snook, Northumberland.

One foggy morning off Ebbe’s Snook on 29 February 1960, loaded with lime and cement, the Glasgow-built coaster Yewglen ran aground on the perilous rocks after a navigational error whilst the captain slept. Locals and visitors are fascinated by the storm-savaged shipwreck, flotsam scattering on the shoreline. Abandoned, the rusting hulk remained an alluring landmark on the Northumbrian coastline at Beadnell Point for months to come.

The nuts and bolts of the Yewglen are still embedded in the rocky reefs and sea bed near Beadnell Point more than 50 years after the stranded wreck was recorded by keen photographer and amateur filmmaker Austen McOlvin Laws on trips to the Northumbrian coast with his family between February and October 1960. Born in 1908 and brought up in Sunderland, Laws studied pharmacy and opened a chemists and photography shop on Benton Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, in 1937, combining business with pleasure for 50 years.
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