The UK’s oldest working fishing boat (in the over 10m category) was taken out of commission in February 2009. She is the Sovereign. Members of the North East Maritime Trust have taken a keen interest in her over the last five years and have been able to save her now that former owner Keith Alexander has been able to replace her with a newer, smaller boat.
Sovereign was built by Wilson Noble in Fraserburgh back in 1936 for a Newhaven (Edinburgh) fisherman called Tom Hall. At that time she carried the fisheries registration no, LH171. During the war she was called up for naval service and subsequently fished out of Seahouses as no. BK29. Whilst there, she was owned by members of the Dawson family. In about 1955 her original Kelvin 66 engine was removed by the local boatbuilder, also called Dawson, and this was replaced by a Gardner 6LW engine, the engine which is still powering the vessel to this day. She was sold from Seahouses before 1960 to a new owner in Port Seton, believed to be a G. Brown. At this time the number was changed to LH368. Mr Brown sold her to Peter Greig at the same port. After this the history is less clear. It is likely she was sold to Hartlepool as she was given a Hartlepool registration, HL165, which she carried for the rest of her working days. By the late 1960s she was based in North Shields and has since been in the care of members of the Woods and Alexander families. She is a remarkable survival, being little altered in 72 years of hard work. This is a tribute to the care bestowed by the late Chester Woods and more recently by Keith Alexander.
Sovereign was not built as a trawler; in fact there were very few fishing boats trawling before the 1960s. She was fitted with a type of winch to suit trawling at some time, having previously worked as a ring netter and a seine netter. The term “trawler” has become almost synonymous with fishing boat in modern times though the term is a description of the method of fishing now in common use, usually using a net scraping the seabed. Ring netting and seine netting were types of fishing that required skill in seeking the fish and trapping them; these methods did no damage to the seabed but were more labour intensive than modern trawling.
The vessel is now in St Peters Basin, Newcastle, awaiting restoration, and sitting comfortably next to the restored fishing vessels Rachel Douglas and Favourite.
When funds permit, she will go down to South Shields for restoration under the supervision of Fred Crowell, the area’s last wooden boatbuilder.
Sovereign is in the ownership of our associate body: Northumbrian Fishing Heritage Trust.
She is registered on the National Register of Historic Vessels, certificate no. 164.
Sovereign is normally moored in St Peters Basin Newcastle when not touring.
Tags: Keelboat