Berwick Shipyard through the
Over the years Berwick Shipyard featured in the work of a number of
artists the most celebrated of whom was Salford-born L.S. Lowry (1887
– 1976). A frequent visitor to the town from the 1930's. Lowry drew and
painted a number of Berwick scenes during his visits to Berwick when
he stayed at the Castle Hotel. These included a small pencil drawing of
Berwick harbour featuring the shipyard. This image was reproduced in
a leaflet produced by Visit Berwick for a 2014 exhibition. The drawing,
in Lowry’s characteristic style, shows the considerable use of artistic
licence in terms of perspective and representation of the subject.
(Click link to view).
The prominent position of the shipyard meant that it was often
included in scenes painted from the Tweedmouth side of the river.
Shipbuilding at the yard can be seen in works by Berwick-born William
Fergie (1893 - 1971).
Fergie was employed as a timekeeper at a shipyard on Tyneside
becoming a professional artist on his retirement working mainly in
watercolours. The works shown above and on the right are
watercolours painted in the mid-60's looking towards Berwick from
Dock Road, Tweedmouth. They show the outline of vessels on the
stocks and the unmistakable shape of the shipyard crane that was to
dominate the view of the quayside.
Charles Longbotham (1917 - 1999) was a regular exhibitor at the Royal
Watercolour Society and the Royal Society of Marine Artists becoming a
full member of the former in 1974. After leaving school at the age of
15 he joined the Merchant Navy and saw service in the Second World
War with the Royal Naval Reserve where he served as navigating
officer on anti-sumarine trawlers.
As well as an accomplished artist Charles Longbotham was also a
professional model-maker who built more than 700 models from his
studio in Ealing. His commissions included models for the Festival of
Britain, the 1957 Brussels World Fair, the rebuilding of Coventry
Cathedral and Addenbrooke's hospital. He also assisted with design
work on the QE2 building models that were used in wind tunnel
testing. Models of the ship were later built for Cunard and were
displayed in London and New York.
In this picture, painted from Berwick Quayside in 1965, two vessels
can be seen under construction. The vessel in the centre of the picture
is the long line fishing vessel Pakeina built for Tonga.
Fred Stott was born in Woolmarket in 1910 and counted as one of his
influences his fellow Berwicker Frank Watson Wood (1862 - 1953) who
was to gain international fame as a marine artist specialising in
paintings of Royal Navy vessels.
Fred ran a successful radio and television business in Marygate and
was a member and regular exhibitor at Berwick Art Club. Today, Today,
Fred Stott waterclours are highly sought after and are notable for
their vibrant colours. The painting on the right was completed in the
1970's and shows one of the Tynecraft trawlers under construction.
Craighall, one of the 22 Fair Isle class or ‘Sputnik’ trawlers built at Berwick, is
represented in a detailed pencil drawing by Letterkenny-born marine artist and author
John Baird (b.1948). A self-taught artist, John worked on coasters and his passion for
ships and the sea is evident through the close attention to detail that is a characteristic
of his work. Over the years John's work has featured in various exhibitions and
publications. John is the author of The Port: A Short Illustrated History of Port
Ballyraine, Letterkenny that was published in 2002.
Artworks and images of vessels built in the 19th century are rare. The Beacon Museum
at Whitehaven does however, have a painting of the barquentine Emily Burnyeat in its
collection. The vessel was built by A.B. Gowan in 1862 and the painting is an example
of what is known as ‘pierhead art’. The image can be viewed here.