Category: Caister-on-Sea

This monument, which is located in the East and West Caister Village Cemetery was listed in 2018 and it marks the events of 13 November 1901. This was one of the darkest days for the RNLI in their history, with nine crew members losing their lives when trying to aid a vessel in distress. The Beauchamp lifeboat had been brought into service in 1892, named after the family of one of the main donors, Sir Reginald Proctor Beauchamp. During its period of operation it had been launched 81 times, and after the tragedy it was salvaged and sent to Great Yarmouth for repair. However, the local men said that they didn’t want to use the boat in future, which was agreed and the boat never saw service again. Within five weeks though, a new crew had been formed, a truly brave endeavour.

This memorial was unveiled on Tuesday 30 June 1903 by Colonel Diver, who was then the Mayor of Great Yarmouth. Public subscription had raised over £12,000, a huge sum of money for the time, with the sculpture being designed and executed by J Whitehead & Sons of 74, Rochester Row in Westminster, London. The memorial stands twenty feet high and the base is made from Carrara marble with the top section showing an anchor, a lifebuoy, a boat’s rudder, broken oars and ropes.

The replacement lifeboat had also arrived in Caister a few weeks before, enabling the crew to keep on assisting shipping in the area.

An early image of the monument, although the railings have since been replaced.

---

And the verse that was sung after the tragedy, a reminder that they ‘Never Turn Back’.

WHAT is this we have done?

Why, our duty, and nothing more—

Our sons will do it again, as their fathers have done before. It is not for the sake of bragging ; we are sailors, one and all— They signalled peril out yonder, and we—we answered the call;

For in face of the storm, in face of the wind, in face of the rising flood, We Caister men never turn back. For why?

It is not in the blood.

Aye, the tempest was raging awful, and the foam flew high on the sands, And the wind and the tide were mocking the weakness of willing hands ;

But we launched the boat for all that (God help the poor children and wives!)

For the noblest duty of man is the salvage of human lives. Then out on the hungry breakers, where the skies were inky black, our boat seemed swallowed by darkness—she went and she never turned back;

And we waited, and watched, and waited all night in the riving foam, Till the dawn broke on orphaned children, and the wreck of the widowed home.

Aye, sir, I am an old man, and in speaking the tears will start;

But them words is the voice of Nature—they spring up straight from the heart— And I says them again, as our Caister men would say with their last breath,

Though the flare on the sands out yonder might light them on to death

For in face of the storm, in face of the wind, in face of the rising flood, Our Caister men never turn back—for why ?

It is not in the blood!

I have fought in a hundred fights when battling with the sea, They are gone, the young and strong ones, but to live in our memory;

Here they sleep by the wind-swept shore to the dirge of the moaning waves, And the Country’s tears are the blossoms let fall on the Caister graves.

They say that the sea is cruel; they may be right or wrong— It is not for us to think—we are bound to be hale and strong. *Aye, sir, I’ve paid my tribute, and I humbly bows my head;

But I keep a good lookout to seaward, for the sake of them that is dead. Aye, I’m proud of our Caister manhood, I’m proud of such acts of love, When I think of the names recorded in the Log Book up above;

And I’m proud of the words you quote, in the name of myself and crew, But not because I spoke them, but because them words is true!

For in face of the storm, in face of the wind, in face of the rising flood, We Caister men never turn back. For why?

It is not in the blood!

It was a breezy morning on the coastline today and it’s also been a notorious area over the centuries for shipping. As early as 1794, the Caister Beach Company established an operation here to salvage wrecked ships and to assist any seaman who needed help. This was part a charitable effort and part an attempt to make money from the salvage, but it was a useful service. A lifeboat was introduced here in 1845 and it was taken over by the RNLI in 1857.

Controversy hit in 1969, when the RNLI decided that they’d close down the lifeboat station here as their new craft at Great Yarmouth was considered powerful enough to cover this part of the coast as well. This wasn’t a decision that was universally supported, so the Caister Men decided that they’d just set up their own independent lifeboat service. When I say “wasn’t universally supported”, there were a lot of angry people. The fishermen of Great Yarmouth made a formal complaint to the Queen, and indeed numerous other people, and Buckingham Palace got drawn into the debate, albeit saying that it wasn’t something that they could intervene on.

Much of the history of this lifeboat station is included on this useful sign (clicking on the image should make it a readable size). The most surprising paragraph to me was:

“The loss of life along the East Anglia Coast was a national disgrace. With 14 major sandbanks, the terrible weather and the poor maintenance of the vessels all taking their toll on shipping. In one 10 year period, 9991 ships were recorded as lost between the Humber and Southwold, a 62 mile stretch of sea. This averages 1000 ships per year, or 20 ships a week”.

This is the new lifeboat station and there are today two boats, the Fred Dyble II which is an inshore lifeboat, and the Bernard Matthews II which is an offshore lifeboat.

This is the older lifeboat station, from the side.

And from the front. It would have been from here that James Haylett (1825-1907) would have stood watching on 13 November 1901, when a ship was in trouble on the sandbanks. James was a retired lifeboatman who had served the lifeboats for a generation and his two sons and grandson were on the RNLI boat, the Beauchamp, that was being despatched to help. It was an enormous struggle to get the lifeboat into the sea and the conditions were so bad that the Beauchamp hit the beach and capsized, trapping many of the men. Nine men died that night from the Caister team, including two of James’s sons, his son-in-law and his grandson.

In the inquest into the tragedy, Haylett said when asked if the lifeboatmen might have been returning, “they would never give up the ship. If they had to keep at it ’til now, they would have sailed about until daylight to help her. Going back is against the rules when we see distress signals like that”. This was reported as “never turn back” which has become a well known saying within the lifeboat service and Caister has a pub with that name.

The lifeboat’s web-site notes that they have saved 392 lives, which is some considerable achievement. They’ve been proudly supported by the community, or at least, by nearly all the community. Some idiot tried to set fire to their building in March 2020, but fortunately a member of crew looking for a lost dog spotted the culprits and no major damage was done. It is possible, during more normal times, to go inside the sheds to see the boats and some historic exhibits.

Usually the word ‘brilliant’ or similar often seems to be a lie in food venue names, there’s something more reliable in ‘Dave’s chips‘ which just seems more down to earth. But, there was a lot going for this fish and chip shop, primarily that it’s the best rated in Caister-on-Sea and there is plenty of competition for that in this holiday location (not that there are many holiday makers here at the moment). It was also the chip shop that had the longest queue outside and since I’m British and really quite like queueing (it provides that sense of order that I like) I opted for this one.

I think that it’s cash only, but the whole arrangement inside the shop felt like someone sensible had arranged it. It was clear where to stand, where to wait, where to pay, where to get salt and so on, avoiding the need for me to stand looking awkward in the wrong part of the shop. I applaud intelligent design, not least because I get slightly annoyed when idiots try and take charge of this sort of arrangement.

The service was friendly, engaging and welcoming, all of which were managed despite them being busy. I had rushed along here at 11:32, giving just enough time for the shop to get themselves ready having opened at 11:30. I don’t want the awkwardness of trying to get in a door that isn’t yet open, so I like to give them a bit more time as it feels a little demanding turning up the minute that they open. Not that this was a problem here, half of the east coast had descended on the shop, so they were fully in action despite the relatively early hour.

I went for a small battered sausage and medium chips, which came to the agreeable price of £3.20. I forgot to ask for scraps, but the lovely staff member asked if I wanted any, a pro-active style of service that I was inwardly delighted by. Fortunately, my order was simple and was prepared immediately, others with their more decadent orders had to wait outside for them to be prepared.

Moving onto the quality of this little meal, I was entirely delighted. The portion size was too big, but that’s not a complaint, although it did take me some time to get through all the chips. They were also incredibly moreish, which was fortunate as I had so many to get through. I had tomato ketchup (I had purloined this from McDonald’s, I wasn’t splashing money about buying it), but the chips didn’t really need it. I’m not sure that I’ve had such good chips for a very long time, they were a delight alongside the crispy texture of the scraps. The sausage was generous in size, evenly battered and tasted as expected.

I have absolutely no complaints here, I thought my £3.20 was very well spent. Nothing wrong with the sausage, but the chips were the star of this little show for me. I think I’d like to get fish from here as well, but there were seagulls circling overhead whilst I was walking down the road, which are an ever present danger in these places. However, when it’s warmer I can see me taking myself here again. I don’t have a chip shop of the year award, but if I did, this would be leading it this year.

For those who don’t like fish and chips, the shop doesn’t judge, as they’ve also got a burger menu with quite a choice, as well as selling chicken and pies. It’s not the largest place (no pun intended), so this menu size is quite ambitious, but the reviews suggest that they’ve been getting it right.

Very lovely.