Vintage Views with Aled Jones: A postcard of the Yorkshireman
One of Bridlington’s best loved steamers, Yorkshireman, returns to harbour with a full complement of passengers in August 1954. A twin-screw tug and pleasure boat, she had replaced the last paddle steamer Frenchman in Spring 1928.
The mighty paddle steamers had once dominated English seaside resorts and the earliest recorded one was the Duke of Argyll (later named Thames) at Margate, Kent, which arrived from Scotland in 1815.
Bridlington had a succession of them from the late 1840s onwards. Our first one, called Transit, was built in 1848 for Leith and was 20 metres long, built of wood and weighed 14 tons. She was quickly followed by General Havelock, Esme, Friends and United Kingdom!
These paddle steamers were a beautiful sight along the Yorkshire coast and became the ultimate symbol of Victorian coastal travel and leisure, offering tourists a grand, romantic escape onto the North Sea.
Yorkshireman had been launched at Earle’s Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Ltd. on the Humber and arrived in Bridlington harbour on May 26, 1928. Her main dimensions were 120 x 27.1 x 8.7 feet with a top speed of 11.2 knots.
Interestingly, she was built with only a 6ft draft forward and after, to facilitate entrance in the harbour at all tide states.
The boat gave a welcome party on August 4, 1928. She anchored 500 yards from the pier and 100 guests enjoyed a dance from 9pm. She was lit up by hundreds of fairy lamps and the merriment was heard on the piers and seafront!
She was the biggest sea-going vessel working from our resort at that time and gave such an impression of power and strength to the multitudes who sailed on her.
The iconic boat was known for her mahogany-panelled saloon and polished brass fittings.
She also had a heart of gold. During an incredible day in June 1953, the Yorkshireman towed a whale to sea that had become stranded on the South Beach.
The postcard shows the boat in her final month at Bridlington before she sailed out of the harbour into the bay for the last time, a huge loss to the town.
Gladys posted the card to Otley Road, Bradford, on August 13, 1954. “We went dancing last night to the Spa. This morning we went to the Harbour where the ‘Yorkshireman’ was in dock. We are going to go for a trip to Scarborough tomorrow on her.”