Being an island nation, the excitement of sailors, shipwrecks, and pirate treasure is buried deep in our national psyche and culture heritage.
In the latest of my things to do at the beach series, the challenge of standing on a shipwreck makes an unusual idea for a family day out, with an out-of-the-ordinary start…
“A foreboding impenetrable fog engulfed our ship as if from nowhere, plunging us into dark isolation amid the raging seas. An ethereal shriek, like the ghoul of some hell-sent seawolf, pierced the gut-wrenching murk, stilling all souls aboard that deckswept ship. During such a storm, weird cries in the night mean only one thing to superstitious sailors; a man overboard. And the end of the ship. As if in answer, that mighty ship groaned and reared. She was going down and both she and her loyal crew knew it…. from land they watched us flounder, drowning men battling the angry surf. The landmen of Howick did their finest, children were sent home and the women, braced to deal with the tragic victims, vowed amongst themselves to ‘pull ourselves together.’ Boulmer lifeboat carried out a brave rescue, saving 25 sailors though 5 poor souls were lost. Their bodies lie at rest in Howick graveyard.” – 29 March 1913*
*The above is my re-telling of the real-life sinking of the French trawler, Tadorne, off the Northumberland coast over 105 years ago. Words in italics are from the actual newspaper report of the day – don’t you just love the women’s comment back then!
The wreck of the Tadorne was a tragic but not uncommon loss – imagine telling your kids such a tale before embarking on your own family adventure to search for a shipwreck?!
Things to Do at The Beach
Spending time at the beach is most children’s (and many adults’) ultimate dream, and though I am definitely a sun-baby, I can’t spend too long just sunbathing. Shipwrecks have a maudlin fascination for me so finding this old wreck to explore on our doorstep ticked all my boxes for excitement, adventure and fun. After a hard morning’s sunbathing of course.
Last year my best friend and her family visited during Caroline’s cancer treatment and we took advantage of a sunny Autumn afternoon to visit the Tadorne shipwreck at low tide, hoping to explore it with the kids.
The Steam Trawler Tadorne
After a short drive to a lay-by car park on the clifftop just outside Howick we trooped down the track to the beach, excited to see how close we could actually get to the wreck.
All that remains of the Tadorne is in fact a large rusty iron boiler. Not as romantic as it sounds in the story but impressive nontheless.
The wreck is quite a distance out to sea at low tide so we tramped over the sand, scrambled over rocks and plodged in shallow rockpools for a couple of hundred metres as the tide slowly came in. (Plodged is currently one of my favourite north-eastern words, along with hinnie and howdie – more another time!)
The children had a great time climbing in between the boiler’s pipes, scary but exciting.
It was pretty rough on their hands but they climbed all over it. It may not look possible but they also managed to squeeze between the pipes and explore the inside of the boiler. Very nerve-wracking for us parents but a wild adventure we had wanted and so a wild adventure we had!
As the tide was rising we headed back to shore to avoid soggy welly meltdowns.
The kids enjoyed a riotous time at the beach, climbing a collapsed sea arch and rockpooling while we enjoyed a cuppa and some cake (we saved some for them, honest)
Please take care at the beach.
Whilst we let the children have free-reign to adventure all over the boiler, there were 4 adults with them at all times and we made sure we were fully aware of the tide times in order to stay safe on our adventure. The tide comes in quickly and a long way, submerging the wreck several metres under water so it could be a very dangerous place to play.
Safety in the Sea
The first two photos in this post above, show the boiler of the Tadorne at low tide when it can be reached and climbed on. The following shot is at mid-tide when it looks like a triangular rocky outcrop, and at high tide there is no sign whatsoever that a wreck or the beach, even exist.
Can you spot the wreck in the right hand shot? Mid-tide & almost submerged
When exploring shipwreck locations remember particularly to check the weather and most importantly check tide times to ensure your wild adventurers stay safe. There are links in my family beach safety guide for these and many other safety suggestions.
For more things to do at the beach check out my beach and ocean pages, where more great days out are being added all the time.
A Shipwreck Near Me?
For ideas and shipwreck spotting locations around the rest of the UK including maps, photos and wrecks on land as well as under water, read my article on school holiday shipwreck seeking.
Share Your Wrecking Tales
I’d love to hear if you have a shipwreck story to tell (hopefully NOT one you were a part of!) – a wreck we could visit, a secret find etc. Let me know on the Facebook page or contact me here on the website.
There’s more outdoor adventure inspiration throughout the website from coasteering to citizen science, picnics to puffins. Let’s get the kids outdoors now!
Books to Read
If you’d rather be an armchair adventurer and read about wrecks by the fire at home, here’s a couple of books and some shipwreck hunting gear in case you’re inspired to go wreck hunting!
Click on the image for Amazon prices.
Treasure Island book
Robinson Crusoe and other stories
Daphne Du Maurier’s Jamaica Inn, about Cornish shipwreckers
The Shipwreck Hunter
Binoculars
That’s really cool and looks lots of fun #countrykids
It was a really fabulous day with great friends. Lots of happy memories
This was an awesome day! The look on their faces is just priceless. Our little adventurers! x
Little adventurers indeed, all down to the parenting of course!! Really glad we got to share it with you all xx
What a great adventure! I would have been nervous about a kiddo getting stuck inside the boiler. Glad they enjoyed it so much. My husband and I dove a wreck in the Florida Keys called Eagle Wreck. It was eerie diving around the submerged ship, 100 feet below the surface of the water. My husband wants to get into wreck diving. It scares me a bit. #countrykids
I’d love to dive to a wreck too, however nerve-wracking. I bet your Florida dive was exciting. Our boiler exploration definitely required some parental nerves of steel to allow the kids their freedom while keeping them safe. Gritted teeth and deep breathing!!
I have never thought of looking for a shipwreck before. Looks like a lovely outing #countrykids
It’s something a bit different for kids, especially on a duller day at the seaside. It’s surprising how many there are around the UK. Hope you get to do shipwreck seeking soon!
There are a couple of shipwreck sites our way, they hold a real fascination for our kids, I think it is all the pirate stories we read them as youngsters! Looks like a real fun day you had exploring and climbing together #CountryKids
I agree, the pirating history in Cornwall is huge and it’s so exciting to see real life wrecks and imagine they were looted or sunk by wreckers down there! We had a really great day thanks!
Ohh yes, I’d be very interested in seeing ship wreck remains too, it would certainly add a bit of interest to time at the beach. Mich x #Countrykids
Shipwrecks area really fascinating and I agree they’re great to add a different dimension to seaside days, especially when the weather’s not great.It’s a great way to get outdoors even in the rain
That’s so fascinating. We found one on the beach at Hunstanton some years ago when my son was very small too #CountryKids
Oh wow, I wonder if that one’s on the shipwreck map in my other post? Kids are so intrigued by shipwrecks, I bet your son loved it.
How fascinating to be able to explore a shipwreck, even just the boiler. Such an important point to make about being aware of tide times – it is scary what a difference there is at high and low tides and how dangerous that could be if you weren’t aware. Such a good way of bringing history to life though #countrykids
Thanks Louise, beach safety is always in my mind these days now we live near the beach, so much more than when we just had an annual beach holiday. that’s a lovely point about bringing history to life too!
What an interesting ship wreck. There are none that I know of near us. My kids love pretending to be pirates so would love it #livingarrows
Check out the shipwreck map on my other post, school holiday shipwreck seeking. There might be a wreck near you! And if not, pirate play is the best. We used to find ‘ships’ in the trees in our local woods! Thanks for reading
I would love to take my kids to this wreck, it’s such a brilliant mix of play and education! It’s amazing how much the sea levels change with the tide. Even as an adult I still think my sandcastles will survive if I build them high enough! #adventurecalling
Love that about sandcastles! You should come to Amble in the summer for their Volcano night. A competition to build the highest sandcastle, light a fire on it and the winner is the last one alight when the tide comes in! (They do a beach clean the next day of course)
I’ve heard about that, it sounds brilliant. I really should head up to Northumberland!
Give me a yell if you do!
Great read and lots of good information. I live some 10 minutes from the sea, here in the Netherlands. We always love to explore, but missing the odd wreck or two. Certainly, adds to a great learning experience. Thanks for the share.
Gareth #AdventureCalling
Thanks Gareth, maybe there are some sunken narrow boats over your way?!
What a brilliant idea to add more adventure to the day out. I love how the outdoors can really spark the imagination and a bit of history, myth or legend and really bring the day to life.
And Jamaica Inn is a brilliant book. Certainly was always close to my mind when we were on holiday in Cornwall.
#adventurecalling
We visited Jamaica Inn for the first time this year and now I need to read it again! Totally agree about the outdoors triggering imagination, kids need as much of it as possible
I LOVE your opening piece, all those beautifully evocative words to munch on, I love it! We’ve never explored a shipwreck,I’m sure there are many of them around Ireland’s coastline, but I wouldn’t know where to find them. Something to look into in the future!
#CountryKids
Ah thank you. I couldn’t resist putting something together from the newspaper clips. Hope you manage to fins some shipwrecks, maybe there’s some in your Irish loughs?!
This looks like one cool adventure! I bet our boys would love climbing all over the boiler too. #AdventureCalling
It was pretty epic, on a mini scale! Made better by sharing with brilliant friends too. Your boys would love it.
I love this sort of stuff. I recently found some plane wrecks from WW2 in the Peak District and was genuinely fascinated by them. This may *only* be a boiler but it’s the story behind it that makes it a great place to walk to. Thanks for joining #adventurecalling we’ll be back open in the morning for more new posts.
Wow I bet that was such an exciting find. There are lots of WWII wrecks in the Cheviots too but I’ve not seen any. I’ll be linking up again soon
Now that really is an adventure. There should be more play like this in our lives. #culturedkids
I totally agree Phoebe, children and adults alike! Thanks for stopping by. Is your place anywhere near the Cevennes? We’re visiting in the summer
That’s quite the adventure, what an exciting place to explore! Our closest shipwreck is probably the MaryRose which we visited recently! Thanks so much for joining in #CulturedKids
I think I saw your post on the Mary Rose. We’ve not been there yet but it’s a wreck I’d love to see. Ours is great fun to be able to clamber all over.
That looks fantastic those barnacles must have been murder on their hands though! I grew up on the Norfolk coast and there are a few ship wrecks, the one on Hunstanton beach underneath the cliffs the kids do love visiting and seeing it up close #CulturedKids
Yes pretty sharp and spiky old barnacles but the kids weren’t deterred at all, in fact I think it added to the challenge and fun! We have relatives in Norfolk who we don’t visit often but I’ll look up the Hunstanton wreck next time we’re there. Thanks for the tip
I’ve been to Northumberland many times and never heard of this. You do get around to some fascinating places Lucy. How lucky were the kids that they could explore the shipwreck with their bare hands. Very piratey! #CULTUREDKIDS
This one’s definitely a great little exploration, we had a lot of fun. It’s worth a plodge next time you’re up here, just get the tide right or it’ll be submerged!
This looks like amazing fun. The kids obviously had the time of their lives! I know mine love exploring rocks, rock pools and caves at the beach, they’d be beside themselves if there was a shipwreck too! Thanks for sharing #CulturedKids
You’ll have to make a trip up here sometime! There’s a mini pirate in everyone 😉