Hughes Bolckow formerly ''Messrs, Hughes, Bolckow, and Co., Limited'' was a well-known shipbreaking company based in

Blyth, Northumberland Blyth () is a town and civil parish in southeast Northumberland, England. It lies on the coast, to the south of the River Blyth and is approximately northeast of Newcastle upon Tyne. It has a population of about 37,000, as of 2011. The port o ...

Background

Intending to create an industrial park for dismantling obsolete warships in 1911, the company leased of land from Lord Ridley and the Blyth Harbour Commissioners. The company was responsible for scrapping a number of famous Royal Navy ships including HMS ''Britannia'' (previously HMS ''Prince of Wales''). Their first ship was the former Certified Industrial Training Ship, HMS ''Southampton'', which was sent to Blyth in June 1912 to be broken up. In response to requests from customers, the company created a series of "choice Antiques" from the fine old seasoned timber they possessed from ''Britannia.'' The company even had a Ship Timber Department that would create articles manufactured from teakwood taken from obsolete battleships and preserved in "Solignum." During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Messrs, Hughes, Bolckow, and Co. Limited experimented with employing women in jobs that were traditionally reserved for men. By 1916 13% of the workforce were women; the UK

Ministry of Labour The Ministry of Labour ('' UK''), or Labor ('' US''), also known as the Department of Labour, or Labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, a ...

approved the work provided the women did not have to lift a sledgehammer weighing more than . In 1921, the company acquired four huge concrete hangars at the

Marske-by-the-Sea Marske-by-the-Sea is a village in the unitary authority of Redcar and Cleveland and the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. It is located on the coast, between the seaside resorts of Redcar and Saltburn-by-the-Sea, although it is not ...

Aerodrome in North Yorkshire. The hangars also had an attached of land that the company announced would be used to store and to dispose of material purchased by the company from dumps in France. Over the course of its existence the company bought up a number of other companies such as the ''Worth, Mackenzie ft Company'', Limited, which was purchased in 1935. By 1952 it had become a subsidiary of Metal Industries, Limited and was listed on their books. In 1960 The Hughes Bolchow Shipbreaking Co., Ltd., of Blyth changed its name to Hughes Bolckow Ltd. so as to serve notice that, although its main activity was still shipbreaking, the company was branching out. They also scrapped locomotives en masse during the 1960s, one locomotive purchased from this area being

NER Class T2 The North Eastern Railway Class T2, classified as Class Q6 by the LNER, is a class of 0-8-0 steam locomotive designed for heavy freight, especially for hauling long coal trains to various collieries in the North Eastern region of the UK, with ...

(BR Class Q6) No. 63395, which has been preserved.

Bibliography

Notes References * * * * * * * - Total pages: 241 * *{{cite news , title= The Times, last=The Times, author-link=The Times , newspaper=The Times , location=London, UK , issn=0140-0460, date=4 September 1952 Defunct shipbuilding companies of the United Kingdom Ship breaking Companies based in Northumberland Blyth, Northumberland

Background

See also

Bibliography