Wrecks, Saturday 1st February 2020

Today I took a short break from the office to patrol the beach with Ranger-Scott, as usual Cefn Sidan was just magical with big skies, a receeding tide and rough sea it was a pleasure to be out, there were a few hardy souls on the beach but with 8 miles of open space we could have been just anywhere.

With the Air Weapons Range closed for the weekend we managed to get to Tywyn Point and a look at perhaps the best known wreck on the beach, the SV PAUL although I doubt many day visitors make it that far!

SV Paul (Wikipedia)

"In 1925 the PAUL crossed the Atlantic from Cadiz to St. John, Newfoundland and loaded 2,000 tons of timber at Halifax for Dublin. On 30 October she ran into severe gales, losing many sails and her anchors; eventually grounding on the Cefn Sidan sands as without any auxiliary motive power she was unable to make an escape. On this occasion she had a crew of twelve, with a cook, the master and a teenage stewardess  Another reference cites her grounding as being on November 5, 1925. 

Several tugs came up from Cardiff and failed in an attempt to refloat her. A salvage company took on 26 local men and salvaged the timber cargo.

Significant quantities of the PAUL's cargo are said to have ended up in the hands of locals. Long prior to the PAUL's loss, locals had become known as the hatchet men; because in local legend they were accused of displaying lights to confuse and then attract shipping onto the sands and looting the stricken vessels and presumably taking no prisoners!!" 

notes adapted from Wikipedia

The Wreck today of The SV Paul, looking towards Llansteffan

Of course the SV PAUL is just one of several wrecks on the "silky ridge"  that is Cefn Sidan

Another documented wreck was "La Jeune Emma" bound from the West Indies to France and blown badly off course in 1828. 13 of the 19 on board drowned, including Adeline Coquelin, the 12-year-old niece of Napoleon Bonaparte's divorced wife Josephine de Beauharnais. Adeline is buried at St. Illtyds Church, Pembrey, the headstone is still readable today.

To find out more about the wrecks on Cefn Sidan there is a useful information board on the approach to the main beach access point, just near the anchors, If you are off to explore for yourself just make sure you check the tide times, I use this useful website myself 

https://tides4fishing.com/uk/wales/burry-port

Keep a look out for details about............

NATURE & CRAFT FAYRE SUN' 14TH JUNE 10am-4pm