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Southport
Lifeboat Crew visit The Atkinson to see the Newly Restored Historic
Lifeboat Disaster Artwork
THE dedicated crew of the
Southport Lifeboat station have visited The Atkinson’s new coastal
exhibition, on Thursday, 25 September 2014, for a special trip to
see the newly restored painting of the Wreck of the Eliza Fernley
depicting the worst lifeboat tragedy in history.
Southport Lifeboat members were invited by The Atkinson to have a
private tour of the exhibition and to see Martin Simpson, Andy
Cutting and Nancy Kerr; 3 of Britain’s finest folk artists as a
thank you for the outstanding rescue service they provide around the
coastline of Southport.
The oil painting was restored just in time to feature in The
Atkinson’s new exhibition:- 'Sea Change ~ The Art of The England’s
North West Coast', thanks to the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The Wreck of the Eliza Fernley depicts a shipwreck which killed 27
local lifeboat men when an iron ship, The Mexico of Hamburg, ran
into trouble on 9 December 1886, and was driven on to the beach at
Birkdale.
The picture has now taken the pride of place in the
'Sea Change ~ The Art of The England’s
North West Coast'
exhibition, which runs until Sunday, 9 November 2014.
In worsening weather, the lifeboats Eliza Fernley of Southport and
Laura Janet of St. Anne’s put out to the rescue. Neither boats
reached the vessel, although the former approached so close that
according to the narrative of the 2 survivors, 1 of the lifeboat men
was about to throw a line, but the boat swung broadside on to the
sea and a huge mountain of water lifted it up and turned it over,
burying the majority of its crew beneath it.
The nation grieved and a fund for the relief of the bereaved
families raised £30,000; a huge sum at that time; in a fortnight.
The artist was Francis Krause, born Franz Emile Herman Krause in
Prussia in 1836. He married Amelia Stock, the daughter of an artist,
and went to live in Birkdale. Krause's descendants still live in
Southport.
Stephen Whittle, Museum Manager at The Atkinson, says:-
"Perhaps more than any other painting in the Sea Change exhibition
The Wreck of the Eliza Fernley illustrates how dangerous and
unpredictable the sea can be off the Sefton coast. There were a lot
of paintings, drawings and newspaper illustrations made of the
events surrounding the wreck of The Mexico. This is by far the most
moving and, unlike the others, which tend to focus on the courage
and heroism of the lifeboat crews, we get a real sense of the impact
this tragedy must have had on the small fishing community in
Marshside."
The volunteer crews at Southport Lifeboat give up their time and
comfort to carry out rescues in difficult and often dangerous
conditions.
The Southport Lifeboat is independent of the RNLI,
the Trust relies on donations and fundraising to support itself and
to let it provide a first class life saving service for the
Merseyside and Lancashire coastline.
To find out more about how you can support the trust please visit:-
southport-lifeboat.co.uk.
For more information on the exhibition please visit:-
theatkinson.co.uk or call the
Box Office on:- 01704 533333.
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SOUTHPORT
‘HERITAGE’ WEEKENDER - YOUR LAST CHANCE TO SAY 'GOODBYE'
THE organizers of the world
famous Southport Weekender is giving you one last chance to help
them say:- "Goodbye"... Yep, this is really an end of
an era, as run the very last event at the Southport Pontin's. This
historic home won the event the MTV title as the UK's friendliest
party and also has seen A-list Holywood stars attending along with
many of the worlds best DJ's and music acts. The event will not
leave any ones eyes dry when it closes Sunday, 19 October 2014 at
the Pontins Holiday Centre.
THE The tickets have
already sold out once, but they organisers have kept a few back,
just in case. The organizers of the world famous Southport Weekender
are giving you one last chance to help them say:- "Goodbye"...
Yep, this is really an end of an era, as they run the very last
event at the Southport Pontin's. This historic home won the event
the MTV title as the UK's friendliest party and also has seen A-list
Hollywood stars attending, along with many of the world’s best DJ's
and music acts. The event will not leave anyone’s eyes dry when it
closes Sunday, 19 October 2014 at the Pontins Holiday Centre. The
tickets have already sold out once, but they organisers have kept a
few back, just in case. This event will be like no other and will be
brimming with nostalgia... This last event comes thanks to the fact
that Pontins has been taken over now and the new company, Britannia,
has invested heavily in the site. Sadly though, as many readers will
know the event was forced to move to Butlins Resort, Minehead, a
massive holiday camp located in Somerset. Since then the event has
got too big for Southport's location, but as Alex told us:- "After
50 events we never believed it would have lasted or would be as big
as it has got.... All who go are like a family to us and Pontins
Holiday Centre is our home... Sadly, all things have to leave the
nest when they grow up and this is the same for us... But we could
not leave and not say good bye to the site. We are sad to go, but we
do plan to keep a connection to the Town that has given our event
such a strong brand name and reputation throughout the world. We
don't quite know how yet, but it has been a painful choice to make,
to have this as our final Southport Weekender at Pontin's. This all
came about when we got forced to move to Somerset, but every cloud
has a silver lining I guess. For us it was the fact we could expand
the event and, sadly for Southport, it has now grown even bigger.
Once we found out the Southport Pontins site had been saved, it was
too late. We have just grown too big to move back fully. We always
get masses of phone calls the week before a Weekender, asking us if
we can possibly sell any more tickets, but as always we are limited
by our venue capacities. As the Somerset location is so big, we know
demand is exceptionally high and most tickets were sold almost
instantly, so we have tried to keep a few back for our regulars who
have always supported us. If you have not already contacted us,
please don't end up disappointed and miss this magnificent farewell.
We have many surprises in store and have ‘a never to be repeated’
weekend of the finest music money can deliver awaiting you... We
hope this will deliver, well we know it will deliver the closure
that the event deserves." Dave added:- "If you go,
you will be able to say:- "I was there" and as we are a family, you
know you can trust us when we say that you will want to be able to
say it!" So if you're still hoping to grab one of the last
few tickets left then please don't delay! Click
here to book your place for the
event that is to be held for the 'VERY LAST TIME' over
Friday, 17 October to Sunday, 19 October 2014. Please be warned
though, even if you are just reading the report now, we can't say
that they have not already sold out... But it is well worth trying,
and becoming part of history!!! |
