TYNE PILOTS: THE END OF AN ERA

June 30th, 2008 by JCB
Posted in Coastlines, History

On 31st March 2008, an era in the history of the river Tyne ended with the retirement of John Marshall and Alan Purvis, the last traditional Tyne Pilot family pilots.

L - R John Marshall, Eddie Cowell & Alan Purvis

Tyne Pilots Limited also ceased to exist with pilotage being transferred to the pilots of the Port of Tyne Authority. It is impossible to determine when pilotage on the Tyne began but it was a strategic port in Roman times and it is recorded that they engaged Tigris watermen to work their ships on the river – in essence, pilots! The formal establishment of organized
pilotage however is generally credited to Trinity House and it was incorporated in a Royal Charter granted by Henry VIII on 5th October 1536. Initially, the profession was exclusive to Brethren of Trinity House, but
in the mid-1600’s this was amended and the pilots were recruited from the local seagoing community.
The custom of taking only pilots’ sons and relatives as apprentices was recognised by Trinity House, who by Resolution actually required it as a condition of being licensed as a pilot, thus establishing a tradition that
would serve for hundreds of years. In 1865, government legislation transferred the licensing and administration of the pilots from Trinity House to the Tyne Pilotage Commission, but the tradition of pilot
families continued. In 1789, the first purpose-built lifeboat was built and for the next one hundred and
fifty years, the pilots crewed these lifeboats and saved many hundreds of lives. This was not without sacrifice however, as in 1849 twenty pilots were tragically lost when the lifeboat Providence capsized during a rescue. The sea was not the only enemy, as on the last day of 1916, the pilot cutter Protector was mined and sunk with the loss of all nineteen on board It was into this heritage that John Marshall was born on 31st December 1946, and Alan Purvis on 16th March 1948. Both families lived in Trajan Street in South
Shields and when aged 16 both began fouryear Apprenticeships with Tyne Pilotage Authority. At that time, there were some ninety pilots on the Tyne, and the river was still a world centre for shipbuilding and
repairing and the export of coal. This apprenticeship was followed by service in the Merchant Navy; John with Silver Line, and Alan with Common Brothers to gain their Master’s Certificates and thus qualify for entry into the Pilot Service. Returning to the Tyne, John was licensed on 7th May 1976 and Alan on 6th May 1977 and they served for three years as junior pilots before being licensed as First Class.
The national miners’ strike of 1984 had a profound effect on trade in the Port and its self-employed pilots and John and Alan tookoverseas pilotage appointments in the Arabian Gulf. In 1988, government legislation
transferred responsibility for pilotage from the Tyne Pilotage Authority to the Port of Tyne Authority. Twelve of the existing pilots formed the co-operative of Tyne Pilots Limited contracted with the Authority to provide the pilotage service. The Pilot Apprenticeship scheme was abolished in 1968 and pilots were subsequently recruited from the ranks of seagoing officers. In 2001 the Port of Tyne Authority embarked upon a regime to
directly employ its future pilots, and Tyne Pilots Limited were contracted to train and examine new pilots for the Authority, passing on the wealth of knowledge and experience acquired over many generations.
The end of Tyne Pilots Limited also sees the retirement of Pilot Master and former pilot Edward Cowell. Eddie was born on 11th March 1941, also into a pilot family, and upon completion of his pilot apprenticeship, embarked upon a seagoing career with Common Brothers, Stephenson Clarke, North Thames Gas Board, and
Gibson’s of Leith to gain his Certificates of Competency prior to becoming a licensed pilot in 1970. Eddie retired as a pilot in 1998, having served as Chairman of Tyne Pilots Limited from its creation in 1988 until
his retirement but in 1999 he was engaged in an administrative role within the port and his knowledge and advice has been greatly valued by Agents, Port staff and junior pilots alike. During their careers John and Alan witnessed dramatic changes to the Tyne and its trade. Cars, passengers, and the import of coal have replaced shipbuilding, shiprepair and the export of coal! Ships are larger; tugs are fewer but more powerful.
Technology and commercial pressures have combined to expand operational parameters, but it is experience that ultimately dictates the limits. They have had the pleasure of piloting, “almost anything that floats”; from fishing boats to super-tankers, car-carriers, bulk carriers, cruise ships, aircraft carriers, oil rigs, barges, floating drydocks, sailing ships, Royal Yachts, and Crane barges carrying Millennium Bridges!

Together with their former colleagues, John and Alan consider themselves privileged to have followed a career that they enjoyed and to have been part of an historical era. Even today, pilotage is still as much an art as a science and although all pilots occasionally doubt their sanity when climbing up the side of a bulk carrier in a northerly gale, “parking ships” is both challenging and immensely satisfying. To generations of Tyne Pilots, pilotage has not just been a profession it has been more complex than that! It’s been their heritage, their psyche – it’s what they were!
JD Marshall