Hughes Bolckow Ltd was first established in August 1906 as a partnership between Ralph Townsend Hughes, born 29/02/1864 in Suffolk, and Charles Frederick Henry Bolckow born 02/12/1874 in Middlesborough. Both were connected if not wealthy. Hughes was the son of a Baronet, who set up in Newcastle as scrap metal dealer, while Bolckow was the son in law of Sir Arthur Dorman, the founder and chairman of Dorman Long of Middlesborough. Initially, the pair started business in Hughes' existing Wharfage site in Derwenthaugh on Tyne. This is above the Newcastle bridges, so it could be quite restrictive when bringing ships in for scrapping. Their first scrapping was a Norwegian cargo ship NORFOLK which ran aground on the Black Middens at the mouth of the Tyne in January 1908. They could not have made any money, because between weather delays and such it took until 1914 to finish this 1813 gross ship. Their first warship was a battleship of 9,500 tons, HMS COLLINGWOOD (launched 1882). She was towed up to Dunston buoys and partly dismantled to lower her draft sufficiently to tow her alongside at Derwenthaugh. The next warship was another battleship of 10,500 tons, HMS BARFLEUR. On arrival in the Tyne in 1910, she became wedged between the sides of the Tyne swing bridge. She had run aground and refused to budge. After that uproar was settled, Hughes approached the Tyne Improvement Commission for a deeper water site further downstream, but this was rejected. On 11/11/1911 Hughes Bolckow signed leases for a new shipbreaking site with deeper water at Cambois, North Blyth. The German battleship NASSAU (20,000 tons, launched 1908) was brought to Derwenthaugh in 1920, stripped and then sold on to Holland in 1922.

The above photo of BARFLEUR is copyright of the Imperial War Museum

The above photo showing NASSAU entering the Tyne is courtesy of Kevin Blair

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