Video special: Out at sea with Filey’s last fishermen

Generations of visitors have watched the picturesque scene as they have set off to their traditional fishing grounds in sturdy boats said to have Viking ancestry.

But those days are numbered. Just one coble remains and within months some fishermen believe they will be none sailing from Filey, a combination of factors having spelled their demise.

Launching off the beach has been a lottery since the sands were sucked away - some blame the fierce easterlies earlier this year - stripping it back to mud and stone.

In the past the fishermen clubbed together to maintain two tractors and pay for a driver to launch and land them onto the beach, but the critical mass to support that has now disappeared.

Fishermen are investing in bigger boats over the wooden cobles which are expensive to repair and seven Filey boats already go out of Scarborough harbour.

This week one of only two remaining cobles, Gentle Barbara, owned by David Pockley and Neville Pinder, cast its final pot.

While Mr Pinder has been forced to retire because of bad back, Mr Pockley was left with a tough decision, to stay in - or get out.

Mr Pockley said: “Working a 30-ft coble is bad enough if you have the luxury of a harbour but working it from a beach in weather when it is rough is not a career choice for the kids leaving schools these days.

“We have always run and maintained the tractors between us all. Ten years ago there were 15 boats but now we are down to three and we are having to provide the cost.

“I think the days of Yorkshire beach cobles are really coming to an end. There will be two left at Flamborough and as far as I know that’s the only place where a coble will be worked from a beach in Yorkshire.”

The “atrocious” state of the beach, exposing concrete wartime defences that haven’t been seen for years, has made recovering the boats a nightmare. Sometimes they get stuck and fishermen have to wait for another high tide to float them free, extending their already long day.

Mr Pinder said: “Every single day since April we have been getting stuck on the beach because there is that much mud and stones.

“Before Filey RNLI used to pull us up, now they have refused to help us because we are not in distress.

“It’s people in offices above and they have refused to help point-blank unless our boat was smashing up and we were in serious danger.

He added: “We had the MPs down five years ago and we were asking for support. We haven’t heard a thing. That’s hundreds and hundreds of years tradition. It’s a crying shame.”

Julian Barker who owns the last coble, Kathryn and Sarah 2, said he would try and keep going till the end of the summer. He thinks the stone put in round the base of the castle in Scarborough, down the coast, may have had an impact on the beach.

He said: “I was two hours pushing it in today to get into the water. I’ve never known the beach to be like this and I’ve been at it for 40 years. “But I am going to stick with it as long as I possibly can.”

Coun Mike Cockerill, who represents Filey on Scarborough Council, said they were looking at putting stone on the beach to make it easier for the cobles - but red tape meant they had to get a licence first which could take another six weeks. He said: “It’s very sad. Filey in effect has been built on fishing going back years.

“It is part of its heritage. To lose the cobles from Coble Landing is a very sad state of affairs.

“I am hoping the sand comes back and the cobles come back. When we get the licence we will look at the situation again.

“As regards the Coble Landing becoming a car park, you can never say never, but I can’t see that happening.

“We need the lifeboat there and we have about two dozen leisure boats so we need to maintain the use of the landing - if not for commercial fishing, for leisure fishing.”

Gareth Wilson, RNLI Divisional Operations Manager, said they couldn’t justify using charitable donations to “routinely move boats” or call out volunteers to carry out a job that wasn’t their responsibility. He said: “The RNLI exists to save lives at sea and our volunteers will always respond to a call for help if someone is in danger. To carry out the manoeuvre safely takes a minimum of five people and, as RNLI volunteers already give up a great deal of their time to respond to rescue calls and to make sure they are trained in all areas of life saving, we do not feel they should also take on this additional burden.”