Northern Revetment, Lelant Quay, Hayle Harbour

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At Lelant on the River Hayle, St Ives, Cornwall, a section of wall, accessible via the beach at low water, is made up of iron plates held firmly in place by sturdy wooden posts. The iron plating appears to be sections of ship hull, carefully recycled to create an estuary revetment. There's another section of revetment to the south, adjacent to the granite quay known as Dynamite Quay, which is covered in a separate model. Lost Ships of the West Country (Langley and Small 1988) suggest that these sections are from a First World War Torpedo Boat Destroyer. Between the 1920s and 1940s, Thomas Ward ran an extensive ship-breaking business at this site, providing much-needed jobs for local people. It is believed that these revetments date to that period and were built using parts of ships that were scrapped at the yard. This model was created using photographs collected by drone and hand-held cameras during June 2016 as part of the Maritime Archaeology Trust’s HLF Forgotten Wrecks of the First World War project.