Lowestoft Town Council
On Saturday 19th November, a new memorial plaque to commemorate the steam drifter "Reclaim" was unveiled in a short ceremony on South Pier.
The event included a welcome from the Mayor of Lowestoft, Cllr Alan Green, an address from Cllr Andy Pearce, prayers from Amanda Wisher from the Fisherman's Mission and closing remarks from Peter Aldous, MP for Waveney.
In the morning of Friday 19 November 1937, having just left the harbour on its way to the fishing grounds, the Steam Drifter “Reclaim” was run down and sunk in a squall by the Steamer “Hurunui”, just a few miles offshore. In total, nine crew members lost their lives during this tragedy – two from Lowestoft, one from Beccles and six from Kessingland – with only one surviving crew member, the cook Samuel Mortishire, from Lowestoft. Each of these lives, plus the life of the owner of the “Reclaim”, Robert Utting of Kessingland, are commemorated by name on this memorial. The plaque aims to recognise each of the lost lives as people rather than statistics.
Lowestoft Town Council would like to thank Associated British Ports and the Lowestoft South Pier Management Committee for allowing this memorial to be placed on the Pier, and also LaserUs and Darren Breeze Woodturning for designing, making, and installing the memorial plaque. Thank you also for LaserUs for the photos.
A new memorial plaque, commissioned by Lowestoft Town Council and commemorating the 85th Anniversary of the loss of the Steam Drifter “Reclaim” will be unveiled on Lowestoft’s South Pier following a short ceremony at 10:30am on Saturday 19 November.
In the morning of Friday 19 November 1937, having just left the harbour on its way to the fishing grounds, the Steam Drifter “Reclaim” was run down and sunk in a squall by the Steamer “Hurunui”, just a few miles offshore. In total, nine crew members lost their lives during this tragedy – two from Lowestoft, one from Beccles and six from Kessingland – with only one surviving crew member, the cook Samuel Mortishire, from Lowestoft. Each of these lives, plus the life of the owner of the “Reclaim”, Robert Utting of Kessingland, are commemorated by name on this memorial.
Speaking about the memorial plaque to the “Reclaim”, Cllr Andy Pearce said, “Lowestoft is justifiably proud of its long association with the sea, including its fishing history and heritage. There are people in Lowestoft today who spent much of their working lives at sea, or working in one of the onshore industries linked to the fishing. There are others of us who have parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents and other family members whose lives were closely intertwined with the fishing industry. But it could be a hard and dangerous life: down the years many boats were lost, and their crews with them, and in many cases those men have no grave but the sea. But they are not forgotten: local people today still remember and pay tribute to family and friends who lost their lives at sea, and we try to add our own contribution with memorials like this one.
“The “Reclaim” was from an earlier generation of boats and crews, and her sinking occurred less than two years before the outbreak of the Second World War which was to claim many more local lives: but her loss would have left its mark on the families, friends, and communities of those men who went down with her. Those who skippered and crewed the Lowestoft fishing boats did not just come from Lowestoft: many came from the surrounding parishes and villages. On the “Reclaim” alone, there were men from Lowestoft, Kessingland, and Beccles. For Kessingland, the “Reclaim” tragedy represented the worst peacetime loss of life at sea in almost 50 years: some of the families still live in the village and Kessingland will also be holding its own memorial service on a separate date to be confirmed.
"It is important that we remember those fishermen who lost their lives as real people, not just as names and statistics, but as real people with their own stories and families and friends who were left to mourn and remember them. For those who lost their lives on the “Reclaim”, that is what we will try to do in the ceremony on 19 November.”
Lowestoft Town Council would like to thank Associated British Ports and the Lowestoft South Pier Management Committee for allowing this memorial to be placed on the Pier, and also LaserUs and Darren Breeze Woodturning for designing, making, and installing the memorial plaque. With thanks also to the Port of Lowestoft Research Society for use of the photograph of the “Reclaim”.
Read more on Memorial plaque to commemorate 85th anniversary of sea tragedy to be unveiled
Lowestoft Town Council is undertaking a Three-Stage Improvement Plan at the Triangle.
Stage 1 - Relaying of paving slabs, planting of new trees and removal of green structure under The Sails.
As part of this work, three new established ornamental pear trees will be planted to replace some of the pre-existing trees. These trees will be planted in a way to prevent future damage to the path. The memorial tree will remain in the place.
Stage 2 - Removal of the damaged and aged Sails
Stage 3 - Refurbishment of the Triangle Market Toilets
Lowestoft Town Council is inviting members of the public to share ideas for the future development and use of the area. If you have any ideas, you are welcome to submit them to us by emailing admin@lowestofttowncouncil.gov.uk
The annual service and parade for Remembrance Sunday will take place at the War Memorial, Royal Plain, on Sunday 13 November with the parade arriving from Claremont Pier into Royal Plain shortly before 11am.
You can now download a copy of the service sheet to follow along with during the service.
All are welcome to attend this service as we come together to pay tribute to those who have lost their lives in service to our country.
At the meeting of the Full Council on Tuesday 25th October 2022, Lowestoft Town Council declared Lowestoft an Earth Protector Town. Lowestoft Town Council was among the first Councils to declare a Climate Emergency in 2019 and to recognise the escalating ecological catastrophe on earth. To reinforce this commitment to the environment, the Town Council voted in favour of being an Earth Protector Town and joining Earth Protector Communities growing global movement of towns, businesses, educational establishments and other organisations.
The declaration is both a symbolic and a practical step for the Town Council as it continues to work to protect the land, wildlife, air, soil and water whilst also endorsing the Stop Ecocide campaign which aims to address the lack of consequence for those who perpetuate significant harm to the planet and campaign for a change to international law to stop further devastation.
The Declaration:
In declaring Lowestoft an Earth Protector Town, Lowestoft Town Council undertakes to collaborate and cooperate with communities, local government bodies, businesses and other organisations to protect land, wildlife, air, soil and water. The Council considers the repercussions of its decisions and rigorous care is observed to avoid environmental harm in the exercise of its functions.
To protect the Earth, this Council will:
In declaring itself an Earth Protector Town, Lowestoft Town Council is publicly supporting the campaign to amend the Rome statute and declare Ecocide a crime at the ICC.
*ECOCIDE is serious loss, damage or destruction of ecosystems, and includes climate and cultural damage.
As we prepare for Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday, the "There But Not There" figures have been installed in the Remembrance Garden in Belle Vue Park. This year is especially poignant as we commemorate the 40th Anniversary of The Falklands.
On Armistice Day (Friday 11 November) there are three opportunities to commemorate the eleventh hour with short services taking place at:
All are welcome to attend these short services which will all begin shortly before 11am.
The annual service and parade for Remembrance Sunday will take place at the War Memorial, Royal Plain, on Sunday 13 November with the parade arriving from Claremont Pier into Royal Plain shortly before 11am.
This year, the parade will be led by soldiers of F (Sphinx) Parachute Battery Royal Horse Artillery, 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery who will also mark the beginning of the two-minutes silence with gun fire from a 105mm (L118) Light Gun.
The Deputy Lieutenant for Suffolk, Lord Somerleyton will lead the wreath laying while students from local schools and cadets from the Royal Air Force Air Cadets 469 (Lowestoft) Squadron will read during the service.
Music for the service will be provided by East Coast Sinfonietta with members of the Salvation Army Band.
All are welcome to attend this service as we come together to pay tribute to those who have lost their lives in service to our country.
The "Tommies" in Belle Vue Park
Lowestoft Town Council seeks interpretation consultant(s) to design and oversee the implementation of a compelling, interactive heritage experience package for the Grade II listed Lowestoft Town Hall, through development and delivery phases (pending funding), a project which is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Architectural Heritage Fund, Historic England and Towns Fund.
The Heritage Interpretation Specialist(s) will research, design, and oversee the implementation of a compelling and interactive heritage experience package. This will be required to interpret the town’s history in a vibrant, interactive, inclusive, engaging and innovative way.
Full details may be obtained from Lowestoft Town Council admin@lowestofttowncouncil.gov.uk 0330 053 6019
All bids to be received by Monday 28 November at 10am.
Read more on Town Hall Project - Heritage Interpretation Specialist(s)
With COP27 (the United Nations Climate Change Conference) meeting in Egypt this year, a number of free webinars are being organised for Suffolk residents by Green Suffolk. These webinars cover a range of topics and are designed to inform residents in ways to help the environment. These webinars include:
To sign-up to the free webinars, please head to the Green Suffolk website.
There are also a number of volunteer opportunities across the county to get involved with whilst COP27 is meeting.
Lowestoft Town Council’s Black History Month Writing Competition culminated on Friday 28th October with a presentation to the winning school and entrants at Lowestoft Library.
Over 70 young people entered the competition which saw a wide range of inspiring black people celebrated. Entries championed historical figures such as Rosa Parks, Mary Seacole and Katherine Johnson through to contemporary figures such as footballer Marcus Rashford, musician Lizzo and YouTuber Niko.
The judging panel, made up of three Lowestoft Town Councillors, Lowestoft’s Olympic Boxer Anthony Ogogo, Sally Connick from Get Suffolk Reading and Head Judge Mr Gary Harewood, were impressed with the high standard of entries. The Judges were particularly inspired by the overall winning entry, written by Poppy from Dell Primary school, who wrote about her Nan who is “always ready to help”.
“[My Nan] is a strong, independent woman who does so much for anyone” wrote Poppy about her “kind natured”, “caring” and “mysterious” Nan. “I hope one day I will be just like her and share her spirit”.
Mr Gary Harewood and his wife Natasha alongside Lowestoft’s Deputy Mayor Cllr Nasima Begum presented the prizes for the top entries in the year 3-6 category, awarding prizes to Poppy, Jackson, Mehmet, George, Austin and Kirushanya, and to Joel in the under year 2 category. Each winning entrant received two books donated by Get Suffolk Reading and a £50 book token from Lowestoft Town Council with Poppy, the overall winner, walking away with a signed photo from Anthony Ogogo.
This year also saw the introduction of a new perennial shield for the event, which was awarded to Dell Primary School.
Speaking after the event, Mr Harewood said “Thank you and congratulations to everyone who took part in this year’s competition. I’m looking forward to being a part of next year’s event and seeing how this competition grows”.
Anthony Ogogo said, “What a lovely thing to do. It was amazing to see the range of inspiring black people being celebrated. All the entries were fantastic and I’m honoured to have been asked to take part. Everyone should be very proud.”
Lowestoft Town Council wish to thank everyone who took part in this year’s competition, especially everyone who submitted entries. Thanks to a generous donation by Get Suffolk Reading, everyone who entered the competition will receive a copy of Marcus Rashford’s book “You are a Champion” as a thank you for taking part. Thank you also for the support from Lowestoft Library and to everyone who helped with the judging panel.
The competition will be running again next year with details to be announced in the new year.
Above: Some of the winning entrants from Dell Primary collecting their prizes
Above: The new perennial shield, awarded to the winning school, was collected by Dell Primary School
Above: Over 70 young people entered the competition this year with all the entries displayed in Lowestoft Library
Read more on Inspiring Black People celebrated in Black History Month Writing Competition
