Your lovely memories of the stranded ship at Seaton

More than 9,000 of you were reached when we recalled the scene on a cold weekend in November in Seaton Carew in 1985.

It was the sight of a 1,486 tonne coke carrying cargo ship called the Anne which had been battered during storms and beached at Longscar Rocks.

For more than two weeks, the freighter remained grounded at Seaton with her skipper, Captain Hubertus Rademakers never leaving the ship he adored, other than a brief journey into Hartlepool to thank children who had backed him all the way.

It brought back plenty of memories for readers who replied with their recollections on social media.

Richard Gretton posted: “Remember it well” while Shaun Wilson said: “I can remember seeing this.”

Scott Collin posted: “ Me and me Dad used to park up to see it, I thought it was massive” while Rob Coulson remembered trips to see the vessel.

Sven Graham recalled: “I remember this. We lived at The cliffe seaton Carew and I remember waking up and seeing the ship the morning after it beached, I rode down on my bike and can remember standing right underneath it looking up and the police ran over and moved me away, I was 9 years old and it was such a site I can remember just looking at it out of the window.

Kev Powell was 11 at the time and remembered it well while Mark Antropik said: “I was only 7 at the time but remember it. Remember being amazed that the captain would not leave.”

Salvage attempts continued for two weeks and on one occasion, a tug tried to pull the ship free using a 10ins thick rope only for the line to snap twice.

It all ended on November 27 when Anne was eventually refloated at high tide and taken to Sunderland.

Tugs, lifeboats, a police launch and a helicopter all took part in the rescue while Captain Rademakers still refused to part company with his ship which was named after his wife Anne.

Our thanks go to everyone who contributed with their memories.

And here’s some further photographic memories of the Seaton scenes from 1985.