2012
NX9829 : Harbour workers shelter, Workington
taken 11 years ago, near to Workington, Cumbria, England
Harbour workers shelter, Workington
This stone hut, on the south bank of the River Derwent estuary, was built in the early 1800s as a shelter for a harbour worker. A workman watched the tide in the estuary from the shelter and raised and lowered a marker to inform seamen of the water depth. The chimney stack is a recent cosmetic addition.
Once, there may have been several of these huts on the shoreline. A hut of a similar design on a small hill inland but close by gained the nickname "Billy Bumbley's House". A potential origin for the name is that a former dockworker named Billy who manned the hut on the hill used to hum while he worked, legend has it that this humming sounded like a buzzing bee, leading to the hut gaining his name. This hut is however no more, possibly lost under a slag heap.
Thanks to Tom Jenkins for correcting and adding further information to the description.
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