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In the Beginning
Founded in 1962 as Holyhead Boatyard Ltd by John Meade in
1962, Holyhead Marine had very sparse beginnings as can be
seen from the photographs shown here.
The site had previously been used as a dock and warehouse
to bring in coal and flour and the same vessel used to also
carry passengers to and from Liverpool. By the 1960’s,
the surrounding buildings had fallen into disrepair, and the
site was a scrapyard. Before work could begin a huge clearing
up operation had to be organised.
The original method of lifting vessels was through the use
of a crane whose motive power was provided by two men taking
turns on winding the handles. The vessels were moved around
the yard through the use of an old jeep and Goammel truck,
a variety of chains and sheer muscle power – a far cry
from the modern technology currently employed at the yard.
The yard’s first job consisted of the conversion of
a fishing boat into a motor sailing yacht. Once this was completed
more jobs followed and the next few years consisted of back-breaking
work and scrimping and saving to raise the money to improve
the yard and build decent workshops.
The Early years
By the end of the 1960’s the yard was able to invest
sufficient money to fill and rebuild the dock, repair &
reinforce the sea walls, build a new office block and construct
a big new workshop, now known as shed 1. A further storey
was added to the offices in 1976.
Pictures from current website of early days including shot
of Travelift and Renner lift in 1970’s.
The Company Today
Mark Meade took over from his father as Managing Director
of the Holyhead Group in 1992 having joined Holyhead Towing
Company 10 years previously following a career at sea.
A restructuring of the group took place in which Holyhead
Boatyard Ltd became the holding company responsible for the
administration and quality control of all the operational
companies within the Group of which Holyhead Marine is one.
Holyhead Marine has grown from repairing and refitting pleasure
craft in the 1960’s to the complete overhaul programmes
for commercial vessels such as Environment Agency Survey vessels,
RNLI lifeboats, RAF Pinnaces, Royal Navy Archer class warships,
pilot and harbour boats, fishing boats & tugs and many
other types of craft.
The year 1994 marked a significant milestone in the companys’
history for in this year Holyhead Marine built their first
commercial vessel, a 21.5m steel multi-purpose vessel. Since
then the yard has constructed a wide range of vessels in steel,
aluminium and GRP for a variety of commercial customers including
the Ministry of Defence, the Royal Berkshire Fire Authority,
the Isle of Man government and their own sister company Holyhead
Towing. A selection of these vessels may be seen in the Newbuild
section of this website.
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