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| Lock & Co, Warsash |
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| Brief Description: Lock & Co, a shellfish merchant and tearooms, Warsash, with the Rising Sun Hotel beyond and dinghies drawn up on the Shore Road, about 1920. |
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| Subject Date: About 1920 |
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| Creator: Copied by: Dine, Derek; Hampshire County Library; |
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| Owner: Hampshire Library and Information Service |
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| Contributor: Hampshire Library and Information Service |
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| Full Description: During the early part of the 20th century, the Crab and Lobster provided crab and lobster teas, lunches and suppers and was a popular spot for trips by bicycles and charabancs. It is now demolished and has been replaced with modern flats.
In 1864 there were two firms at Hamble who dealt in shell fish. They owned several vessels that went to Devon and Cornwall to collect crabs, Ireland for lobsters and to France for scallops and crayfish. The crabs, although caught in the west country were always known as Hamble crabs.
James Lock lived in Warsash at that time and his original business was that of a rag and bone man. He began to extend his business by selling fish and meat in a cottage near the shore, and when he received orders for crabs and lobsters he would go to Hamble and buy them at wholesale prices for retail to his customers. He decided to buy a boat of his own, but lacked the necessary capital so he went into business with two friends, Mr. Birch and Mr Sims. The boat was purchased and the venture became very successful and before long, he owned several vessels and built up a thriving business. He also made use of an old fishpond on the Shore Road in which he kept his fish until they were sold. The fish in the pond were an attraction for visitors as well. His ships went as far as the North Sea and Storoway dredging for oysters. Many of his crabs were kept in large wooden receptacles known as carbs, and they entered through a lid on the top whilst the sides were drilled with holes to allow the free passage of water. They were anchored in the river just off the hard at what was known as the carb moorings. When the fish were required, the carbs were towed ashore and landed on the hard at high water. When the tide went down they were left high and dry and could be emptied without difficulty. Once, after a period of heavy rain, so much fresh water came down the river from Botley that the crabs began to die, and the carbs had to towed out to Southampton Water.
The fish and seafood was transported to Fareham railway station by horse and cart for sale elsewhere, crabs and lobsters in the summer and oysters and scallops in the winter. When the fish were landed at Warsash, the vessels were put on the hard at high water, being kept upright as the tide went out by stout timbers fixed to their sides. This enabled the fish to be cleared right out of the wells and either stored in the fishpond or sent direct to market.
The ships were built with two watertight bulkheads and had many holes in the bottom, which could be seen right through when they were empty and this allowed for the essential circulation of water to keep the fish alive when the ship was moving. If the ship became becalmed, the fish had to be scooped out of the wells with long poles fitted with an iron hoop and net at the end, and hung around the sides of the ship in large nets until the ship started moving again.
Mr Lock used to buy ships suitable for his purpose, haul them up the slipway and employ shipwrights to fit them up for his fish carrying trade. Many of his captains came from Salcombe in Devon and several of them settled with their families in Warsash. The crew were nearly all Warsash men. The names of some of his ships were the Stella, Jubilee, Imogen, Harriet and Bonnie Lass. The Imogen was lost in the North Sea whilst oyster dredging and the Bonnie Lass and the Harriet were both lost in Ireland.
Crab teas were big business at that time and as many as two hundred people would visit Warsash for the crab teas in a single day. Lock's competitors along Shore Road included H Buckett, H Fuger and H Butcher as well as the Rising Sun.
References:
1. Spotlight magazine. 1975.
2. F W L. 1992 Revised reprint . Short history of Warsash, p. 7-9.
Copy photograph of a photograph. |
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| Place: Warsash, Fareham Borough, Hampshire |
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| Subject: building, café, tearoom, shellfish, merchant, public house, inn, hotel, transport, boat, Stella, Imogen, Jubilee, Bonnie Lass, dinghy, street, Shore Road |
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| Name Subject: James Lock, Birch, Sims, H Buckett, H Fuger, H Butcher, Crab and Lobster, Rising Sun, Lock and Co |
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| Content Type: Photograph |
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| Location: Fareham Library |
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| Local Ref: 315/2/4 |
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| Unique ID: hs-hl-hs2441-i-00-000.jpg |
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| IPR: Hampshire Library and Information Service - Hampshire County Council |
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