Locally known as the ‘Potato Boat,’ the Ben Blanche ground against the rocks of Paviland Cliffs in the dense fog of 17th December, 1933. The Rhossili Rocket crew attended the ship but found its crew had already vacated the vessel in the ship’s own small lifeboat and had been picked up in the Bristol Channel by a passing ship.
Little could be done to save the Ben Blanche, and it was eventually cut up for scrap. Much of the ship’s cargo (potatoes), on the other hand, were readily harvested from the rocks and made many a villager’s tea over the next few weeks. Whilst villager’s gained this source of food, however, they lost another as the wreck caused the collapse of a well-worked lobster hole that had been fished for many previous generations.
All that remains of the wreck today is the ship’s boiler which can be found near Knave Bank.
Ben Blanche
