| A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE OLDE SHIP 1745 - 1812 - 2010 |
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| The Olde Ship sits comfortably
above the tiny old bustling harbour of Seahouses. Uniquely privileged to be
associated with Seahouses fishing heritage, The Olde Ship Inn provides a
fitting setting for the collective memorabilia of the days when herring was
king. Initially a farm about 1745 when the village was both grain and shipper of locally produced quicklime, the Ship was first licensed in 1812. Subsequent licensees maintained and supplied alcoholic beverage for the large numbers of visiting herring fishermen from such diverse ports as St. Ives, Peel, Inverness and Fisherrow. In 1910 Hugh and Eleanor Lawson became licensees of the Olde Ship and together with their family, ran the bar and few letting rooms to visiting holidaymakers. Indeed such illustrious visitors as Sir William Russell Flint and his family stayed in room seven in 1920. When the widowed Eleanor Lawson retired in 1953, it was to her daughter May and her husband Davie Glen that the custodianship of the inn continued. On the death of Davie Glen, the licence passed to his son Alan and his wife Jean. The past 30 years have seen all the rooms fitted with private facilities. A recently acquired adjoining property gives the Olde Ship a unique position in catering for the visitor in a very traditional setting. Currently, the Olde Ship is managed by Alan and Jean's younger daughter Judith and her fiancé David Swan. Varied food menus play a very considerable part of today's agenda. To this end lunch time sandwiches, salads and hot dishes are served within the bar environs, and recently developed beer garden. In the evening the Inn, dining room and adjoining Cabin Bar offer a substantially varied menu. 2010, being the family centenary year, a visit to the Olde Ship's eighteen rooms and suites will hopefully be a significant and memorable occasion. |