My daughter is currently doing A level photography on the subject of Urban decay (a subject she chose not me!), and has wanted to have a mooch around this site for a while.
Weather looked good, and tide times were spot on so thought we'd make the trip down.
When you take the coastal footpath from Sennen Cove, you can't see the wreck at first, but when it does appear it's impact on the coastline and it's surrounding environment is very obvious.
This is best seen from the air, as this google maps extract shows, the whole of Gamper bay has now turned an orange colour from the huge amount of rust coming off of this piece of costal debris..
The walk down from the coastal path is quite steep and sketchy in places, and once on the beach the boulder hopping will kill your legs the next day, but the results are worth it.
At high tide the sea submerges half of the wreck, so it's worth checking tide times if you do plan to visit, it's a very long drive to find you can't get on board!
A bit of history from Wiki..
On 22 March 2003, RMS Mülheim was on a voyage from Cork, Republic of Ireland to Lübeck, Germany, transporting 2,200 tonnes of scrap car plastic The ship ran aground at approximately 0500 GMT in Gamper Bay, between Land's End and Sennen Cove, during which time there was "moderate visibility and fog patches".
On investigation, it was discovered that the chief officer—who had been on watch at the time had caught his trousers in the lever of his chair when trying to get up, causing him to fall and rendering him unconscious. By the time he regained consciousness, RMS Mülheim was already bearing down on the shoreline.
Although the Sennen Lifeboat and Land's End Coastguard Cliff Team were able to reach the wreck quickly, the six-man Polish crew of the vessel were airlifted to safety by a search and rescue helicopter from RNAS Culdrose. The members of the crew were treated for shock at the Sennen Cove Lifeboat Station.
What used to be a 95ft long bulk carrier has no been reduced to a twisted rusting pile of metal by nothing more than the power of the sea.
Once on board the 40 deg angle that the wreck is sat at becomes obvious, with climbing skills required on the very slippery decks.
To give you an idea of how steep it is on board, the rust marks behind the ladder in this shot are vertical.
After a while it can become a bit disorientating, as trying to line up the grid lines in the view finder of my camera with the rust lines, and not the structure plays with your brain and sense of balance!
A few more random shots from on board,
What's left of the bridge. This used to be elevated above the deck.
The engine room, couldn't get down there sadly as we didn't bring any rope gear.
A few more externals ..
The wreck is well scattered around the bay..
Too small for the main engine, this could have been used to lift the deck doors?
Nothing exciting, but thanks for looking anyway!
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any pirates ?
