The Solway Harvester Memorial can be found on the cliff top at Douglas Head.
The memorial comprises a granite bollard from the harbour at the Isle of Whitehorn which is set in a stone. In front of the bollard is a small rectangular plaque which bears the crossed flags of the Isle of Man and Scotland below which the inscription is as follows:
‘A LITTLE PIECE OF
WHITHORN
IN THE ISLE OF MAN’
On top of the bollard is the following text:
'TO THE
MANX COMMUNITY
IN GRATEFUL THANKS FOR
THEIR COMPASSION AND
GENEROSITY FOLLOWING THE
LOSS, WITH ALL HANDS OF
"SOLWAY HARVESTER"
11TH JANUARY 20OO'
and on the front of the bollard:
'Isle of Whithorn
Harbour'
The memorial is sited on Douglas Head as it is the closest land point to where the Solway Harvester sank although some reports say that the vessel sank off Ramsey in the north east of the Island.
The dedication service for the memorial took place on 15th January 2001, and was attended by 15 members of the families of the fishermen lost, from the village of Garleston near Whithorn on the Isle of Whithorn in Galloway south west Scotland.
The Solway Harvester, a scallop dredger from Kirkcudbright, sank off the east coast of Isle of Man in heavy storms on 11th January 2000 with the loss of all seven crew members.
The wreck was found on 15th January 2000 lying on her starboard side in 35m (115ft) of water.
The Isle of Man government spent more than £1m to raise the vessel and retrieve the bodies.
On board were skipper Andrew Mills (known as Craig), 29, his brother Robin Mills, 33, their cousin David Mills, 17, Martin Milligan, 26, John Murphy, 22, David Lyons, 18, and Wesley Jolly, 17.
The men were all from the Isle of Whithorn area of Dumfries and Galloway.
Following a salvage operation, the damaged ship was taken to Douglas Harbour, where she moored alongside the South Quay until January 2014 when the wreck was finally dismantled. (
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The Marine Accident Investigation Branch published its report into the sinking in 2003 and concluded that ‘the Solway Harvester’s fish room flooded, making her unstable and eventually causing her to capsize.’
On 18th May, 2005 a Manx court found that 41-year-old Richard Gidney, who denied killing the seven crew by breaching his duty of care, had no case to answer. (
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On 8th November 2008 the Isle of Man, a coroner ruled that no one could be held to account for the deaths of the seven crewmen on board the Solway Harvester and recorded a verdict of accidental death. (
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