A view from the top of the beach looking down towards a bow view of the three-masted schooner Mary Barrow (1891) stranded on Porthminster Beach, St. Ives. The topsails and mizzen sails have blown out in the gale from Monday 6 January 1908. A large crowd of people are gathered of the port bow, with other people on the beach off the starboard bow. Waves are breaking on the beach off its stern and the wash is riding up towards the stern.

In the distance, on the left, is a port side view, just forward of the beam, of the schooner Lizzie R Wilce (1876) also stranded on the beach. Behind the ship is Pedn Olva with St. Ives in the background. In the foreground are a large number of rowing boats and gigs pulled up on the head of the beach, behind which the photographer is standing.

The Mary Barrow was caught in a gale while carrying coal from Swansea to Cowes. When three miles of Trevose Head the ship lost nearly all its canvas and drifted in a helpless condition towards St. Ives where it was beached. The Mary Barrow was refloated on 14 January 1908. The day before, on 7 January 1908, Lizzie R Wilce was beached closer to St Ives on the same beach. Both sets of crew were rescued by the St. Ives RNLI boat.

This is a glass copy negative of an original print.