H & W Appledore Shipbuilders - Asbestosis

H & W Appledore Shipbuilders & Asbestosis

There has been a shipyard on the river Torridge going all the way back to 1855, during that time the yard has had many different owners and names but most of us still simply know it as Appledores.  Appledores has a proud tradition that continues through to the present day, having helped build everything from aircraft carriers to millionaires super yachts and everything in between.  

Sadly, it has also left the hard working people of Devon with a less proud legacy, namely one of asbestos related illnesses and, in some cases, even fatalities.

Ask any apprentice going back from the 1950’s right through to the 1980’s and they will tell you stories of making ‘snowballs’ from asbestos left lying around and throwing them at one another, or sitting on sacks full of asbestos while they ate their lunch – things that we today would find beyond belief were very much the norm in most shipyards – and Appledores was no exception. It is too easy to dismiss such things, saying that back then no one really knew the dangers of asbestos, but sadly that simply is not true. While the shipyard workers may not have been aware of the dangers themselves, their employers either did know or certainly should have done.

Russell Worth solicitors are Plymouth based personal injury specialists, ready and waiting to help you investigate your claim for an asbestos related illness on a no win no fee basis. It is free to contact us and you are under no obligation to pursue a claim. If we can help, and you do want to proceed, then we will only ever act under a no win no fee agreement so there is nothing to pay upfront and nothing to pay to anyone if your claim is unsuccessful through no fault of your own.