Fishing nostalgia

  • The skipper and the scribe

    The skipper and the scribe

    18th November 2022

    Brian W Lavery tells the story of fishing’s first ‘celebrity’ – skipper Albert ‘Hurricane Hutch’ Hutchinson – and of the adventuring ex-con-turned-writer who made the Grimsby trawlerman a household name more than 80 years ago Television has made ‘reality stars’…

  • The fate of the Admiral von Tromp

    The fate of the Admiral von Tromp

    11th November 2022

    Why a Scarborough trawler was driven onto the rocks in September 1976 remains a mystery. Brian W Lavery retraces the night she perished – and the incredible rescue mission that followed The eerie outline of what remains of the wreck…

  • The life and times of Skipper Dora

    The life and times of Skipper Dora

    4th November 2022

    Women had not long got the vote when Dora Walker became the North East’s first female coble skipper. Brian W Lavery charts the career of the woman who went wartime fishing with a pistol strapped to her waist Dora Walker…

  • Black Friday: The Eyemouth fishing disaster

    Black Friday: The Eyemouth fishing disaster

    28th October 2022

    The Scottish port of Eyemouth suffered Britain’s worst-ever fishing disaster when 189 men and boys perished on what locals still call Black Friday. Brian W Lavery recalls the tragedy Eyemouth’s fishermen were renowned as takers of great risks and getters…

  • Dixon’s of Exmouth: Standing the test of time

    Dixon’s of Exmouth: Standing the test of time

    21st October 2022

    Many of the classic wooden boats built by the Dixon’s yard in the 1960s and 1970s are still going strong – and still fishing. Mark Blanchard reports There aren’t many ports along the south coast between Salcombe and Newhaven, or…

  • A Battle Won in a Losing War

    A Battle Won in a Losing War

    14th October 2022

    Tom Watson, who skippered the Wyre Victory FD 181 during the second Cod War of 1972-3, recalls an encounter with an Icelandic gunboat in which Britain came out best Tom Watson. There had been a lot in the press of…

  • Triple Trawler Disaster: Hull’s Headscarf Revolutionaries

    Triple Trawler Disaster: Hull’s Headscarf Revolutionaries

    7th October 2022

    In the ‘Dark Winter’ of 1968, three Hull trawlers perished in as many weeks. Fifty-eight men died in the Triple Trawler Disaster, triggering a transformative safety campaign led by Lillian Bilocca. Brian W Lavery reflects on the story… Marching on…

  • Mollie Jayne: Beaming From Brixham

    Mollie Jayne: Beaming From Brixham

    23rd September 2022

    Photojournalist Tony Fitzsimmons documents observations and conversations from an early-summer trip onboard the SWFPO beam trawler Mollie Jayne The Mollie Jayne prepares to leave Brixham for an eight-day trip under a clear blue sky. The South Western Fish Producers’ Organisation…

  • Mevagissey past and present

    Mevagissey past and present

    16th September 2022

    The Mission’s book, Salty Cove, gives a glimpse of life for fishers and shore workers at Mevagissey. Phil Lockley paid the Cornish port a visit to find out more… The choice of Mevagissey for the Mission’s latest fundraising book was…

  • Safety at sea campaigner Lillian Bilocca remembered

    Safety at sea campaigner Lillian Bilocca remembered

    4th February 2022

    On 22 January, Hull’s Hessle Road celebrated one of its own when a plaque was unveiled at the former home of Lillian Bilocca, who led the successful campaign for better safety at sea after the 1968 Triple Trawler Disaster. Her biographer…

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE!

Subscribe to Fishing News magazine today; never miss an issue and save 55%!