Fishing nostalgia

  • May Day tragedy: 40 years on

    May Day tragedy: 40 years on

    19th December 2024

    Seven men were lost on 7 May, 1984 when two vessels foundered in heavy seas off Flamborough By Paul L Arro Forty years ago on 7 May 1984, a double fishing boat tragedy occurred close inshore under the cliffs of…

  • 50 years plus: Zephyr PL 6

    50 years plus: Zephyr PL 6

    16th December 2024

    Launched in 1974 as Janbill LH 103, this Miller’s-built stalwart has worked a long and varied career from ports around Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man By Mike Smylie Janbill was built at Miller’s yard in Sto Monans…

  • Classic boat review: Tern LH 53

    Classic boat review: Tern LH 53

    28th November 2024

    Launched as Sweet Promise A 746 in 1965, this Noble’s-built stalwart, Tern LH 53, has clocked up almost 60 years’ service The 33ft Tern, which today is based at Port Seton, was built in 1965 by Jimmy Noble as Sweet…

  • Hull Fishing Heritage: The Arctic cowboys

    Hull Fishing Heritage: The Arctic cowboys

    7th November 2024

    Outsiders to Hull’s fishing community in its trawling heyday were often curious about what was nicknamed the ‘fishermen’s uniform’. But what gave rise to their unique style? By Alec Gill During the years after the Second World War, there was…

  • Fifty years plus: Jeniska KY 253

    Fifty years plus: Jeniska KY 253

    12th September 2024

    Built at the Miller’s yard in St Monans in 1971, Jeniska KY 253 has worked from Fife and Northern Ireland – and is now a fixture of the Campbeltown fleet By Mike Smylie It was a still night after the…

  • 12 Silk Handkerchiefs: Remembering Hull’s safety pioneers

    12 Silk Handkerchiefs: Remembering Hull’s safety pioneers

    30th May 2024

    The Seafarer’s Charity hosted a stunning performance on 16 May of 12 Silk Handkerchiefs, a narrated and musical commemoration of the Triple Trawler Tragedy that rocked Hull in 1968. Held on the bank of the river Thames, the event followed…

  • Christmas cracker crews

    Christmas cracker crews

    25th December 2023

    Ashore for Christmas? For Hull trawlermen, Yuletide trips were often an obligation – and were fraught with added danger. By Alec Gill Christmas was a time of conflict within Hull’s trawling industry. The clash was between love and money. Trawlermen…

  • Hull heritage: Picturing the past

    Hull heritage: Picturing the past

    10th March 2023

    Documentary photographer Russell Boyce revisited Hull fishermen’s pub Rayner’s after 40 years to compare old images with new. Brian W Lavery met up with him to find out more… ‘Eddie and Tommy’ back at Rayner’s bar in one of Russell…

  • Looking back – 1973

    Looking back – 1973

    20th January 2023

    1973 was a momentous year for the British fishing industry – but not in the way that, with hindsight, one might imagine… The big story of the year was the second Cod War, which had begun in September 1972 when…

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