FISHING
graham holmes
I left school at 15 and joined consols.My first trawler was the lincoln city as galley boy.I was in both the cod wars and it broke my heart to see the demise of the industry in grimsby.My last trawler was the Ross Revenge and my last sight of her was when she left the docks at Grimsby and later became Radio Caraline she didnt like that work because she was never the same ship afterwards.
Rowland
its such a shame that the fishing and shrimping industry in the UK is in decline. Marine operators the world over used the industry in the UK as a model.My heart n prayers r with d solid men of an era past
Reg Herring.
In 1949 I was part of a Bomb and mine disposal unit based at H.M.S Pembroke Chatham. Late one afternoon we were called out to a Grimsby Trawler that had trawled a Mine up.We boarded and found a net full of fish and the Mine. After lowering the mine on to some matting we removed the Detonator and Primer.The trawler was then allowed to enter harbour.
L.es Edmond.
I went to sea on a Grimsby trawler @ the age of 15. We fished off Iceland,Bear Island and the North Cape. The working day on the fishing grounds was 18hours on duty and 6 hours off.I was always wet cold and tired. The radio operator came on the deck each midnight and gave each fisherman a tot of rum.The best part of fishing was payday.
Peter Hadliegh
I am an ex deep sea fisherman from grimsby and I was one of those thrown aside like some piece of fish gut because Ted Heath sold us out to the americans so that they could keep their base in Iceland. I've been shipwrecked and I've been fired upon but nothing cut deeper than what Heath did. Its the same with all our political leaders. We as an island have to suffer for what our leaders think is the right policy for us. Yet they can hoover the fish right up to our doorstep. Being a fisherman was a way of life more than a job.
John Owen
I went to sea on a inshore side trawler at the age of 15 out of the port of Conwy North Wales. I have many photgraphs from the early 70s including herring fishing in the boom of '77 in the Isle of Man. Great times, great life, some great mates. Sadly now all gone. Not one wet fish boat fishing out of North Wales now exept for a few in Holyhead. We will never see it again.
Andy French
The demise of the fishing industry is a national disgrace and the way the fishermen and the industry have been treated is also a disgrace. On top of that the boats, some of which are very old and are part of the history of our nation, are cut up and burn't due to some mad EU policy. Lets have pride in our fishing heritage and save some of these beautiful boats for future generations.
Archie Wilson
I was born in Lowestoft in 1947 and can quite clearly remember all the herring drifters. One could quite literally walk across the decks from quay to quay. The town today is dead. The collapse of the fishing industry dealt it a terminal blow and it has never recovered. A real tragedy.
