The Herring is King !
I have been lucky enough to be given another set of the most amazing photographs today, they are a valuable historical record as well as being very good images, packed full of information. It is interesting that I can read accounts and listen to people telling me facts and information about fishing however it is not until I see an image that it starts to make sense. Over the last week I have learnt a lot about driftnets and how they work – probably just scratched the surface really- but seems a lot bearing in mind the extent of my knowledge before the project began. When I saw this photo and the sheer volume of these nets it became more real and could begin to understand the extent of the work involved in the setting out of so many nets and then hauling them in.
This morning was spent in the company of Magnie Shearer in his house in Levenwick, once again I spent a very enjoyable few hours listening to first hand accounts of the history of the Herring/Pelagic industry and what it means to Shetland. Magnie has worked in the business all his life, his family owned J&M Shearers one of the main Shetland curing yards. The photographs were taken by his father, also Magnie, and date from the 1960’s and 70’s. They have a wonderful quality because they were originally in slide format which gives them that luminosity and sharpness. This is just a taster of them, there are many more and they will also go into the Fish Van Collection. I particularly enjoyed hearing about the process of curing the fish and the particular specifications of the barrels, it is amazing to see the extent of the business with the huge numbers of barrels piled up, this was in the 1960’s, I can only imagine how it was in the boom period of pre WW1. Magnie gave a vivid description of how the herring season months of May/June/July/August brought this great flurry of activity,work and socialising, Shetland came alive with everybody involved in some way, from the women arriving to be gutters, the fishermen, the buyers, the curers, the coopers, the grocers selling his food to the boats and even a man to scare away the gulls, it then quietened down for the winter months which is when the barrels were made….I would like to find out more about the coopers, so now for some more images……
All photographs by Magnie Shearer
A bright, sunny start this morning after a couple of days of wind and rain, staying in Hoswick today to meet BBC Radio Shetland this morning to do an interview with myself and Clair Aldington, the project manager, talking about the project, you can listen to the interview on Good Evening Shetland here on soundcloud.
https://soundcloud.com/bbcradioshetland/good-evening-shetland-friday-23rd-october-2015
Thinking about knots, nets and logos as well as my impending trip out on a Pelagic Trawler, looks like we are heading out Monday afternoon, now worrying about what I will need to take, wellies and waterproofs and warm clothes and if I will find my sea legs, it is going to be a great opportunity to see the modern fishing industry in action, to record sounds, interview the crew and record with photos and drawings.
This is Davie Smith showing me the model of his fishing boat ‘Evening Star’, he had two Evening Stars this is the second one. Davie a retired Captain and fisherman lives in Scalloway with his wife Agnes, they were very welcoming and Davie shared with me his detailed and impressive knowledge and memory of fishing, he obviously still feels a passion for it and I thoroughly enjoyed learning…even more…about fishing in Shetland. I hope to return to find out more very soon, this time to focus on some of the areas of interest that I feel I starting to emerge.
Evening Star, number 1
Particular details that stick in my mind are when I asked him when he started fishing he told me ‘I was 3 weeks short of 15, I left school on Thursday and started Monday’……so young. The other detail was his description of how the nets can spontaneously combust! because of the build up of grease from the herring and the heat generated in the centre when they are piled up that they can start smoking and get damaged, they have to put salt on them.
There were many more stories and they will be recorded for the Fish Van Collection, along with the photographs they lent to me.
I have so many wonderful images from today, that it feels a privilege to be able to see them and to use them. In fact I am feeling that the generosity and kindness that has been shown to me so far is also a kind of privilege, not even mentioning all the fabulous scones and food.
The following photos were taken by a Czechoslovakian photographer in the early 1970’s on board Davie’s boat, I find them amazing images, here are some…..
I love this one, this is Davie, he looks like Dirk Bogarde !
So far the weather has been mild with broken sun and cloud, most people I meet tell me that it is not usually like this, what is it like then ? I ask, oh well…wet and windy, so today its like this looking out from my house, with a misty drizzle hanging over the land, but no wind…….yet.
Today was a day at home catching up with admin and designing and making the logo for the Fish Van Collection, this is the community aspect of the project and can be visited on facebook at.
https://www.facebook.com/www.fishvancollection.co.uk
We are trying to organise a trip out to sea with a Pelagic trawler, hopefully not landing in Denmark, but apparently it is possible. How are your sea legs ? the question I keep getting asked, the truth is I don’t really know, they have never been tested, just a little apprehensive……they (the boats) are very comfortable I have been assured. The boat most likely to take me is the Adenia LK 193 with Skipper George William Anderson. I did not know when I was taking photos in the harbour at Lerwick on Saturday that I was actually photographing the Adenia, my boat, so here she is……….
You can see her in action here.
http://www.shetlandfishermen.com/lk193
wipp wipp wipp
cloot around da finger
ower da end an
ower da second knuckle
wipp wipp wipp
tie da treed
brak him aff
start ageen
verse from the poem ‘Rhythms’ by Laureen Johnson
I spent the afternoon with Laureen in her house in Voe, I wanted to meet her because I had already read some of her poems and I wanted to find out more about her poems inspired by the lives and work of the women herring gutters. I am always interested in words and poetry and often incorporate it into my work. The Shetland dialect is fascinating, rich and can seem a bit impenetrable, listening to Laureen reading her poems it came alive and was much easier to understand listening to her speak rather than reading them.
We talked about many things and once again I found myself wanting to pursue another area of research related to the fishing industry, the subject is vast, deep, ever changing, complex and there are many directions that I could go in, however it is a good position to be in to have too much inspiration, rather than none.
We talked about the herring gutters and the details about their work, since being here the connection between Shetland and Lowestoft keeps arising, as I live in Suffolk it feels an important link and today I discovered that the women would travel down to Lowestoft to work, following the fish, from October until Christmas, amazing! it is exactly the same period of time that I am here, in Shetland from Suffolk, uncanny, there is something in that, i’m sure.
We’re awa, we’re awa ta Lowestoft
we’re awa ida fall o da year
When da herrin is geen fae Shetland
An he’s quiet on Shearer’s pier.
When da farleen’s staandin empty
An da huts is aa shut doon
We’re awa wi aa da idder crews
Ta da guttin in Lowestoft toon
Laureen Johnson
