Hull's Fishing Heritage: Aspects of Life in the Hessle Road Fishing Community

By Alec Gill

True stories of an English fishing community and its families, from street games and superstitions to the dangers of shipwrecks and war—includes photos.
 
Survivors of a wrecked trawler stagger ashore in Iceland during the bitter winter of 1910 in a hair-raising tale based upon Skipper Brewer’s handwritten log. Another skipper, “Mad” Rilatt, outwits German U-boats in the First World War. A suicide mission to war-torn Norway is undertaken in 1940 aboard a former Hull trawler. Amy Johnston, who flew to Australia single-handed, is revealed as a Hessle Road girl. And “Cowboys of the Arctic Circle” shows how Hollywood influenced the young trawler lads.
 
The fishing community of Hessle Road in Hull represents a unique breed of people who endured hardship from the elements in times of peace—and danger from the enemy in times of war. Within the world of the fishing families of Hull is a whole universe of humanity. Based upon interviews and three decades of research, a range of colorful tales are presented in Hull’s Fishing Heritage.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Sep 29, 2003
• ISBN: 9781783036691

Book preview

PREFACE

WHEN I FIRST came into contact with Pen & Sword Books, I was not only drawn toward their vivid name, but also that they published what is called The Aspects of … series about some town or other (e.g., Barnsley, Hull, etc). ‘Aspects’ is a word that appeals to me. I remember when I first looked it up and was attracted to its etymological root. There are many meanings of the word ‘aspect’. In the present context there is ‘a particular way in which a matter may be considered; the appearance of a person or thing, especially as presented to the mind of the viewer’. I then discovered its Latin root as ‘specere’ meaning ‘look’ (the word also gives us spectacle and spectacular). This then led to the synonym ‘facet’ based upon ‘face’ and often applied to one side of a cut gemstone.

Figure 1. Hessle Road is the spinal chord of Hull’s Fishing Community. Busy shoppers with their prams and bags pass each other at the corner of The Boulevard (1978). The present publication is about the Hessle Roaders of Hull. In other words, it is a people-centred book about their social history. Alec Gill

Combining the two words of ‘aspects’ and ‘facets’ triggered the idea of a place sparkling with interesting historical events to bedazzle the reader. Naturally for me, as a historian of Hull’s fishing heritage since 1974, my next logical thought was ‘Why not suggest a book about the port’s fascinating fishing families?’ This thought, indeed, was not buried too far below the surface – especially as none of my previous five books on the topic had been reprinted for several years. It was that deep-seated frustration that led me into producing six videos about my homeport. I needed an outlet, a means of expression to convey to an audience the joy I feel about this unique breed of people – unparalleled in the world. Video producing, directing, interviewing, editing and all the other things involved are fun (and I am indebted to Dovedale Studios of Hull for giving a novice such as myself the golden opportunity) but, once an author always an author. I was eager to get back to my writing roots and tell readers about the gems that are the people of Hull’s Hessle Road fishing community. They are ‘beautiful rough diamonds’ – the fishing family folk. I am privileged to be their ‘observant and loving chronicler’ – as actor Tom Courtenay said in the foreword to my 1987 book.¹

Now, what have we got for you – the reader? I hope you will be pleased with the variety of facets from Hull’s colourful fishing culture. The fishing fraternity of Hull is a rare and exciting collection of people. The sea shapes the soul of those who set sail. She seduces and saturates them with her spirit. One spin-off of this is that at the heart of the Hessle Roaders is a deep generosity toward others. They help those in distress, for they never know when they will be in the same ‘shipwrecked’ position themselves. Sea salt forms crystals of love between people. And the bond is built upon salty tears.

An enjoyable spin-off of researching and writing is that I also enjoy presenting talks about the Hessle Road community. One title is ‘HULL’S FISHING LIFE: Magic and Tragic’. The magic aspect refers to superstitions. Two chapters in the book tackle the topic head on, whilst taboos swirl within some of the others like an undercurrent. If ever there was a true cliché it is ‘Of all seafarers there are none more superstitious than fishermen’. Primitive rituals were practiced in the twentieth century because the fishing families lived close to death and nature. What the superstitions provided was a secret belief system that gave the trawlermen and their wives some sense of control over their own fate and the wild elements with which the men had to cope. Illogical? Maybe. But the major function of superstition was to create a peace of mind not provided by other belief systems. This was achieved by what anthropologists call mimic (sympathetic) magic – such as a wife not washing clothes the day her husband set sail; and touch (contact) magic – such as reaching for cold iron so as not to tempt fate.² More of this later. For now, all I would say is that the hidden bedrock of taboos enriched Hull’s fishing heritage and made it twinkle with a magic not found in other communities around the world.

The tragic dimension is also highlighted in the book – without getting too gloomy. When I first began to talk about the magic and tragic facets of the port’s fishing culture, people in the audience might say ‘Oh! Yes – like in a mining community’. Initially, I agreed with their analogy. But then I began to analyse the comparison. Nowadays, I do not go along with it. One reason the miners have obtained such a high degree of public sympathy is due to media coverage in the past. Whenever a mining disaster took place, reporters were there at the pithead interviewing all sorts of people: survivors, rescuers, owners, widows, wives of injured men, and children. Photographers also had a field day capturing dramatic images. But whenever there was a trawler tragedy, a reporter would find no one at the lockhead; survivors might be few and far between and probably on some foreign shore; the owners left it to the Pastor of the Bethel, but it was not his job to give a press conference; and the widows and fatherless children were in their own homes with their private grief. Likewise, a photographer would have few images. Furthermore, news of a lost trawler might not come to media attention until two weeks after the event – as with the St.Romanus (H.223) lost with all hands in January 1968 – ‘dead’ news as far as the press were concerned.

Figure 2. Whitfield Avenue Peace Party, down Division Road, was one of numerous celebrations at the end of the Great War in November 1918. Many residents collected money to have name plaques erected at the end of their street dedicated to those who died for their country. Hessle Roaders were very patriotic. Jonathan Grobler

Another point to stress, in the context of the mining analogy, is that a disaster in the coal industry might take place at one time in Wales, then a few years later in Yorkshire, then Scotland or County Durham. The loss is spread, both geographically and over time. Whereas in Britain’s only fishing port that concentrated solely on deep-sea trawling – Hull – there were losses every year. And they kept on hitting the same community – Hessle Road. ‘Lost Trawlers of Hull’ catalogues 900 ships lost between 1835 and 1987.³ That is an average of six fishing vessels lost every winter. But a crucial point, to highlight, is that more lives were actually lost every year when crewmen got washed overboard than if a trawler was lost. This rare finding was revealed after the 1968 triple trawler tragedy.⁴ Few individual losses hit the headlines – even in local newspapers.

The final area where mining and trawling do not always compare, specifically concerns the widow and children of a lost trawlerman. More often than not, there was no body. No body means no funeral, means no service, means no gravestone and, more profoundly, means no chance to fully grieve during the bereavement process that allows any human being to cope and come to terms with the emotional loss of a loved one.

It is said, ‘the sea is a cruel mistress’. Accept, don’t argue with her decisions. Fatalism is the only natural philosophy of fishing families who live and die by the sea. I sometimes conclude talks about the fishing families by stating ‘The Hessle Roaders had such a zest for life because they lived so close to death’. It is that zest I hope to capture and convey to you in the book. If I fail to do this, the fault lies with me – not the fishing families of Hull. There are many ways in which to relate aspects of community life. I have opted for a selection of a dozen tales. These are outlined in the Introduction. They provide a contrast that spans the twentieth century. I believe that the most effective way to tell the story of a community is by examples from the lives of the individuals belonging to that culture.⁵

Christmas 2002, Kathmandu, Nepal.

1. INTRODUCTION

Overview of the Book

THE BOOK DELVES into different dimensions of Hull’s trawling industry and its related community life – during times of war or peace. The historic period focuses mainly upon the twentieth century, with an emphasis upon ‘living memory’ events – so that present-day readers can relate to the tales. The book is not a chronological account of the port’s trawling history and how it expanded from its foundations in the 1840s and then progressed from sail to steam with lots of statistics about trawlers lost in both world wars, and so on. My stories are people-centred and draw upon thirty years of research, photography, and in-depth interviews with the fishing families (and copying images from their albums). There are a dozen historic aspects that reflect different angles of Hull’s colourful fishing fraternity and their dynamic lifestyle.

Figure 1. Westbourne Street School stood at the end of Derwent Avenue. The terrace has been demolished (1980s), but the school now serves the community as Newington Primary. Alec Gill

GAMES PLAYED IN THE COMMUNITY: Tom Tit, You’re It! The opening chapter begins with bygone games that were played in the streets of the Hessle Road fishing community. Many readers – no matter where brought up – will recall their own childhood games. The seasonal pattern of the games and rhymes – started every Easter – included skipping, double ball, hopscotch, marbles, conkers, bonfires, Christmas and April’s Fool.

GENTRY OF HESSLE ROAD: Posh and Poor Fishing Families – Their Joys and Woes.The three Hackett Sisters each married fishermen and, sadly, each ended up a widow of the sea. The chapter is about how they coped with their loss – especially after being refused financial help from the miserly trustees of the Widows’ & Orphans’ Fund. The joy, however, is when one of the sons married into a relatively posh family. The four other families involved are called Gray, Cutler, Smith and Naylor.

Figure 2. ‘Community spirit’ is a difficult concept to define and impossible to photograph. This is one of my favourite group pictures of people in the Hessle Road fishing community (c.1920s). It shows such a variety of characters across the generations – all within one frame. The gathering was in Daltry Street at the rear of the Public Slipper Baths (Madeley Street).Sarah Gray

Figure 3. The Skippers’ & Mates’ Ball was an annual event. This one took place in the 1930s at Madeley Street Swimming Baths. Thick wooden boards were dragged over the pool – these venues were ideal for dances (and even professional wrestling matches). There seems to be more wives in this shot than husbands – perhaps they were at the bar. Tricia Gray

TRAWLER WRECKED AT ICELAND 1910: Thomas Hamling (H.6) ¹ how most of the crew survived. This is a tale of survival against the odds after the crew of a Hull trawler was wrecked on the treacherous Icelandic coastline in 1910. Details are based upon exclusive access to Skipper George Brewer’s handwritten diary. It also shows the kindness of poor Icelandic people toward wrecked British seafarers (contrary to public opinion in Hull).

SKIPPER HERO OF FIRST WORLD WAR: ‘Mad’ Rilatt outwitted German U-boats. Hull’s fishing industry overflows with larger-thanlife characters. One such is ‘Mad’ Rilatt – a tough trawlerman who saw action in and survived both world wars. Typical of many independent-minded skippers, his Yorkshire grit often placed him in violent conflict not only with the enemy, but also Royal Navy rules and pompous officers. Ironically, the French Government decorated him more highly than the British.

LARGEST PARISH CHURCH IN GREAT BRITAIN: St. John’s Newington began in a Stable (1875). St. John the Baptist Church has many claims to fame, its greatest being that it was once ‘the largest parish church in Great Britain’. This was because the fishing community population expanded rapidly at the start of the twentieth century. The church also attracted some extraordinary Anglican vicars who left their mark on the district. Some were none too popular with the locals though – especially when they challenged the deep-seated Pagan superstitions.

TABOOS OF THE TRAWLERMEN: None more superstitious than fishermen. This nautical cliché has solid foundations. That is, the men lived close to death and Nature, thus they were drawn more toward the Pagan-based beliefs than those offered by the Christian churches run by landlubbers. We follow a superstitious fisherman as he gets ready for sea and then observe what happens aboard a typical trawling trip. The chapter explores primitive hunting beliefs in the context of life in the twentieth century.

Figure 4. ‘The Fishermen of England’ is the title given to this photograph by wireless operator (or ‘sparks’) Gerry Dunn who took it aboard the Hull trawler Warwick Deeping (H.151). They are the deckhands who gutted the fish – always exposed to the dangers of the Arctic Ocean. Gerry Dunn

Figure 5. Jason is the famous Gypsy Moth aircraft that Amy Johnson flew solo from England to Australia in May 1930. Chapter 8 explores the hidden links between this world-famous aviatrix and Hull’s fishing heritage. This painting is part of a large-scale mural at the Endike Community Centre in North Hull. Gordon Gledhill

AMY JOHNSON AND HER HIDDEN FISHING ROOTS: The Hessle Road Girl who flew to Australia – May 1930. This chapter is my answer to that frequently asked question ‘What’s Amy Johnson got to do with Hull’s fishing heritage?’ It outlines how she was a born and bred Hessle Roader going back as far as her Danish grandfather. Even Jason, her Gypsy Moth airplane, is steeped in fishing heritage. And her tragic wartime death in the Thames is linked with a Hull trawlerman who might have saved her life had his superior officers not dismissed his shouts to cut the engines.

ST. ANDREW’S FISH DOCK: Worked non-stop Around the Clock. Hull Fish Dock was the mighty hub of the port’s trawling industry. It turned the vessels around in thirty-six hours (three tides) in the pre-Second World War days. The Wet side handled the fish. The Dry side handled the trawlers. Both sides got the ships back to sea in no time. The chapter is a tribute to the energy and drive of thousands of workers who subscribed to the trawler owners’ motto of ‘Time is Money’.

Figure 6. The Balthasar (H.405) with decks awash as she battled her way to the fishing grounds around Bear Island (c.1935). This scene illustrates the fact that more Hull crewmen vanished at sea by being washed overboard than were lost when their trawler sank. Geoff Halligey

SUICIDE MISSION TO WAR-TORN NORWAY 1940: St. Goran (H.356) lost in action and a widow’s plight. This touching tale focuses upon the personal tragedy of the Rilatt Family and the high price they paid as their fishermen became fighters for their country in the requisitioned Hull