Fishing from the Humber: Images of England

The role of Hull as the nation’s biggest fishing port began in the mid-nineteenth century, the foundations being laid by the smacksmen of Brixham and Ramsgate. The arrival of steam pushed the boundaries out beyond the North Sea, and after 1936 Hull was committed to distant water and fishing. Steam cutters were in use by the 1870s but the successful conversion of steam paddle tugs for fishing marked the beginning of a revolution in North Sea fishing. Within twenty years the sailing smack had vanished from Hull; steam power meant that trawling was no longer dependent on the wind and fishing could take place beyond the confines of the North Sea. This book a unique pictorial history of Hull’s fishing industry and its community; from the role of the trawlers during the two world wars to the amalgamations of the 1960s and 70s, the infamous Cod Wars and the massive reduction of the fleet after 1975. Despite the dark clouds, there has been good news, and October 2001 saw the opening of the new AGBP4.5 million Hull fish market, Fishgate, a new chapter in Hull’s fishing heritage.