This week I have been looking at fishing books getting ready for my next outreach sessions. There is a lot of information to trawl through (excuse the pun) so I decided to focus on Herring Fishing. Up until the late nineteenth century it was just the local boats fishing for herring but then the Penzancemen descended on our local waters – a term used for the large two mast vessels that came from Cornwall. I have also been reading about the fisher lasses in their brightly coloured woollen jumpers, thick skirts, heavy leather half-wellingtons, oily aprons and woollen shawls in teams of three skilfully gipping and packing the herring.
During the Second World War there was very little fishing apart from local boats, as you can imagine the herring fish supply was plentiful. In 1946 the herring fishing season was back in action… It’s fascinating to read about the hysteria and spectacle that was evident around its hay day.
You can read more about this and other fishy tales in the Library. Books available, to name but a few, are Fishing out of Whitby by John Tindale, Memories of the Yorkshire Fishing Industry by Ron Freethy and Yorkshire Fisherfolk by Peter Frank.
