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
As I navigate my way through this time in Shetland and the project, I feel like a driftnet, gathering everything that is coming to me while at the same time trying to put some shape into it, however it is only week 1 and there is a long way to go…………
So today I visited the Swan, a restored herring drifter now residing in the harbour at Scalloway. The boat dates from 1900 and is nowadays a successful community project, you can find out more at www.swantrust.com. I had arranged to meet Alistair Rendall, a retired fisherman and a key person in the swan project, he generously spent some time with me, talking about the project and some memories and reflections on the changing fishing industry in Shetland.
The boat was a packed full of interesting details that to me just looked like sources of inspiration for art, but of course were actually very useful and functional, working parts of the boat. Being born in London and having only been to sea on the cross channel ferry to France, it is a totally alien world. I loved the labelled parts, very useful ! and the mast was an impressive piece of wood that had traveled all the way up from the Forest of Dean.
What great names, no idea what they all are, well not completely true I know they are all the different sails, they are very evocative.
The other bits I was drawn to were the coiled ropes, leather stitched sail rings – definitely not the correct term I am sure – and the collages of textures and forms showing the effects of the weather on the different materials, not sure where it is all fitting in, probably not very important at the moment.
No need for words today, just stunning………….
