Trawlermen - Their Triumphs and Tragedies

Our latest event, "Trawlermen - Their Triumphs and Tragedies", brought hundreds of people to the Memorial Hall on Saturday 17th September, and only a few of them had arrived a day early for the Mind, Body and Spirit event!

There were three talks for people to enjoy; Kevin Smith on Grimsby's lost ships of WW1, Susan Watkin on the history of the local fishing industry and David Ormsby from the National Fishing Heritage Centre, who showed his great passion for and knowledge of the local fishing industry. We would like to apologise for the microphone problems which made it difficult for some people to hear Kevin's talk. Although the problem was rectified for the other talks, we're sorry if it affected anyone's enjoyment of the event.

As with all of our events, there was a huge amount of information on display. There were numerous stories about the local people and vessels involved in WW1, many of whom were lost. Our friends from Grimsby's Lost Ships of WW1 brought along items retrieved from the depths of the sea during their dives on wrecks in the Humber, whilst Grimsby and Cleethorpes Model Boat Club had some stunning models in display. 

Many people took the opportunity to talk about their memories and family members involved in the fishing injury and the Lost Ships/Heritage Centre table was a very popular place.

Thank you to the Honorable Company of Master Mariners and Wellington Trust for loaning us their displays on the WW1 hospital and troop ships and to Henry Pinchbeck who drove up from London to deliver them to us. We also appreciate the loan of fishing related items for our displays by our friends at the National Fishing Heritage Centre.

We were very grateful to Mark Hodson from Hodson Architects for producing, displaying and talking about his plans and visualisations showing what we would like The Knoll to become in the not too distant future. We received a lot of very positive comments about our plans. 

There were some beautifully sung shanties performed by Jean and her daughter, which really added to the atmosphere and of course there was tea, coffee and delicious cake in abundance.

Thank you to everyone who attended the event and to all the volunteers and contributors who made it possible. We would like to think that we will soon be able to put on events like this in our own building for more than a single day, so that thousands rather than hundreds of people are able to enjoy them.

Click here to view photographs from the event.