New book takes a look back at the vessels of the Scottish fishing industry

Steadfast Boats And Fisher-People by Gloria Wilson looks back over the innovation and turbulence of mid-twentieth-century Scotland’s fishing industry.  Published 5th September 2011, this £12.99 paperback original traces the changes and links them to the wider fishing industry in what was a turbulent era.

Fishermen traditionally regard their boats as individuals and discuss their merits and peculiarities in critical detail. It is this strong, independent spirit which makes the Scottish fleet so lively and colourful and rich in diversity and quality. Though shapely cruiser-sterned wooden-hulled boats remained the favourites of many, the introduction of the transom stern was a radical departure in design, and there was also a colossal demand for steel vessels in the   below-80ft section of the fleet.  Scottish boats were so likeable that a number were built for owners in Ireland and the north-east of England too.

Times of prosperity interspersed with downturns and sometimes tragedy, when several boats were lost at sea with all hands, and financial upheavals caused shipyard closures with half-built vessels left on their slipways left their mark.   Steadfast Boats and Fisher-People celebrates the author’s deep regard for the fishing communities and their boats, which represented such a unique way of life.

  • Steadfast Boats And Fisher-PeopleBased on her original fieldwork.
  • Traces the changes and links them to the wider fishing industry in what was a turbulent era.
  • Reveals developments in fishing boats built to the requirements of mostly Scottish fishermen from the mid-1960s to the late 1980s

Gloria Wilson has had a lifelong involvement with the sea and with fishing boats. Growing up in the Yorkshire fishing village of Staithes, she was Scotland correspondent for Fishing News from 1969-1982 and has written a number of books and articles on fishing craft, including An Eye on the Coast for The History Press in 2006. Her research has been carried out in fishing ports and boat-building yards, during trips to sea with fishing vessels and during long conversations with people in all sectors of the industry. She lives in Cleveland.

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