How Britain Worked by Guy Martin

Author:Guy Martin
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781448131792
Publisher: Ebury Publishing

While working on board, the trawlermen had some very effective traditional protective clothing. Oilskins, capes or coats made from sail canvas soaked in linseed oil helped to keep out rain and seawater, while their ganseys kept them warm as well as dry. Ganseys were jumpers knitted to patterns that had been around since the sixteenth century and originated on the Channel Island of Guernsey. They were heavy and closely knitted to help them repel water, tight around the neck and cuffs to keep out the wind and short in the sleeve to stop them getting caught up in the gear aboard ship. The complex patterns were knitted from memory and passed down from mother to daughter as they made ganseys for successive generations of their family’s fishermen (although men also knitted). They represented ropes, anchors and herringbones that were familiar to everyone in the fishing communities. Slightly different patterns would be used in different areas, and you could tell where a fisherman came from by the pattern on his gansey. Some families had their own patterns and might even incorporate the fisherman’s initials in the design. If nothing else, it helped to identify his body if he was washed up on shore.

It’s little wonder that sailors and fishermen have always been such a superstitious lot. I’m not one for strange superstitions myself, although I know that a lot of motorcycle racers have their own little rituals that they go through before a race, from putting their socks on in the right order to praying in the loo. These fishermen, though, really take the biscuit. Some wouldn’t sail if they passed a nun, a rook or a cat on the way to the docks. If they saw a rat coming ashore from their boat (and most boats had the odd rat or two) they wouldn’t sail in case the rat was leaving a ship it knew was going to sink. They didn’t like to whistle in case they whistled up a gale. Some simply wouldn’t set sail on a Friday. Knives and forks could never be crossed on the galley table. The list is pretty much endless.

It was bad luck to have a woman aboard your ship. Women still played a vital part in the fishing industry, though, scouring the coastline to collect mussels or limpets to use as bait if the men were line fishing, and gutting and cleaning the catch when it was landed. They also worked on building the boats and mending the nets. If it was a family-owned boat, the captain’s wife would be the business manager, taking care of all the paperwork while her husband was out at sea.

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