Following the fish workers
GUTS : LIVE RADIO PLAY
A WORK IN PROGRESS LIVE RADIO PLAY
@ CAMDEN PEOPLES' THEATRE
2ND OCT 2021
@ CAMDEN PEOPLES' THEATRE
2ND OCT 2021
WE DID IT!
Following the Fish Workers: The Journey
in 2021 Over the course of a month, I cycled the route of the herring fish gutters. I was traveling from Shetland and stopping off in the fishing ports and harbors where herring was landed, through Scotland, down the East coast all the way to Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft.
I met with people on the way who had a relationship to this history: whether that was as present-day fish workers or involved in some way in fisheries or through their own personal relationship to this labor and the women who did it. I wanted to chat to anyone one - about fish gutting and the industry.
Traveling by bicycle and sleeping in a tent along the coast (following national cycle route 1), chatting to people, I documented my experiences. I uploaded regular voice notes and pictures to this website, so if you were interested, you could follow me following the fish workers then go here.
Back in 2021...
Hi I'm Emer. I'm a theatre maker, celebrator of workers' struggle, and fish lover. Me and my bike Tina Tourer are on a journey to find out about the legendary women fish workers who followed the Herring shoals down the east coast.
We are following the Herring Workers route down from the east coast of Scotland, from the Shetlands, Orkney and the Highlands, all the way down the east coast to where they would finish the season in Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft.
The Herring Workers travelled by train. Me and Tina are travelling by National Cycle Route 1.
we would love a hello! you can read more and follow us on the journey.
Following the Fish Workers .
Throughout the 1800s to 1930s thousands of fish workers would travel the coast gutting, packing the fish alongside fixing nets and carry the fishermen on their backs to the boats to keep them dry. The workers negotiated contracts for their women crews that were quite unheard of for women at the time. In the 1930s the women staged a number of strikes demanding better conditions and pay and WON. The herring shows disappeared almost entirely by the 1960s and 70s, and apparently so did the the knowledge and history of these Powerful women herring workers from our collective history.
I am hoping to meet and chat to people on the way who have some relationship to the herring workers whether personal or who doing fish work themselves. I would some theatre that celebrates these incredible and powerful women and the work they did, I would love to chat to anyone who might like to be involved in that.
I will be documenting the journey with regular daily short audio notes, so if you want to check in on how I am getting on- take a peak at The Journey.
It's a long way. I am travelling solo, well, with my bicycle Tina, and staying in a tent. If you wanna have a cuppa and chinwag on route
If you'd like to get in touch, have something to share, I'd love to hear from you. Either [email protected] or My email address is [email protected]. if you'd like to know more about why I'm doing this Then take a look at this page on my website. I'm also @emermarymorris on Twitter.
There has been some fantastic research and documentation of the Herring Workers. I am aiming to gather and share this too. A few resources are in listed in resources tab. Please check them out for more on these incredible crews of women.
Throughout the 1800s to 1930s thousands of fish workers would travel the coast gutting, packing the fish alongside fixing nets and carry the fishermen on their backs to the boats to keep them dry. The workers negotiated contracts for their women crews that were quite unheard of for women at the time. In the 1930s the women staged a number of strikes demanding better conditions and pay and WON. The herring shows disappeared almost entirely by the 1960s and 70s, and apparently so did the the knowledge and history of these Powerful women herring workers from our collective history.
I am hoping to meet and chat to people on the way who have some relationship to the herring workers whether personal or who doing fish work themselves. I would some theatre that celebrates these incredible and powerful women and the work they did, I would love to chat to anyone who might like to be involved in that.
I will be documenting the journey with regular daily short audio notes, so if you want to check in on how I am getting on- take a peak at The Journey.
It's a long way. I am travelling solo, well, with my bicycle Tina, and staying in a tent. If you wanna have a cuppa and chinwag on route
If you'd like to get in touch, have something to share, I'd love to hear from you. Either [email protected] or My email address is [email protected]. if you'd like to know more about why I'm doing this Then take a look at this page on my website. I'm also @emermarymorris on Twitter.
There has been some fantastic research and documentation of the Herring Workers. I am aiming to gather and share this too. A few resources are in listed in resources tab. Please check them out for more on these incredible crews of women.
