It is a sure sign of age when you can reach for one of your own old photographs to respond to a Sepia Saturday prompt. Nevertheless, how better to match a 1930s picture of a barrow full of old fish than a 1980s picture of a box full of old fish. My picture is one of a sequence of photographs I took in the early to mid 1980s in Grimsby Fish Docks, just at the time when activity in the docks was winding down. At one time Grimsby Docks was the main fishing port in the country, employing hundreds of workers and landing over 20% of all fish caught in the UK. Over the last fifty years activity in the docks has dwindled and the docks have become an industrial wasteland, but plans are now being considered for the redevelopment of the site.
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Yes - I increasingly find that photos of myself or that I have taken are "historical!" A fine fishy foto!
ReplyDeleteExcellent shot, preserving an industry which has changed, gone elsewhere, and yet we're still eating fish!
ReplyDeleteNot only is it one of your own old photographs, but sepia into the bargain. A great historical record.
ReplyDeleteI see that we both have found photos with conveyor belts this weekend, Alan. I'm curious what kind of fish gets sent up and then down the funnel tube. Maybe herring?
ReplyDeleteThe name Grimsby is so wonderfully evocative of Britain, I went to Google maps to see the port area. A random click on a street view magically transported me into the Grimsby Fish Museum! It's rather frightening. https://goo.gl/maps/vWHtEtf7ARG2
Love this photo! If you had not placed it in the 1980s I would have taken it for much earlier.
ReplyDeleteOh for heaven's sake. :) I used the port of Grimsby in a couple of my late 1800s novellas (which are yet to be published but one of these days - hopefully before too long - will be through Amazon). Those are a LOT of boxes of fish!
ReplyDeleteYour photograph show the power in a single black and white image of recording the demise of a once thriving industry.
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