At our September meeting the talk was entitled “Silver Darlings”. Our speaker was Charles Lewis who entertained us with the history of the herring shoals and their impact on Great Yarmouth. Charles started by explaining where shoals of herring were found and the best month to catch them. May in Shetland and September/October in Gt Yarmouth.
Many of us know about kippers and bloaters, but I had not heard of the red herring. Dating back to at least the early 1800s, this was a herring which had been smoked whole for about 2 weeks to preserve it. Legend says red herring will last for ever!. – one lasted for several years in a glass case in the Maritime museum at Gt Yarmouth.
Kippers are herrings which are split and gutted then smoked whilst a bloater is whole and only smoked for 2 days.
Drifters were used to catch the fish by towing large nets behind them. The boats came from the Netherlands, Yorkshire and the south coast and in the peak year of 1913 there were over 1,000 boats and more Scottish boats than those from Gt Yarmouth. We also heard about the Scots girls who gutted the fish and the special baskets called swills.
Charles told us of his involvement with preserving the last steam drifter Lydia Eva and ensuring she came back to her home port.
On 13th September members and friends had a very pleasant visit to Doddington Hall in Lincolnshire. A very interesting house together with gardens shops and good food.
Our 16th November talk will be “Aylsham Town” by Brian Hedge.
Judy Leggett