That’s Women’s Work’, which will run until the end of the year, looks at the changing roles of women in these industries. There is a lot to take in, but the curatorial team behind the exhibition are on hand Thursdays and Fridays to take you round it on a mini tour.
The tour is included in the admission fee, and is free to members. An online reservation is required however as places are limited. Please reserve your ticket be clicking the Reserve button above, and then present your membership card or pay on arrival.
It includes stories about:
· The ‘Scotch herring girls’ who every year followed the fishing fleet down the east coast, stopping at ports to clean and cure the catch.
· The lives of local fishwives who packed creels with fish, which they carried on their back, to sell.
· How women whose husbands were at sea coped with tragedy and hardship and the support provided by the Fishermen’s Mission.
· Local women who worked in smokehouses and fish processing factories.
· A North Shields woman’s working life as a trawler skipper.
· Women and seafaring superstitions.
· Modern day roles of women in fishing and maritime industries.
The exhibition also shows works by local artists and crafts people including a shoal of more than 250 herring knitted by Old Low Light friends and some handknitted traditional fishermen’s ganseys.