NMMC photographic exhibition of working Newlyn fishermen

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roger-shipwright-working-on-pz-425-470

malcolm-deckhand-cook-on-pz198 joey-catching-mackerel

barrie-gutting-monkfish-on-pz198 Newlyn: Fishing for a Living

Sample images from Newlyn: Fishing for a Living – click on the
thumbnails for much larger images

A dramatic National Maritime Museum Cornwall exhibition by photo journalist Vince Bevan explores the working lives of fishermen at the port of Newlyn, Cornwall, from January 7th.

The images taken from a photo essay titled Newlyn: Fishing for a Living provide an insight into the highs and lows of contemporary fishing life, and echo the work of the Newlyn School artists, who depicted the harsh realities of life in this Cornish port at the end of the 19th century.

‘With rising fuel cost and the restrictive quotas placed on fishermen it seems as though every other day we read about the pressures faced by fishing communities,’ says Bevan. ‘These photographs portray a way of life that is increasingly under threat.’

Newlyn is the largest fishing port in England and has a strong and proud community, supplying livelihoods to many who are fiercely loyal to their profession; however, commercial fishing is still one of the country’s most dangerous industries, and even with modern boats and equipment serious injury and loss of life are common, and vessels are regularly lost.

The exhibition is supported by the Arts Council England.


Apple Pie – a project for the mid-winter break?

Apple Pie

Apple Pie

I’ve posted about this little boat in the past, but I think the message is well worth repeating at a time when many of us are thinking about the boats we’d like to build and use during the coming year.

Chuck Merrell’s Apple Pie dinghy is so small and simple, she’s a real kitchen-table boat – that is, she’s small enough to be built on a kitchen table, and simple enough that you may well be able to finish her before anyone complains they can’t do anything useful in the kitchen because there’s a boat in the way.

Seriously, it should be possible to build her in a very short space of time, and with very little in the way of materials. She’s also a clever and useful design and would make a great first boatbuilding project. Here’s the link for Chuck’s free boat plans.

If you do build one of these boats, we’d love to hear about it! Email me at gmatkin@gmail.com.

Dale Austin built one and has kindly allowed me to post a photo of the finished boat (below). Click on the picture for an enlargement.

He has also put up a photo log complete with instructions on his own site:

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mrwizard/sail/dinghy/dinghy.html

Applie Pie photo

 

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A Christmas scene from the maritime parish church at Mylor

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Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you all. On this day, I thought I should share with you this nativity scene from an ancient chair in the splendidly maritime little parish church at Mylor, in Cornwall. The other pictures include plaques that reveal just a little information about this astonishing if uncomfortable-looking object.

It is, of course, yet another monument – this time in at least two different levels.

mylor-chair-1 mylor-chair-4

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