Filmed in 1987 not long after the completion of the new quay - or Mary Williams Pier to give its correct name. The harbour had been dredged out to accommodate boats against the new quay almost as far as the fish market. At that time the only source of ice in any quantity for the boats in the port was from W Stevenson - so moves were afoot to create an independent ice works (at 18s you can see the space where the Cornish Ice Company now stands) as the number of boats began to increase due to success of gill net fishing.
The space immediately in front of the fish market has not been dredged - nor had the 'new' fish market been built - and when it was a new roof was fitted and the market extended into the harbour by a few metres. The blue tarpaulins were put in place in an attempt to protect the protracted auction process which on a 'good' day would go on past lunch time - but then the auction did not start untill 8am!
At 2m 2s you can see the end of the market where the 'gut bins' were kept - during the summer months visitors' nostrils were often attracted by several tons of fermenting offal maturing in the sun - despite being well known for the huge quantities of prime fish being landed, Newlyn was a little slow in appreciating the need for fresh food handling practices in keeping with the 20th rather than 19 century - how things have changed!
In the lorry park, vehicles from Jack Reynolds (who transported away the gut bins), Stevensons and Suttons (the yellow Fodens). At 2m 44s shows the huge empty shed which was built as a temporary measure to house the fish auction while the old market was given a facelift - it is still in use today as a workshop.
At 4m 14s an internal of the fish market reveals stacks of 10 stone kits - even some of the old aluminium variety. Big ground fish like dogs, ling, ray, pollock and coley were weighed in kits.
At the time there were no cold storage facilities built into the fish market so boats were forced to keep their fish on board if they returned earlier than planned. At the end of their trips, boats would start landing their fish alongside the market from midnight or later - if bad weather forced the fleet in there would be dozens of boats all trying to get their fish ashore and the boats would lay three or four deep against the market. To this day it is illegal for a boat to be left against the fish market unless it is landing - and once landed the boat should be moved away immdeiately to allow others access. With the advent of the market fridges the boats can now land at any time and keep their catch in chilled storage.
