Lowestoft - the end of an era - is Newlyn next?

Letter to the Lowestoft Chronicle in response to an article forewarning of the closure of the fish dock in preference to moving sales and processing miles inland.


From Alex Brown:


It is a massive shame that this industry is dying out. How something like this can be allowed to happen is beyond me. The band that I'm in, Crumbs For Comfort, wrote a song called "Lowestoft Bay" that's all about the decline of the industry. Here are the lyrics: 


"Rolling hills mean nothing to us The sea is where we belong It's brine, not blood, that runs through our veins By Lowestoft Bay we were born There's been a port here For hundreds of years And as we leave the harbour We will remember a better time On Autumn waves we sailed out with A fleet of a thousand boats strong For many days we'd go to sea For the "Silver Darlings" we would trawl Then on landing the catch we'd send it all on To the Scotswomen down in the Scores And the Triangle Tavern Is where we spent all of our best times We could see them Leaving this old port Trawlers and drifters are leaving here Coming to Lowestoft Bay no more We could see them Leaving from the shore Trawlers and drifters are leaving here Coming to Lowestoft Bay no more There are rules to obey, when we catch too much We must throw the dead back overboard And as we head for home we will lament A fleet leaving for Holland's shores So come all ye longliners, man your boats And bate those lines once again And for lives that were lost St Margarets is where we remember We could see them Leaving this old port Trawlers and drifters are leaving here Coming to Lowestoft Bay no more We could see them Leaving from the shore Trawlers and drifters are leaving here Coming to Lowestoft Bay no more We will stay here And we'll carry on Getting ready to set sail again Mariners we are forever more We could see them Leaving from the shore Trawlers and drifters are leaving here Coming to Lowestoft Bay no more No more"


Listen to the audio track here:


Substitute Mount's Bay for Lowestoft Bay in the lyrics - Newlyn is some way from joining the likes of Milford and Lowestoft - but there are those who think that selling fish from a centralised warehouse is the future of fishing in Cornwall. Is a faceless transaction miles removed from the fleet's fishrooms something Cornwall's five million visitors travel to see or what generations of artists have been inspired to paint - or will that be the port's legacy - captured forever on canvas by members of the Newlyn School?


A fishing port without a fish market is nothing more than an accountant's transaction point, worth 2.5 pence in the pound; in the space of few minutes a week long trip is consigned, in boxes, whisked ashore to the back of an anonymous white refrigerated truck, untouched, unseen and unknown by all save the crew and driver - not much to inspire, marvel at or talk about - the equivalent of banking via a whole in the wall or telephone recorded voice. 


Preserving fishing as a way of life along with the all advantages of 21st century technology should be the way forward rather than using new technology to reduce interaction within the port.

Fish Sale on a Cornish Beach courtesy of Bernard Evans, Newlyn artist.

While we wouldn't want to revert to this classic scene captured by Stanhope Forbes 100 years ago nor become sentimental it doesn't have to be like this inland facility warehouse at Indian Queens on the A30 in the centre of Cornwall....

on the market with Right Move for £599,950.