Peter Fairbairn
Peter belongs to: Cullercoats RNLI
Peter was born in Simpson Street in Cullercoats. From an early age he wanted to be a fisherman and lifeboatman. Peter fished from a coble, herring drifters and trawlers.
Peter was interviewed by Carl Greenwood on 24 November 2005. The interview took place at the Interviewee's living room and lasted 1 hour, 4 minutes and 38 seconds.
Changes in equipment
"It’s a big, big change. I mean, when I first went to sea, going back again to the first days, everything was hand pulling, everything was writhing and pulling"
It’s a big, big change. I mean, when I first went to sea, going back again to the first days, everything was hand pulling, everything was writhing and pulling. Skippers wouldn’t even let you wear gloves, you know, all sorts of things like that. Your hands, like puddings. Now they’ve got winches, they’ve got power blocks, they’ve got everything, you know.
Well, for a start, your equipment, your nets and trawls were just made with ordinary sisal twine, which used to rot, or easily split. Now, you’ve got this coalene, man-made fibre, lasts for more or less ever. You’ve got what they call net drums now where you just haul the net on, it doesn’t matter how heavy it is, you can haul it onto the net drum, or if you, you’ve got a bag of fish you use the power block and just lift it aboard. And herring drifters now, well, they’re not drifters, they’re what you call perscenes, they more or less put a curtain around a shoal of fish and you’ve got a, a bag of fish then. And then they’ve got pumps to bring it aboard, where we used to just, well I didn’t do it, I didn’t do that sort of fishing, but one time you used, what they call dadling, it’s like a big net which you winch dip and fill, you know. Now it’s all pump, even pump it ashore. Big, big difference, and that’s in the last 20 years, you see.
Thick jerseys, and you always wore, in them days what you called an oilskin frock, which is more or less a smock went over you, you know, sou’ wester. But now the modern gear is wearing trousers, two piece, hood on and gloves. You mustn’t forget their gloves. There were some of them, even, in my later years, I had a crew, who they could practically do it, they could roll a cigarette with gloves on- that’s how used you get to gloves. But, like, as I say, things changed. Your smock that you wore and you had to wear thigh boots and in bad weather, when you had seas rolling aboard, that you used to, like that, you know, your trousers were always wet. But now, the trousers, the oilskin trousers they wear now, you know, you've got none of that.
Peter has 19 memories in the memorynet:
Peter's memories with a Lifestyles theme:
Peter's other memories:
The herring drifters- Following the herring
- Being knocked overboard
- Meals
- Sounds and smells
- Changes in equipment
- Changes at the Fish quay and the in the fishing community
- The RNLI
Photograph of Peter- The herring drifters
- Wheelhouse of the Faithful Star
- Photograph of Peter
- Peter on the Alpha
- The Akede
- Photograph of Peter
- Peter's father
- The Alpha
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