Fishing in Hartlepool

Hartlepool’s links with the sea go back into the mists of time, as fishermen used the Fish Sands for centuries to land their catches when Hartlepool was a small isolated village. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution and the coming of steam, the fishing industry evolved into a major local employer during the twentieth century, coming to be involved in the national effort of both World Wars. Today, the industry has been reduced to a shadow of its former self. Based on his original fieldwork and using photographs from private collections, Malcolm Cook traces these developments and their links to economic and social trends in the fishing industry. This fascinating book charts the rise of Hartlepool’s fishing industry from open cobles to steam trawlers, and its decline to today’s few inshore trawlers. The book also includes a comprehensive register of Hartlepool-owned fishing vessels, dating from 1869, illustrating the strong generational links that local families had with the sea.