In photographs, artworks, and words Gloria Wilson celebrates the rugged fishing village where she was brought up, and from which she set her course to a career recording, both visually and verbally, the North Sea fishery she loves. She writes: In this intriguing place I have found a heady mix of seafaring activities, shorelines, inimitable fisher people, stalwart boats, notable marine artists, cats, dark seas and dashing spray, thick sepulchral fogs, the clutter of translucent fishing paraphernalia, folklore and local custom, and many architectural specialities, together with touches of joy, humour, absurdity, and melancholy, all set within a townscape and topography of distinctive and outstanding quality. Staithes has always been a working village, rugged and unpretentious, without attitude. Things have an elegance which results from useful function.

Fishing boats, particularly those along the eastern seaboard of Britain, from Whitby northwards, have always been fundamental to my existence writes Gloria Wilson in her Introduction. ... I touch upon my own story, give some account of how I have arrived at the happy and somewhat unconformable circumstance of being a writer and illustrator within the commercial fishing and boat building communities. Nevertheless, the boats themselves form the mainstay, the connective narrative throughout the book... I have chosen those which, for me, are the most likeable and pleasing, predominantly the classic, cruiser-sterned wooden-hulled seine netters and dual-purpose craft which are splendid sea boats and have such beautiful hull forms.

Having recorded in pen and ink the -"Fishing Boats of Scotland" which she loves, Gloria Wilson here focusses her attention on the -Peterhead yard of Richard Irvin & Sons, and the wooden, cruiser sterned fishing boats for which it became renowned in the second half of the twentieth century. Almost one hundred of her own photographs accompany her account of the boats and the people who made up a distinctive and now disappearing maritime culture. As Paul Gartside writes in his Foreword: "Gloria Wilson truly belongs in the tradition of the folklorists-individuals moved initially by the discovery of beauty in the commonplace who are then compelled to understand and record what they find... One hopes her example will spur others to similar effort, for the capturing of culture and local knowledge before it slips away is always a noble pursuit."

The introduction of the transom stern into the seiner-trawler fleet in the mid-twentieth century was one of the most radical departures in Scottish wooden fishing craft design since the development of the cruiser stern after the First World War. During the 1970s there also grew a colossal demand for steel boats, particularly among the herring trawling and purse seining fleets of north-east Scotland. By 1973 more than 15 British firms were building steel boats for Scottish owners. Based on her original fieldwork and using her own photographs, Gloria Wilson traces these developments and their links to economic and social trends in the fishing industry, both ashore and afloat. This fascinating book charts the tragedies and bizarre twists of fate that characterised this turbulent era, including the boats that were lost with all hands, and the boatyards forced to close, leaving half-built vessels on their slipways.

The boats and fishing communities of Scotland and North-East England from the 1950s to the present are highlighted in this pictorial appreciation. Gloria Wilson's unique collection of photographs has never been published before. With information on boat design and construction, it includes some rarely seen naval architects' line plans. From attractive Scottish wooden-hulled craft to recent steel boats, and with many shore scenes including Mallaig herring port, Peterborough harbor reconstruction, fish auctions, and fishermen net and boat-building, this book offers a glimpse into a bygone age. Finally, it considers the work being done to balance fish conservation with profitable fishing, a pressing issue for the fishing industry of the 21st century.

With dramatically diverse terrain and spectacular scenery, the Cleveland and North Yorkshire area has long had a strong fishing industry, and marine employment and pastimes remain common in the locality. All across this coastline, many places have supported small-scale artisanal fisheries and over time boats have evolved to cope with a variety of fishing techniques and local environment conditions, as well as changing economic circumstances. This book tells the story of the fisherfolk, boats and builders along the storm-lashed stretch of north-east England between the rivers Tees and Esk in the mid to late twentieth century. Based on her original fieldwork, and including more than 170 stunning photographs, all taken by the author herself, as well as interviews with fishermen and boat builders, Gloria Wilson describes how these knowledgeable people maintained traditional values and yet were ready to try something new. From curiously shaped square-sterned cobles, via little 'double enders', right through so the stout, steel trawlers built locally in Whitby by one of Britain's foremost boatbuilding yards, Parkol Marine Engineering, all manner of boats are explored and pictured here. Whether for the beautiful photography or the fascinating information, this is a book no local or fishing enthusiast can do without.