‘This will be a fitting tribute’: Work starts on Memorial Garden to Hull’s lost trawlermen

POIGNANT: The memorial sculpture designed by artist Peter Naylor

By Simon Bristow

Work to create a Memorial Garden to Hull’s lost trawlermen has got under way at St Andrew’s Quay.

Commissioned by St. Andrews Dock Fishing Heritage Group (STAND), the garden and accompanying steel memorial will commemorate the estimated 6,000 trawlermen and boys who lost their lives at sea.

The original corten steel sculpture of 13 trawlermen at the site was temporarily removed and held in storage in late 2019 to make way for the delivery of a major flood defence programme along the bank of the River Humber by the Environment Agency.

STAND started planning the memorial garden in 2003, and after years of fundraising and design work local contractors are now on site.

The project – called ‘A City’s Memorial to Lost Trawlermen’ – is expected to be completed in August. It will also be a legacy to STAND chairman Ron Wilkinson, who died last month.

Hull Citycare have been working alongside STAND and Hull City Council to project manage the scheme.

Jordan Greaves, project manager for Citycare, said: “It’s fantastic to be part of the team delivering the Memorial Garden on behalf of the STAND Committee and I’m excited to see it start to take shape.

“Once completed, it will give the city a place to visit and pay their respects to those trawlermen who lost their lives out at sea. With thanks to many local organisations we’ve been able to realise the project and it’s down to the hard work of many people that this has become a reality. We’re also pleased that the work to install it will be carried out by local company, Wrights Civils.”

STAND have been supported by the council, which has provided significant financial contributions and support; by the Environment Agency, which provided advice to integrate the memorial within their recently constructed flood defences; and the many local companies and individual business people who have made generous contributions to the cost.

The project has also been generously supported by the Hessle Road fishing community and wider city.

FOCAL POINT: An artist’s impression of the entrance to the Memorial Garden

Local building contractors Wright Construction are now on site and have started clearing the area and begun foundation work. The memorial sculpture, designed by local artist Peter Naylor, depicts the crew of a trawler within a landscaped Memorial Garden.

Councillor Mike Ross, leader of Hull City Council, said: “It is great to see work get underway to create the Memorial Garden and I am looking forward to seeing it take shape. I would like to thank all those who have made generous donations in order to make this happen.

“The council has worked closely with STAND and played a pivotal role to ensure the memorial came to fruition, as we recognise the importance of the city’s fishing heritage. It will pay tribute to the thousands of brave men who dedicated their lives to the sea and never came home.

“The Memorial Garden will provide the poignant setting for people to visit for quiet acts of reflection and contemplation to remember their loved ones and a place where large-scale events of remembrance can also take place.”

Hull Maritime, the project transforming some of the city’s maritime treasures, also awarded STAND a grant to install information boards as part of the memorial through its community grant scheme.

Vic Wheeldon, a former skipper and STAND committee member, said: “I feel privileged to have been able to work on the project with Ron and I am glad it is finally coming to fruition.”

Ron Wilkinson had previously said: “Culmination of this tribute must be credited to the commitment and contributions gifted by the people of Kingston Upon Hull. STAND owes a debt to the many members and volunteers who have, over the years, given their time and energies freely to a worthy cause.”

More information about the memorial is available here.

STAND was formed in 1989 by ex-fisherman John Crimlis who was joined by historian Dr Alec Gill MBE.

One of STAND’s constitutional aims was to create a permanent memorial to Hull’s lost trawlermen at the former St. Andrew’s Dock, which was once home to one of the world’s largest deep-sea fishing fleets.

In 2002 STAND commissioned the St. Andrew’s Memorial Books which detail every known trawlerman lost from Hull.