Fishing out of Lowestoft.

local gossip and news.

Lowestoft ,like every other fishing port in the U.K. has seen its commercial fishing fleet vanish.My store Baconsdozen was just one supplying fishing boats and their crews with their supplies and stores,now with no fishing boats left,we mail order 'obsolete' imperial tools but are closing the retail store.Thirty years ago dozens of firms ran hundreds of boats from the port.The last Lowestoft fishing firm of any size,Colne Shipping,collapsed in 2002 after months running at a loss.Most of its boats ended up in Holland,apparently now fishing at a profit.The following pictures were intended to give a snapshot of fishing in Lowestoft in the summer of 2002. I little knew I was photographing boats simply waiting to be sold or scrapped.As of December 2005 Lowestoft has an tiny inshore fleet,the trawler docks and basins are near deserted .

Guess what it is and you can have it,

.

In April 2002 this odd vessel came into Lowestoft,apparently it is to be turned into a floating night club.Rumour has it that is an ex Russian spy ship converted from a trawler.Obviously with all that covered in deck it can't be used to catch fish anymore,Ted Heath achieved the same end result for the British trawler fleet by simply signing a piece of paper

Early Morning in the Trawler Basin.

Colnes beam trawler St Anthony (now in Holland rebuilt,re painted and re named) and tug ETA (now disposed of) in the calm waters of the Lowestofts trawler basin only yards from the harbour entrance and the North Sea.Behind the wheelhouse of the trawler the control room of Lowestoft's bascule bridge which gives access to the port of Lowestoft,Oulton Broad and the Norfolk Broads can be seen.This bridge is the subject of much controversy due to the traffic chaos it creates every time it's used.

The Landing Dock

The fish catches were landed on the quay where the two smaller fishing boats are moored,the fish auctions were conducted in the buildings on the left.The beam trawler in the foreground having landed its catch of fish from the North Sea fishing grounds,was waiting to return to Colne shippings yard up river, it's possibly now in Holland or more likely turned into razor blades or even some of the spanners and tools we sell..

The Hamilton Dock

Frp Pictured in 2003. Provides a safe mooring for the longshore fishing boats.Gill netters,longliners trawlers and more are sometimes seen here,although the numbers have declined.The grey building houses more of the Lowestoft fish merchants,the white structure in the centre is the Lowesoft Ice Companys ice making plant.There are (2005) under a dozen or so of these boats left.

A early spring morning in 2004 and fishing boats are getting ready for sea.Often crewed with just a skipper and crewman or sailed single handed,these boats provided a precarious living for a dwindling number of fishermen.Some charter boats offer sea angling trips from here,and Lowestoft's beaches are popular with beach anglers.Latest plans are to develop part of this area for a marina, I must find up my yellow wellies.

Twilight for the beamers.

The entrance to the North Sea and its fishing grounds can be seen behind this beamer moored in the trawler basin.The approaches are constantly dredged by the port operators Associated British Ports.There are no large fishing vessels seen here now apart from the so called 'flagships' which fly an English flag (actually they paint one on the funnel) and under stupid EU rules have to stay in an English port for eight hours every so often contributing as they do so nothing whatsoever to the local economy.

The St Georges.

The St Georges, first large "beamer" in Lowestoft in the 1980's,operated by Colnes who at that time had a large profitable fleet.They also had other interests centered around Lowestofts fishing industry these all declined after the death of the firms founder.

The St Anthony

The St Anthony,built in Holland in 1998 was the largest boat fishing from Lowestoft harbour.It arrived in Lowestof in a blaze of glory but crept away a few years later. Although similar in many respects to the St Georges the boat was larger and more powerful,and carried sophisticated electronic systems for fishing and boat handling.The boat was built for the Colne Shipping Company,of Lowestoft who ceased operations in 2002.The boat along with all the others from Lowestoft that weren't scrapped is at present operating abroad,some apparently even went to Africa......time for a quick chorus of 'Rule Britannia'.