Great Yarmouth drifters returning with their catch of herring, and fisher girls at work on the quay.
Genre:
Actuality
Steam and sail drifters entering the harbour. The first shot on the Quay shows ranks of drifters, with fisher girls walking arm-in-arm. There are swills (fish baskets) in the background. Other girls are shown knitting as they walk. Men are shown on board a drifter sorting out a catch and there follow scenes of unloading. Girls carry swills and are seen barrelling herring for export. The film finishes with shots of the fisher girls gutting herring.
Background Information:
The Scots fisher girls, with whom this film is mainly concerned, travelled down the coast by special trains during October to follow the fishing fleets. They returned home from Great Yarmouth around Christmas time. By 1907 it was reckoned that the Scots fishermen, fisher girls, curers and coopers swelled the population of Yarmouth by about 10,000 during the season.The first steam drifter was introduced in 1887. By 1913 the move from sail to steam drifters was almost complete.