The project takes to the road…
The ‘Trawling Through Time’ project hit the road on Saturday 25th August when Robb Robinson (University of Hull) brought his fascinating lecture about the story of Cook, Welton & Gemmell shipbuilders to Grimsby Fishing Heritage Centre (GFHC). It was also the day when our digital display unit was unveiled at the centre, giving visitors the chance to find out more about our project and the history of Grovehill shipyard.
“When you consider that many of these drawings of historic ships are an average length of 900mm (almost 1 metre); the detail and accuracy achieved by our volunteers is astounding.”
The display comprises two screens; a video playing on a loop, charting the history of Cook, Welton & Gemmell and the project; and a touchscreen exhibition of some of the technical drawings that have been digitally captured and stitched together by our volunteers. When you consider that many of these drawings of historic ships are an average length of 900mm (almost 1 metre); the detail and accuracy achieved by our volunteers is astounding.
Thanks to David Ornsby and his staff at GFHC, we can now present some of these plans to visitors at the venue, before bringing the display back to the Treasure House in Beverley, for our visitors to enjoy there. The digital display unit has given us a great way of exhibiting at host venues across the country and engaging the public with our work. Its legacy will be that we can ultimately use it to display other content that we produce from our digitisation suite as future projects unfold.
“…his stories and analysis of the global impact made by shipbuilders and engineers from the East Riding of Yorkshire are both surprising and thought-provoking.”
Whilst the display unit is exciting news for us, the main event on Saturday was undoubtedly the lecture by renowned Maritime and British historian, Robb Robinson, whose in-depth knowledge and anecdotes about some of the vessels built in Beverley had everyone gripped for the full hour and a half. The lecture is being repeated at the Treasure House, Beverley on 20th September (now fully booked), so we won’t give away too many spoilers, but his stories and analysis of the global impact made by shipbuilders and engineers from the East Riding of Yorkshire are both surprising and thought-provoking.
From ships on the silver screen to steam trawlers sinking enemy vessels in the First World War; Robb gave us the complete gamut of Beverley shipbuilding, and left us in no doubt that the influence of Cook, Welton & Gemmell on maritime history is of true world significance, not just local. It’s a fact that is likely to be unknown to many, but with this project we can hopefully do something to remedy that and help instil Beverley’s shipbuilding story into the public consciousness.
With sincere thanks to Robb Robinson, and looking forward to his next lecture on 20th September!
Visit the ‘What’s On’ page to discover more project events.
Sam Bartle: Digital Archivist, and Project Co-ordinator
(East Riding Archives)
Trawling Through Time 