Ferens Art Gallery In Hull To Host Swinging the Lamp

A performance of the dramas of a life at sea and in the words of a former fisherman is to come to Hull for the first time.

The dramatic ‘Swinging the Lamp’ will take place at Ferens Art Gallery on Saturday 9 March, 7pm and is part story-telling, part theatre and part folk music, evoking life as it was in the fishing communities of Hull and Grimsby and remembering the life of skipper Jim Williams.

Jim spent his whole working life on the sea and worked on the country’s last surviving sole sidewinder, the Arctic Corsair. He fished the Arctic seas at the height of the fishing industry, promoted the rich fishing heritage of the Humber estuary and was at sea when Hull’s triple trawler tragedy happened in February 1968.

Writer and producer Gordon Meredith has been involved in the region’s fishing heritage for over 30 years and wanted to retell the dramas of life at sea for future generations and remember the bravery of the thousands of men of the Humber who sacrificed their lives.

Gordon said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to be bringing this piece of theatre home to Hull. It tells the story of the work and of the everyday hardships that the men of the Humber ports faced on a daily basis.

“But it is essentially Hull’s story as seen through the eyes of one of the city’s best-loved and most respected trawlermen, Jim Williams. It was originally conceived and performed in Beverley but its heart is in Hull and that is where I have always wanted to stage it.

“The docks may have gone, the ships sail no more and many of the streets off Hessle Road have been emptied, but the fishing community is alive and well and not forgotten I want to keep those stories and those memories alive for future generations and it’s sort of stories that make me proud to be from Hull.”

Councillor Daren Hale, Portfolio Holder for Economic Investment, Regeneration, Planning, Land and Property, said: “We are extremely fortunate to host Swinging the Lamp in Jim’s spiritual home. The city has so many strong routes to fishing and this play tells the story of what it was like to be a fisherman and dedicate their life to the sea.

“There are so many untold stories and the Hull: Yorkshire Maritime City project will bring so many of these memories to life and tell them to the world.”

Two special performances of Swinging the Lamp are also taking place on Thursday 7 March on-board the Arctic Corsair. This is the first time a theatrical performance has taken place in this unique setting, testing how creative events can take place on the historic trawler.

Tickets for the performance on Saturday 9 March at Ferens Art Gallery cost £9 and are available from https://www.hulltheatres.co.uk/events/swinging-lamp