12 Silk Handkerchiefs - a special concert taking place at The Fishermen’s Church to mark National Fishing Remembrance Day.
About the performance:
12 Silk Handkerchiefs, Reg Meuross’s 2018 album inspired by Brian W. Lavery’s book The Headscarf Revolutionaries, opened a window on Hull’s Hessle Road fishing community in the aftermath of the Triple Trawler Disaster of 1968. Joined on stage by stalwart of the Hull folk scene, musician Sam Martyn, Reg’s powerful songs are interwoven with narration from author Brian W. Lavery and an audio/visual show that includes rarely-seen archive footage, photos and audio from the time of the disaster. Three Hull trawlers, the St Romanus, the Kingston Peridot and the Ross Cleveland perished and 58 men died in what became known as the Dark Winter.
Fighting fishwife Lillian Billoca’s subsequent successful campaign for improved trawler safety; sole survivor Harry Eddom who returned to sea just 11 weeks after the sinking; and the superstitions, lives and deaths of all those affected: all of these stories are contained within a fascinating and moving work of social and political history described as Meuross’s “most important work to date” by Pennyblack Music.
Reg himself says: “12 Silk Handkerchiefs is a classic tale of ordinary people doing extraordinary things, and the mighty strength of the human spirit. For years the Hull trawlermen and their families fought for survival in the harshest of working conditions: frozen seas with very little safety or protection. It took Lillian and her fellow revolutionaries to fight the companies who were exploiting this community’s poverty and need for work. They took on the Government itself until desperately needed changes in the safety laws were made.
“If ever there was a story of survival vs greed, honour vs entitlement, courage and bravery vs careless exploitation, this is it. I believe such a story in living memory needs to be told now, and remembered for the future” says Reg.
In 1968, the Fishermen’s Mission officers in Hull supported Harry Eddom, the sole survivor of the tragedy, and all the families and friends who had suffered bereavements following the sinkings of the St Romanus, the Kingston Peridot and the Ross Cleveland; work that sadly, but necessarily, continues to this day.
The 50th anniversary was marked on 4 March 2018 with a service at Hull Minster, which mirrored the 1968 service. In May 2024 the first National Fishing Remembrance Day was held and this year, the second National Fishing Remembrance Day will be on Sunday 11 May 2025. The Fishermen’s Mission is delighted to welcome Reg Meuross back to Hull to perform 12 Silk Hankerchiefs in the heart of Hull’s historic fishing community and on the eve of services all around the country to remember those who have paid the ultimate price in bringing in the catch.
*The Fishermen’s Mission is very grateful to everyone who is making this event possible and in support of the continuing work of the Fishermen’s Mission in Hull and around the UK.
