3648 x 4880 px | 30,9 x 41,3 cm | 12,2 x 16,3 inches | 300dpi
Aufnahmedatum:
6. Juni 2019
Ort:
Shiprow, aberdeen, Scotland, UK
Weitere Informationen:
Ex-trawlerman Rab Youngman felt a once-proud fishing port like Aberdeen deserved a permanent shrine to its seafaring souls. So, after campaigning for many years, the 72-year-old Shetlander, who went to sea at 15, was delighted to see the Aberdeen Fishing Memorial being unveiled yesterday. Two bronze figures – a fisherman hauling a net brimful of fish and a woman carrying a laden basket – now look down on the city’s harbour. For Rab, it’s recognition that’s disgracefully long overdue to the brave men and women who made such a huge contribution to life and prosperity on Scotland’s shores. Beaming ex-trawlerman Rab Youngman at home on a boat (Image: UGC MSN) He said: “There’s a generation in Aberdeen who don’t even know what a trawler looks like. Aberdeen didn’t bother to save one for posterity. “For every man at sea, he employed seven ashore – net menders, ice factory workers, fishmarket porters, lorry drivers, welders, platers, engineers… you name it. “And women were very important. The wives supported the trawlermen in so far as the father was never there, he was always at sea. “They were amazing lassies. You’d see them during the day in the harbourside fish-houses. Then at night we’d go up town to the dance halls and you wouldn’t recognise them. “Often you’d find a trawlerman married to a fishwoman, as I am myself. My wife Wilma was a fish filleter for 40 years on and off in Aberdeen and Peterhead.” Rab Youngman getting married to wife Wilma, who was a fish filleter for 40 years (Image: UGC MSN) Rab, who retired in Boddam, near Peterhead, launched an online petition for a memorial. It was backed by Labour MSP Lewis Macdonald. George Adam, the city’s lord provost at the time, also took up the fight and support soon came from the city council. Funding was provided from the city’s Common Good Fund and there was backing from the Fishermen’s Mission.