0:00:08 > 0:00:12There are few jobs as dangerous as deep sea fishing in the Arctic,
0:00:12 > 0:00:15where gale-force winds and mountainous seas
0:00:15 > 0:00:18have claimed the lives of thousands of men.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23In January 1968,
0:00:23 > 0:00:25trawlers from Hull's fast fishing fleet
0:00:25 > 0:00:28headed into these icy waters
0:00:28 > 0:00:30in their quest for the biggest catch.
0:00:31 > 0:00:33It was a journey that would descend into tragedy.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38The waves must have been 30, 40 foot high, some of them.
0:00:40 > 0:00:42You know, you've got hundreds of tonnes of water
0:00:42 > 0:00:43crashing onto the ship.
0:00:44 > 0:00:46And I actually thought we were going to sink.
0:00:48 > 0:00:49We was fighting for our lives.
0:00:52 > 0:00:56Within three weeks, three ships had sunk,
0:00:56 > 0:00:58and 58 men had lost their lives.
0:00:58 > 0:01:02For their families back home in Hull, the news was devastating.
0:01:04 > 0:01:05Your brain's thinking...
0:01:06 > 0:01:09.."What was the last words they said?
0:01:09 > 0:01:14"Was he shouting for me, for his mam, for his bairns?"
0:01:14 > 0:01:17"Would he have been fighting to get out of the water?"
0:01:17 > 0:01:20All that plays with your head.
0:01:21 > 0:01:26But out of this tragedy came something extraordinary.
0:01:26 > 0:01:28Fuelled by years of suffering and loss,
0:01:28 > 0:01:32in which over 6,000 of their men had died at sea,
0:01:32 > 0:01:34the women of Hull rose up
0:01:34 > 0:01:37to protest against the dangerous working conditions.
0:01:37 > 0:01:42They were led by an indomitable character called Lillian Bilocca.
0:01:42 > 0:01:45My mother just looked horrified...
0:01:46 > 0:01:50..and she thumped her hands and she said, "Virginia, enough is enough!"
0:01:52 > 0:01:54"I'm going to do something about this."
0:01:54 > 0:01:56I've always been concerned,
0:01:56 > 0:01:59but I've never had the guts to do owt about it.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02But now I think that it's time somebody did.
0:02:02 > 0:02:07What Lillian and the others wanted was a safer fishing industry,
0:02:07 > 0:02:10and they were prepared to do anything to get it.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13But this was a man's world, where women weren't welcome.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17I got a punch in the face when I was first doing it.
0:02:17 > 0:02:19JOURNALIST: Are you a fisherman's wife?
0:02:19 > 0:02:21I'm a fisherman's daughter who died at sea
0:02:21 > 0:02:24four years ago. My mother was widowed with six children...
0:02:24 > 0:02:27But I wouldn't have stopped under any circumstances.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30I wanted something put right that was wrong.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33People should never put money before people's lives.
0:02:35 > 0:02:37This is the epic story of a disaster
0:02:37 > 0:02:41that tore through the heart of Hull's fishing community,
0:02:41 > 0:02:44and of the remarkable women who risked everything
0:02:44 > 0:02:46in their fight to ensure
0:02:46 > 0:02:47it never happened again.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02The circumstances that led to the women's protest have their roots
0:03:02 > 0:03:05in Hull's unique fishing culture,
0:03:05 > 0:03:07and the dangerous working practices that developed
0:03:07 > 0:03:09over the course of a century.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13By the 1960s, the city was home
0:03:13 > 0:03:16to the greatest deep-sea fishery on earth.
0:03:17 > 0:03:23150 deep-water trawlers were based at St Andrew's Dock,
0:03:23 > 0:03:26and every year, they brought in up to a quarter of a million tonnes
0:03:26 > 0:03:30of fish, 25% of Britain's total catch.
0:03:32 > 0:03:34To bring in such large quantities,
0:03:34 > 0:03:37Hull's trawlermen had to take enormous risks
0:03:37 > 0:03:38because the best hunting grounds
0:03:38 > 0:03:43were 1,000 miles away in the Arctic waters around Iceland.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45For the Hull trawlermen,
0:03:45 > 0:03:46the North Sea was,
0:03:46 > 0:03:48more or less, a highway,
0:03:48 > 0:03:49a watery highway which led
0:03:49 > 0:03:51to the fishing grounds,
0:03:51 > 0:03:53which led to them fishing under the Northern lights.
0:03:53 > 0:04:00They went as far as a man could go without hitting ice, basically,
0:04:00 > 0:04:03without hitting the Poles, as it were, to fish.
0:04:08 > 0:04:10Of course, because they went further,
0:04:10 > 0:04:12and as far as you could go...
0:04:14 > 0:04:15..the risk becomes greater.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21It's the most dangerous profession on earth.
0:04:21 > 0:04:25Not the most dangerous job in Britain...
0:04:26 > 0:04:28..the most dangerous profession on earth.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31You're 17 times more likely to die on a trawler
0:04:31 > 0:04:34than if you were just an ordinary working person.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39Because of the extraordinary distances involved,
0:04:39 > 0:04:43the trawlermen were away from home for at least three weeks at a time.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47As a result, Hull's fishing community,
0:04:47 > 0:04:49which was based around Hessle Road,
0:04:49 > 0:04:51developed a culture all of its own,
0:04:51 > 0:04:54one where men and women lived very separate lives.
0:04:57 > 0:05:01One man who knows more about this community than anyone else is
0:05:01 > 0:05:03photographer and historian Alec Gill.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08He's been documenting people's stories here for over 40 years.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11There are many dynamic features of Hessle Road,
0:05:11 > 0:05:15and one well worth stressing is that it was a strong matriarchy.
0:05:17 > 0:05:21The women are the unsung heroes, really, of the community.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24Because, while the men were away for three weeks,
0:05:24 > 0:05:27they had to be mother and father both to the children,
0:05:27 > 0:05:29and so they did form this,
0:05:29 > 0:05:31this, like, sisterhood if you like.
0:05:31 > 0:05:36And it was a wonderful community that was close-knit.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39And it survived adversity after adversity.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46For Hull's women, the fact that their loved ones could die at work
0:05:46 > 0:05:49at any time was a constant worry,
0:05:49 > 0:05:52made bearable only by the joy of their return.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58At St Andrew's Dock, families gathered to welcome back their men.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02But this would be only a brief reunion,
0:06:02 > 0:06:04because after just three days at home,
0:06:04 > 0:06:05they would be back to sea again.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09Lil Bilocca's sister Minnie
0:06:09 > 0:06:11was married to trawler skipper Dick King.
0:06:13 > 0:06:14I loved the three days.
0:06:16 > 0:06:20You'd look forward to that for three weeks, to get them three days.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23It's a different world.
0:06:23 > 0:06:27It's a different world from what you've lived before.
0:06:27 > 0:06:29You've got your man, your husband
0:06:29 > 0:06:32or your boyfriend or whoever it might be.
0:06:32 > 0:06:34He's yours, he's back.
0:06:40 > 0:06:42For children, too,
0:06:42 > 0:06:45it was always a treat to have Dad return after three weeks away.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49Jean Shakesby was one of seven children.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54When Dad came home, it was really exciting.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56Especially for the younger children.
0:06:56 > 0:07:01Because, as soon as he put his bag down, he had sweets.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04So we couldn't wait for Dad to come home, you know.
0:07:04 > 0:07:05I know we loved to see Dad,
0:07:05 > 0:07:06but it was the sweets as well,
0:07:06 > 0:07:08everybody got sweets
0:07:08 > 0:07:10and we was all treat, you know?
0:07:10 > 0:07:12So it was lovely.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14And he was really a lovely man.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20Trawlermen were prepared to put up with this time away from home
0:07:20 > 0:07:23because of the money. They were paid a weekly wage,
0:07:23 > 0:07:26plus a share of the profits from the catch,
0:07:26 > 0:07:29earning them the nickname the Three-day Millionaires.
0:07:31 > 0:07:33After three hard weeks at sea,
0:07:33 > 0:07:37some of the younger men let off steam in heavy drinking sessions,
0:07:37 > 0:07:39giving Hessle Road a reputation for trouble.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45But most married men, like Minnie King's husband Dick,
0:07:45 > 0:07:48spent their time and money providing for the family.
0:07:48 > 0:07:52They didn't talk about work for fear of worrying their wives.
0:07:52 > 0:07:54And they knew they'd soon be packing their kit bag
0:07:54 > 0:07:57ready for the next journey.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59And when they put that over their shoulder,
0:07:59 > 0:08:01that's not a nice feeling.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04You know where they're going.
0:08:04 > 0:08:08You know he's going from you and your children.
0:08:10 > 0:08:14I'm not going to see him next trip, or whenever.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17You never know. You never know.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20So you always had that at the back of your mind.
0:08:25 > 0:08:26On the dreaded sailing day,
0:08:26 > 0:08:30age-old superstitions kept Hull's women out of their men's world.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35It was taboo for them to go to the docks to see their men off,
0:08:35 > 0:08:37and they never waved them goodbye
0:08:37 > 0:08:40for fear an actual wave might wash them overboard.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44And the strange rituals didn't end there.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47There was a little ditty in Hull which goes,
0:08:47 > 0:08:51"Never wash on sailing day or you'll wash your man away."
0:08:51 > 0:08:55And so it meant washing his clothes.
0:08:55 > 0:08:57Because when you think about washing,
0:08:57 > 0:09:00if you're washing somebody's garment or shirt or whatever,
0:09:00 > 0:09:07you're washing the soul out of them, washing the spirit out of the house.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11Also you're mimicking plunging them under the water.
0:09:11 > 0:09:13And so for a seafaring family,
0:09:13 > 0:09:16you know, you're mimicking drowning them.
0:09:20 > 0:09:21The hardships of a life at sea
0:09:21 > 0:09:24were well known to Hull's fishing families...
0:09:25 > 0:09:28..but many of Hessle Road's boys still wanted to go.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31Among them was Ernie Bilocca.
0:09:32 > 0:09:33It was tradition.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36My father was in the Merchant Navy,
0:09:36 > 0:09:38my uncle was a skipper on the trawlers.
0:09:38 > 0:09:42My grandad was a chief engineer on the trawlers,
0:09:42 > 0:09:44and all my friends was all on the trawlers.
0:09:44 > 0:09:48And it looked so glamorous when they was coming home
0:09:48 > 0:09:50after the three weeks, all dressed in smart suits,
0:09:50 > 0:09:56a few quid in their pockets, making us quite jealous of what they had.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01However, young Ernie faced opposition to his plans
0:10:01 > 0:10:03from his mother, Lil Bilocca.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07My mum weren't very keen on the idea at all.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11Didn't want me to go. There was no two ways about that.
0:10:11 > 0:10:13Because she knew the dangers of the sea.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17But I insisted,
0:10:17 > 0:10:19and in the end, she realised
0:10:19 > 0:10:21that she wasn't going to be able to stop me.
0:10:25 > 0:10:29At 16, Ernie didn't need his mum's permission to work on a trawler.
0:10:30 > 0:10:34And while no boys under the age of 15 were officially allowed at sea,
0:10:34 > 0:10:36some skippers did turn a blind eye.
0:10:38 > 0:10:42Hessle Road boy Ken Shakesby first worked on a trawler
0:10:42 > 0:10:45when he was just 13 years old.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49For me, you know, a young boy, I thought,
0:10:49 > 0:10:53"Well, this is my vision and this is what I'd like to do."
0:10:53 > 0:10:54And, of course,
0:10:54 > 0:10:59you look up and you see the skipper who's in control of the vessel
0:10:59 > 0:11:05and you think, "Well, that could be me up there in so many years' time."
0:11:05 > 0:11:07And that was my intentions in life.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12Both Ken and Ernie were soon heading out towards the Arctic
0:11:12 > 0:11:17as inexperienced but enthusiastic trainee deckhands,
0:11:17 > 0:11:20known in the industry as decky learners.
0:11:21 > 0:11:25It seemed, at the beginning, that it would be a great adventure.
0:11:27 > 0:11:29The reality was something quite different.
0:11:32 > 0:11:36They were about to experience some of the dangerous working conditions
0:11:36 > 0:11:39that would so anger Ernie's mum, Lil Bilocca,
0:11:39 > 0:11:41and the other headscarf heroes.
0:11:41 > 0:11:46I just couldn't believe how rough the seas were,
0:11:46 > 0:11:49what the conditions was like, the hours that we was worked.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53Just the all-round working environment.
0:11:56 > 0:11:58You know, your life's in danger, there's no doubt about that.
0:11:58 > 0:11:59It's in danger.
0:12:02 > 0:12:03In the 1960s,
0:12:03 > 0:12:05Hull's fishing fleet was largely made up
0:12:05 > 0:12:08of old-fashioned trawlers known as sidewinders.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14On these vessels, the fish had to be gutted on the exposed deck,
0:12:14 > 0:12:19where the men often worked 24-hour shifts in appalling conditions.
0:12:19 > 0:12:23The health and safety aspect was non-existent.
0:12:25 > 0:12:26All they used to say was,
0:12:26 > 0:12:30"You keep one eye on the job and one eye on the weather."
0:12:30 > 0:12:34And they were the simple, basic "safety" tools you had.
0:12:34 > 0:12:36"One eye on the job, one eye on the weather."
0:12:36 > 0:12:39Because when it was bad and these,
0:12:39 > 0:12:41what we call the white horses would break,
0:12:41 > 0:12:44they would just come on board like nobody's business,
0:12:44 > 0:12:46and they would knock...
0:12:46 > 0:12:47It doesn't matter who you was,
0:12:47 > 0:12:49it would knock you down like it's anything.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54Being swept overboard was a risk,
0:12:54 > 0:12:57but the ship's moving equipment was more dangerous,
0:12:57 > 0:13:00and it wasn't governed by the same safety laws as machinery on land.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04Deep sea trawlers were full of hazards
0:13:04 > 0:13:06that could cause death or serious injury
0:13:06 > 0:13:08in an instant.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11The wires that they used for towing the trawler,
0:13:11 > 0:13:13they're under that much strain.
0:13:13 > 0:13:17You know, you're talking about maybe 50 tonnes of strain.
0:13:17 > 0:13:21That snaps, it'd take your head off.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24It'd cut you in half. No doubt about that whatsoever.
0:13:26 > 0:13:28Despite the dangers,
0:13:28 > 0:13:31many decky learners had little to no training before going to sea.
0:13:32 > 0:13:35So they had to learn from the more experienced deckhands.
0:13:37 > 0:13:41You know, when you was young and green, you would, like...
0:13:42 > 0:13:48Like latch onto the older, mature people and you would learn from him.
0:13:48 > 0:13:51And then I used to think, "Well, he's an old man,
0:13:51 > 0:13:56"he's been doing it for many years, and he's managed all these years.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58"So what he's doing, it must be the right thing,
0:13:58 > 0:14:02"so I'm going to learn from him, and hopefully that will get me through."
0:14:03 > 0:14:06It's like, as we say in this day and age,
0:14:06 > 0:14:07it's an accident waiting to happen.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15But accidents did happen, some fatal.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18And it was Hessle Road's women who were left to suffer.
0:14:19 > 0:14:23One such accident occurred in August, 1963.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30The last time I saw my dad was early in the morning
0:14:30 > 0:14:33when the taxi came for him.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35He kissed us all bye-bye and that,
0:14:35 > 0:14:38and then my mum went down the passageway of our house
0:14:38 > 0:14:41to the front door with him, and he kissed her...
0:14:45 > 0:14:46- SOBS:- Sorry.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50And he said, "Bye-bye," and...
0:14:52 > 0:14:54..that was it. We never saw him no more.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59He was fine, you know?
0:14:59 > 0:15:00There was nothing wrong with him.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03He just went out of the door and that was it.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12Jean's dad Stan was dragged overboard
0:15:12 > 0:15:14when a shark became caught in the net.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17His body was never found.
0:15:19 > 0:15:20With nobody to bury,
0:15:20 > 0:15:22it was almost impossible for loved ones
0:15:22 > 0:15:24to come to terms with their loss.
0:15:25 > 0:15:30The thing that was sad for my mother was, she always thought,
0:15:30 > 0:15:32"He's lost,
0:15:32 > 0:15:35"he'll get found, and he's lost his memory."
0:15:35 > 0:15:37And she believed that for years.
0:15:39 > 0:15:41With seven children to support,
0:15:41 > 0:15:44Jean's mum sought compensation from the trawler owners.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48But they claimed her father's death was an act of God
0:15:48 > 0:15:50and refused to pay out,
0:15:50 > 0:15:54leaving the family with financial worry on top of grief.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59In the meantime, there was some happiness for Jean,
0:15:59 > 0:16:02as not long after her father died,
0:16:02 > 0:16:05she married decky learner Ken Shakesby.
0:16:05 > 0:16:10I was 19. Jean was, like, 11 months younger than me.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13For me, in them days it was, like, this is...
0:16:13 > 0:16:16It's something there, what you get inside of you.
0:16:16 > 0:16:17This is it.
0:16:20 > 0:16:21It was nice, you know?
0:16:21 > 0:16:24So... The only thing was, it was his job.
0:16:25 > 0:16:29I used to worry all the time because I used to think of my dad.
0:16:29 > 0:16:31And I know it sounds silly,
0:16:31 > 0:16:35but I used to think "When he gets past 40, I'll feel better,"
0:16:35 > 0:16:38because my dad was just 40 when he died.
0:16:38 > 0:16:40And I don't know why, it just stuck in my head, that.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46What happened to Jean's mother and the family was not unusual.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49Without proof of negligence against the owners,
0:16:49 > 0:16:52few accident claims resulted in a pay-out.
0:16:53 > 0:16:55But in the 1960s,
0:16:55 > 0:16:59the bosses that ran Hull's fishing fleet were all-powerful.
0:17:00 > 0:17:04People would often describe the trawler owners as almost feudal.
0:17:06 > 0:17:07That's not quite accurate.
0:17:07 > 0:17:09They were entirely feudal.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13They couldn't be further removed from those that worked for them.
0:17:13 > 0:17:17And I'm not saying that individually as human beings they were monstrous.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20Their practices were monstrous.
0:17:21 > 0:17:22To send a man...
0:17:23 > 0:17:25..to sea
0:17:25 > 0:17:31with scant regard or even concern for his safety.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34They're concerned only with what they brought back.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40In the quest for maximum profit,
0:17:40 > 0:17:43the trawler owners put enormous pressure on the ships' skippers
0:17:43 > 0:17:46to bring back more fish than their rivals.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50They even awarded an annual trophy, called the Silver Cod,
0:17:50 > 0:17:53to the man who landed the largest catch.
0:17:54 > 0:17:56In this competitive environment,
0:17:56 > 0:18:00skippers expected the trawlermen to work even in the worst conditions.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06Everybody's got a different opinion of what bad weather is.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10You get levels of storm, though,
0:18:10 > 0:18:13weather forecasts ranging from one to 12.
0:18:13 > 0:18:14Up to a seven, yeah,
0:18:14 > 0:18:17it's all right, but it's starting to get a little bit dodgy, you know,
0:18:17 > 0:18:21a bit naughty. Eight's "No, I don't really work in this."
0:18:21 > 0:18:25So when you get to nines, you would get some of the skippers...
0:18:26 > 0:18:28..they'd fish in that, and that was dangerous.
0:18:28 > 0:18:31Very dangerous. But you'd no option.
0:18:32 > 0:18:34The bottom line was profit.
0:18:37 > 0:18:39But whatever the men thought,
0:18:39 > 0:18:42in the 1960s, they had few employment rights,
0:18:42 > 0:18:46and arguing with the skipper could prove costly.
0:18:46 > 0:18:48The skipper was God.
0:18:49 > 0:18:51His word was God's.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53Whatever he did, we did.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56And that's how it was because, you know,
0:18:56 > 0:18:58they had the power to do what they wanted.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01They had the power to either make you or break you.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05It's not very often you, um,
0:19:05 > 0:19:06challenge the skipper's...
0:19:07 > 0:19:09..word or authority.
0:19:09 > 0:19:13If you did, you could almost guarantee
0:19:13 > 0:19:15you'd get the sack when you got home.
0:19:16 > 0:19:19And what they done, they called it walkabout.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22And they made sure you stopped out of work for two or three weeks,
0:19:22 > 0:19:23until you'd learned your lesson.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30This constant threat to their livelihoods
0:19:30 > 0:19:32meant the men rarely complained,
0:19:32 > 0:19:33despite the working conditions.
0:19:35 > 0:19:38They might have complained that, unlike some continental fleets,
0:19:38 > 0:19:41Hull's trawlers sailed without the support of a mothership -
0:19:41 > 0:19:44a rescue vessel, which carried medical staff and equipment.
0:19:46 > 0:19:50Instead, responsibility for medical emergencies lay with the skipper,
0:19:50 > 0:19:53who usually only had basic training.
0:19:55 > 0:19:57In 1963,
0:19:57 > 0:20:00Yvonne Blenkinsop's father had a heart attack
0:20:00 > 0:20:01while at sea on a trawler.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06The skipper was a good skipper and sent him down...
0:20:07 > 0:20:09..to get in his bed and rest.
0:20:09 > 0:20:11But he needed treatment.
0:20:11 > 0:20:13He needed someone to get him the right medicine.
0:20:13 > 0:20:14He was never ill.
0:20:14 > 0:20:18He was not once, that I can remember, ill in his life, my dad.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22Not once. I can never remember him going to the doctors.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28Nobody expected him to die, not one in the family.
0:20:29 > 0:20:34It was like a bolt out of the blue when we got told he'd died.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37He just went away a happy man, as usual...
0:20:38 > 0:20:42..and it was not that he'd been swept overboard,
0:20:42 > 0:20:44or the ship had gone down,
0:20:44 > 0:20:47it's because he needed somebody who knew what they were doing.
0:20:47 > 0:20:52I know the skipper knows so much about it but they're not doctors.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55But, when you sit down to think about it,
0:20:55 > 0:20:57it's the thing that they should have had.
0:20:59 > 0:21:03They could have got him off and got him home,
0:21:03 > 0:21:05and I could even still have my dad.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08I know he'd be old, he'd be in his 90s.
0:21:08 > 0:21:11But, even so, he would still have a chance of being alive.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17Yvonne's mother was left with six children to bring up.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27The women of Hessle Road had lived with tragedy for generations.
0:21:29 > 0:21:31But, in early 1968,
0:21:31 > 0:21:34they were to suffer a bereavement of such magnitude,
0:21:34 > 0:21:36they could remain silent no longer.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40The triple trawler disaster
0:21:40 > 0:21:43would thrust the issues of their close-knit community
0:21:43 > 0:21:45to the very height of national attention.
0:21:49 > 0:21:51SHIP'S HORN SOUNDS
0:21:51 > 0:21:53It began on the tenth of January
0:21:53 > 0:21:56when a fleet of trawlers left St Andrew's Dock
0:21:56 > 0:21:57on the early morning tide.
0:21:59 > 0:22:04Among them was the St Romanus, a vessel with a poor reputation.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07Dick King was offered the job of skipper.
0:22:07 > 0:22:09Dick was supposed to take that ship...
0:22:10 > 0:22:14..and he said to me, "I don't fancy going, Min".
0:22:14 > 0:22:16And he'd been to sea all his life.
0:22:16 > 0:22:18He'd never, ever refused a ship.
0:22:21 > 0:22:22He said, "I don't fancy going, Min."
0:22:22 > 0:22:24I said, "Well, don't go, love.
0:22:24 > 0:22:25"Please don't go."
0:22:27 > 0:22:29You know, there's something about it he didn't like.
0:22:29 > 0:22:31He said it wasn't seaworthy.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35The ship was eventually taken out by a young skipper called Jim Wealden.
0:22:37 > 0:22:39As well as being considered unseaworthy,
0:22:39 > 0:22:43there was no radio operator among his crew.
0:22:43 > 0:22:45The idea of going to sea without a radio operator
0:22:45 > 0:22:49is like a blind man going without a cane, or a dog...
0:22:51 > 0:22:52..in a dark street.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55In times of trouble,
0:22:55 > 0:22:57a Mayday signal sent by the operator
0:22:57 > 0:23:00from the powerful equipment held in the radio room
0:23:00 > 0:23:02would be heard around the world.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06But the radio in the skipper's wheelhouse
0:23:06 > 0:23:07had only a limited range,
0:23:07 > 0:23:09leaving the ship isolated.
0:23:10 > 0:23:14Now that, in itself, is astounding.
0:23:14 > 0:23:16What's even more astounding is that that wasn't illegal.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22At around 7.30am on the tenth of January,
0:23:22 > 0:23:25Jim Wealden was struggling to get his basic radio to work.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30He contacted the trawler owners to give his position,
0:23:30 > 0:23:32then called his wife
0:23:32 > 0:23:34to tell her he was unhappy with the ship.
0:23:34 > 0:23:36She never heard from him again.
0:23:41 > 0:23:44MORSE CODE
0:23:44 > 0:23:46Over the next ten days,
0:23:46 > 0:23:49the owners tried in vain to contact the St Romanus,
0:23:49 > 0:23:50but took no further action,
0:23:50 > 0:23:53as skippers often maintained radio silence
0:23:53 > 0:23:55if the fishing was good,
0:23:55 > 0:23:58to avoid giving away their position to their competitors.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02It wasn't until the 24th of January,
0:24:02 > 0:24:05two weeks after initial contact was lost,
0:24:05 > 0:24:08that the owners finally alerted the coastguard.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13The same day, in houses off Hessle Road,
0:24:13 > 0:24:17the wives of the crew were informed that the ship was missing.
0:24:17 > 0:24:21Among them was 17-year-old mother-of-two Denise Hilton,
0:24:21 > 0:24:24whose 19-year-old husband Brian was on board.
0:24:25 > 0:24:29I sent him a telegram for our first wedding anniversary...
0:24:30 > 0:24:32..and then these two men were knocking on the door...
0:24:34 > 0:24:35..to say that
0:24:35 > 0:24:41they've had no contact with the ship for so many days
0:24:41 > 0:24:44and they're hoping everything will be all right, like.
0:24:44 > 0:24:46So, you're thinking, "Course it will be.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49"Course it will be." You'll get a telegram tomorrow, or you'll get,
0:24:49 > 0:24:53as often you did, a bouquet of flowers or a basket of fruit.
0:24:53 > 0:24:55You're thinking, "It'll be all right."
0:24:55 > 0:24:58But then they come back again and they said they still haven't heard.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03And you're sort of living in a dream.
0:25:03 > 0:25:05You feel sick and you don't want to eat.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10You're looking at your babies and you're thinking,
0:25:10 > 0:25:11"He has to come back for them."
0:25:14 > 0:25:17News of the missing ship spread gloom across the community.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23Ernie Blocher was about to set off for his next voyage to Iceland.
0:25:24 > 0:25:26When I was in the Kingston Almandine,
0:25:26 > 0:25:28we'd actually set sail from Hull
0:25:28 > 0:25:31knowing that one ship had already gone missing,
0:25:31 > 0:25:33which was the St Romanus.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36There was a lot of sadness aboard the ship from everybody
0:25:36 > 0:25:39because they all thought for the people back home.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47Meanwhile, off Iceland's east coast,
0:25:47 > 0:25:49the Kingston Almandine's sister ship,
0:25:49 > 0:25:53the Kingston Peridot, announced she was struggling in bad weather.
0:25:54 > 0:25:59In force 12 winds, a build-up of ice was making her top heavy.
0:25:59 > 0:26:01It was every skipper's nightmare.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05Ice gathers at a remarkable rate on a ship.
0:26:05 > 0:26:10A ship of 450 tonnes will turn over, what they call turn turtle,
0:26:10 > 0:26:13where the ice is packed upon it,
0:26:13 > 0:26:16and it turns very rapidly and disappears.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21Although no-one received a Mayday signal from the Peridot,
0:26:21 > 0:26:25as the storm passed, and there was no further contact with her,
0:26:25 > 0:26:27nearby vessels were alerted.
0:26:27 > 0:26:31We'd been fishing on the east coast of Iceland
0:26:31 > 0:26:35when we got a message from the insurance buildings in Hull,
0:26:35 > 0:26:38telling us that the Kingston Peridot was missing
0:26:38 > 0:26:39in that area where we were.
0:26:41 > 0:26:43And would we keep an eye out for it
0:26:43 > 0:26:47or look and see if we could find any signs of it whatsoever?
0:26:47 > 0:26:49But we never found anything at all.
0:26:51 > 0:26:53On the 29th of January,
0:26:53 > 0:26:56the discovery of a life raft belonging to the ship
0:26:56 > 0:26:57led to a full air and sea search.
0:26:59 > 0:27:00And when three other life buoys
0:27:00 > 0:27:03were found near an oil slick on the water,
0:27:03 > 0:27:05the Kingston Peridot was assumed lost,
0:27:05 > 0:27:07along with their crew of 20 men.
0:27:18 > 0:27:20More bad news followed,
0:27:20 > 0:27:23as the loss of the St Romanus was officially confirmed.
0:27:25 > 0:27:27Another 20 men had perished.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31The people of Hessle Road were in shock.
0:27:31 > 0:27:33Everyone was talking about it.
0:27:33 > 0:27:37Everybody knew one of the men on the ships.
0:27:37 > 0:27:39It was a horrible time.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42You just walked down Hessle Road and everyone,
0:27:42 > 0:27:44that would be the topic of conversation,
0:27:44 > 0:27:46whatever shop you went in.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50Hull was home to a fishermen's mission,
0:27:50 > 0:27:54a church-run charity that provided emotional support in time of need.
0:27:54 > 0:27:56And it was the job of the port missionary
0:27:56 > 0:27:59to break the bad news to the waiting women.
0:28:00 > 0:28:04It was a daunting task for newly qualified Donald Woolley
0:28:04 > 0:28:08who'd only recently been posted to Hessle Road.
0:28:08 > 0:28:12Many of the people who lost their husbands or partners...
0:28:13 > 0:28:16..were of no age at all.
0:28:16 > 0:28:18Sometimes late teens.
0:28:18 > 0:28:20As were their partners.
0:28:20 > 0:28:25But nevertheless, those people, being young people...
0:28:26 > 0:28:30..must have been terribly traumatised
0:28:30 > 0:28:33by what had happened to them.
0:28:33 > 0:28:34One minute, they were happy.
0:28:36 > 0:28:37Another minute, they were content.
0:28:39 > 0:28:41Another time, they were looking forward to coming home.
0:28:42 > 0:28:45But in actual fact, they were never to come home.
0:28:53 > 0:28:5717-year-old Denise Hilton was the youngest of the widows.
0:29:00 > 0:29:03My brain's thinking, "Did he fall overboard?
0:29:04 > 0:29:05"Was he sleeping in his bunk?
0:29:07 > 0:29:10"Was he shouting for me, for his mam, for his bairns?"
0:29:11 > 0:29:15You know, "Was he all fighting to get out?
0:29:15 > 0:29:17"Was it quick?"
0:29:17 > 0:29:19And you think, "God, I hope so."
0:29:24 > 0:29:26You look at your children and you think...
0:29:28 > 0:29:29- EMOTIONALLY:- ..excuse me...
0:29:31 > 0:29:34..they're never going to see their father, grow up.
0:29:36 > 0:29:39It was...
0:29:39 > 0:29:40Sorry.
0:29:51 > 0:29:54Despite the shocking loss of 40 fishermen in two weeks,
0:29:54 > 0:29:58it was business as usual for owners and crews at St Andrew's Dock.
0:30:00 > 0:30:03But the women of Hessle Road could contain themselves no longer.
0:30:04 > 0:30:07Wives, mothers, sisters and daughters
0:30:07 > 0:30:11now vented their anger at the lack of safety on the trawlers.
0:30:11 > 0:30:14For a start off, there should be a wireless operator on every ship
0:30:14 > 0:30:16because a skipper can't be on the bridge
0:30:16 > 0:30:18and in the wireless room at the same time, can he?
0:30:18 > 0:30:21And the owners, they don't care.
0:30:21 > 0:30:23All they're interested in, the fish.
0:30:23 > 0:30:25The men, they don't mean a thing to them.
0:30:25 > 0:30:27They couldn't care less what happened to them.
0:30:27 > 0:30:29As long as they're bringing the fish back.
0:30:29 > 0:30:32There's been that many men lost in the last five years,
0:30:32 > 0:30:34that we just aren't going to put up with it any more.
0:30:34 > 0:30:36Even now the owners are trying to...
0:30:36 > 0:30:38Emotions were raw.
0:30:38 > 0:30:41The double tragedy touched every woman in the community.
0:30:41 > 0:30:46Lil Bilocca worked as a cod skinner in a fish factory
0:30:46 > 0:30:48off St Andrew's Dock.
0:30:48 > 0:30:52Her daughter, Virginia, remembers how her mother reacted to the news.
0:30:53 > 0:30:57Even though she was such a private person normally,
0:30:57 > 0:31:00she was shocked and horrified.
0:31:00 > 0:31:02She just looked at me and she thumped her hand
0:31:02 > 0:31:06and she said, "Virginia, enough is enough".
0:31:07 > 0:31:11"I'm going to do something about this".
0:31:11 > 0:31:15And I looked at me mam, and I thought, "Whoa, she means business."
0:31:15 > 0:31:18And she said, "I'm going to start a petition
0:31:18 > 0:31:21"for better safety conditions at sea."
0:31:22 > 0:31:24Lil Bilocca was not alone.
0:31:24 > 0:31:28The pent-up feelings of generations of women boiled over.
0:31:28 > 0:31:30Thousands eagerly signed the petition.
0:31:32 > 0:31:36I remember Lil knocking on the doors with the other ladies,
0:31:36 > 0:31:38to sign the petition.
0:31:38 > 0:31:39Those in the streets,
0:31:39 > 0:31:44those on Hessle Road, clipboards and signatures, were getting signed.
0:31:44 > 0:31:47I don't think there'll be anybody in Hull that never signed that.
0:31:47 > 0:31:49I certainly signed it, and my family signed it.
0:31:51 > 0:31:54That petition got 10,000 signatures in three days.
0:31:54 > 0:31:56In an area that only has 14,000 people.
0:31:58 > 0:32:00Imagine that's practically everyone
0:32:00 > 0:32:03who could pick up a pen had signed it.
0:32:03 > 0:32:05On Friday the second of February,
0:32:05 > 0:32:09Lil Bilocca took her petition to the Victoria Hall,
0:32:09 > 0:32:12where over 500 women gathered to demand action.
0:32:14 > 0:32:16Among them was Yvonne Blenkinsop.
0:32:16 > 0:32:19After the death of her father five years earlier,
0:32:19 > 0:32:21she was desperate to get involved.
0:32:21 > 0:32:24You couldn't move. It was packed with people.
0:32:24 > 0:32:25There were loads there.
0:32:25 > 0:32:26And I mean loads.
0:32:26 > 0:32:28There were women of all ages,
0:32:28 > 0:32:32from young ones who'd just become wives of young trawlermen,
0:32:32 > 0:32:34there was older ones,
0:32:34 > 0:32:37there was people who had already lost people at sea.
0:32:37 > 0:32:39There was all sorts of people there.
0:32:40 > 0:32:43Lil told the gathering they were there to talk about
0:32:43 > 0:32:46what they were going to do after the loss of the two ships.
0:32:47 > 0:32:48Action was needed.
0:32:49 > 0:32:51She was prepared to go to jail
0:32:51 > 0:32:54if it would win better and safer conditions
0:32:54 > 0:32:55for men on trawlers.
0:32:57 > 0:32:58And she intended to meet
0:32:58 > 0:33:00the Prime Minister next week,
0:33:00 > 0:33:02and not come back until she had.
0:33:05 > 0:33:07Yvonne Blenkinsop was then called to speak.
0:33:08 > 0:33:11I just started speaking on the microphone.
0:33:11 > 0:33:13And I told them about my mum and dad,
0:33:13 > 0:33:15and being left alone with six kids,
0:33:15 > 0:33:18having to bring them up, and how hard it was.
0:33:18 > 0:33:20I said, "I know how all you out there,
0:33:20 > 0:33:22"if it's hit any one of you in this room now,
0:33:22 > 0:33:25"we know exactly what you're feeling."
0:33:25 > 0:33:27I said, "And it's got to change.
0:33:27 > 0:33:28"We've got to have better safety.
0:33:28 > 0:33:32"We can't go on like this for ever and ever and nobody do anything."
0:33:32 > 0:33:34And I said, "We've got to see the owners."
0:33:36 > 0:33:40The meeting voted for Yvonne, Mary Denness,
0:33:40 > 0:33:43Lil Bilocca and Chrissy Jensen to form a committee
0:33:43 > 0:33:45to take their demands forward.
0:33:46 > 0:33:49Jean Shakespeare was impressed by what she saw.
0:33:51 > 0:33:53Their spirit in Victoria Road, them ladies,
0:33:53 > 0:33:56when they were on stage speaking,
0:33:56 > 0:34:00they were saying what we were all thinking, and wanted to say.
0:34:00 > 0:34:02And it was wonderful.
0:34:02 > 0:34:05You felt as if something's going to be done.
0:34:07 > 0:34:10The women of Hessle Road were speaking out like never before.
0:34:11 > 0:34:14Do you think, as conditions are at the moment, they're safe at sea?
0:34:15 > 0:34:18Well, no, because they don't have a regular check
0:34:18 > 0:34:19of the safety equipment.
0:34:19 > 0:34:23Often it's not even touched and they don't know what condition it's in.
0:34:23 > 0:34:24What do you feel about this business?
0:34:24 > 0:34:26Well, I think it's gone on long enough.
0:34:26 > 0:34:29And if we don't do something about it, nobody will.
0:34:29 > 0:34:32The men can't, because they're not home long enough
0:34:32 > 0:34:34to all get together and organise something.
0:34:34 > 0:34:35So we have to do it.
0:34:35 > 0:34:36I've always been concerned,
0:34:36 > 0:34:39but I've never had the guts to do owt about it.
0:34:39 > 0:34:42But now, I think it's time somebody did.
0:34:42 > 0:34:46And I've made a start. It's up to these other people to follow me.
0:34:46 > 0:34:48And to make these owners sit up and take bloody notice.
0:34:48 > 0:34:51And now, not next year, or the year after.
0:34:53 > 0:34:56Many of the women wanted action there and then,
0:34:56 > 0:35:00so Lil led over 200 of them on a march down Hessle Road
0:35:00 > 0:35:03to confront the owners at St Andrew's Dock.
0:35:05 > 0:35:08We just walked silently down Hessle Road.
0:35:08 > 0:35:10And it was fantastic.
0:35:10 > 0:35:14You felt as if, "Right, something is going to be done."
0:35:14 > 0:35:16You know, it was wonderful.
0:35:18 > 0:35:21While a deputation of women met with the owners,
0:35:21 > 0:35:23the rest voiced their feelings to the press.
0:35:25 > 0:35:27This was the chance for Jean Shakesby and her mother
0:35:27 > 0:35:29to speak out.
0:35:29 > 0:35:32You can see my mother is really verbal.
0:35:32 > 0:35:35Because it's bad enough losing one man,
0:35:35 > 0:35:39but to lose full ships of men was just too hard to take.
0:35:40 > 0:35:44Lil and the others were fast becoming a formidable force.
0:35:45 > 0:35:46But what can be done?
0:35:46 > 0:35:49Lots of things can be done, petal, and will be done.
0:35:49 > 0:35:54We need a safety ship patrolling the areas 24 hours a day.
0:35:54 > 0:35:56- Are you a fisherman's wife? - I'm a fisherman's daughter,
0:35:56 > 0:35:58who died at sea four years ago.
0:35:58 > 0:35:59My mother was widowed with six children.
0:35:59 > 0:36:01I've been born and bred in the fishing family.
0:36:01 > 0:36:02But that's apart from the fact.
0:36:02 > 0:36:05We are fighting for the fishermen who's there now.
0:36:05 > 0:36:10I was thinking about getting the job done for the safety of the men.
0:36:10 > 0:36:11That was all.
0:36:11 > 0:36:14No! The thing is, our men are hard-working men.
0:36:14 > 0:36:17I wanted something put right that was wrong.
0:36:17 > 0:36:21People should never put money before people's lives.
0:36:22 > 0:36:23For the first time,
0:36:23 > 0:36:27Hessle Road's women had stepped out of their traditional domestic roles,
0:36:27 > 0:36:30into a world where they'd previously been excluded.
0:36:31 > 0:36:33And they were getting noticed.
0:36:33 > 0:36:36Nothing like this had ever happened before.
0:36:36 > 0:36:39It was a man's domain.
0:36:39 > 0:36:41Women sort of, like, never spoke up.
0:36:41 > 0:36:44But Mum, with her three other ladies,
0:36:44 > 0:36:47had the guts and the courage,
0:36:47 > 0:36:49and the determination to change something.
0:36:51 > 0:36:54However, the women were about to discover
0:36:54 > 0:36:56just how hard it would be to take on the system.
0:36:57 > 0:36:59After they'd met with the owners,
0:36:59 > 0:37:00Michael Burton, chairman of
0:37:00 > 0:37:04the Hull Fishing Vessels Owners Association was asked
0:37:04 > 0:37:06if he was sympathetic to the women's cause.
0:37:08 > 0:37:12I have much more sympathy with the relatives who have been lost at sea,
0:37:12 > 0:37:13frankly, than...
0:37:15 > 0:37:18..a lot of women who are trying to...
0:37:18 > 0:37:19Well, they're not trying,
0:37:19 > 0:37:22but are getting carried away on a wave of mass hysteria.
0:37:22 > 0:37:24Well, believe you me,
0:37:24 > 0:37:27I wish they'd had put me or my mother in that room with him.
0:37:27 > 0:37:30I'd have shown him what hysterical was,
0:37:30 > 0:37:31because, how dare he...?
0:37:31 > 0:37:33He hadn't lost no-one.
0:37:33 > 0:37:36You know, that was horrible, to say that.
0:37:36 > 0:37:37We weren't hysterical women.
0:37:37 > 0:37:43We were trying to get our husbands, sons, brothers, whatever, safe.
0:37:43 > 0:37:45Dads. We wanted them safe.
0:37:48 > 0:37:50But despite the women's good intentions,
0:37:50 > 0:37:54some of the trawlermen also disapproved of their actions,
0:37:54 > 0:37:56because they lived in fear of the owners,
0:37:56 > 0:38:00and were well aware that complaining could cost you your job.
0:38:00 > 0:38:05Frankly, the ordinary fisherman is a bit sick of all these women
0:38:05 > 0:38:06interfering in their own business.
0:38:08 > 0:38:10The sooner we get down to dealing with the men who matter,
0:38:10 > 0:38:11rather than the women, the better.
0:38:15 > 0:38:20Things took a darker turn when the women were sent death threats,
0:38:20 > 0:38:24and Yvonne Blenkinsop was attacked in a restaurant off Hessle Road.
0:38:25 > 0:38:27As I get to near the door,
0:38:27 > 0:38:30he comes straight up to me and punches me in my face.
0:38:33 > 0:38:35Said something about the fishing. I couldn't hear what he said.
0:38:35 > 0:38:38And off he went. Well, I just turned around and came back again,
0:38:38 > 0:38:40didn't go into the toilet.
0:38:40 > 0:38:43I said, "I've just been punched in the face.
0:38:43 > 0:38:45"A big one, right in my nose.
0:38:45 > 0:38:46"It was a wallop."
0:38:47 > 0:38:51They didn't like women standing up and doing anything then.
0:38:51 > 0:38:54Women should be at home, looking after the children...
0:38:55 > 0:38:57..and looking after...
0:38:57 > 0:38:59You know what, cleaning, cooking.
0:38:59 > 0:39:01They shouldn't be doing that sort of thing.
0:39:01 > 0:39:04That's what they were saying.
0:39:04 > 0:39:05At home.
0:39:07 > 0:39:10But nobody was going to tell Lil Bilocca what to do.
0:39:10 > 0:39:13She wasn't even worried about breaking the age-old taboo
0:39:13 > 0:39:18that prevented women from going to the docks on sailing day.
0:39:18 > 0:39:22She was going down on the next tide to stop any trawler setting sail
0:39:22 > 0:39:25without a radio operator.
0:39:25 > 0:39:28I'm going to get aboard that trawler and stop on unless...
0:39:28 > 0:39:30I'll have to be moved off that ship, forcibly.
0:39:30 > 0:39:32I'll have to be carried off.
0:39:32 > 0:39:36Unless that ship's got a full crew, including the radio operator.
0:39:37 > 0:39:39The next day, Lil was at the lock gates
0:39:39 > 0:39:42as a batch of trawlers were leaving for Iceland.
0:39:44 > 0:39:47Have you got a full crew, lads?
0:39:47 > 0:39:49- ALL:- Yes!- Radio operator?
0:39:49 > 0:39:50All the best, flowers.
0:39:52 > 0:39:56Then, when a crew told her they had no radio operator on board,
0:39:56 > 0:39:57her moment came.
0:39:59 > 0:40:01Lil tried to jump onto the trawler.
0:40:02 > 0:40:08I remember my mother struggling, with six policemen and women.
0:40:08 > 0:40:12There she is, struggling, because she, Mum,
0:40:12 > 0:40:15was trying to jump on board a trawler
0:40:15 > 0:40:19that Mum thought didn't have a radio operator on board.
0:40:19 > 0:40:22When she went on the dock, when she was struggling,
0:40:22 > 0:40:25police were holding her back. She's a big woman, don't forget.
0:40:25 > 0:40:28But she was a strong woman, an' all.
0:40:30 > 0:40:31I worried about her, then.
0:40:33 > 0:40:36"Oh, crikey, Lil," I said, "Be careful, Lil."
0:40:37 > 0:40:39"I'm all right, don't worry about me.
0:40:39 > 0:40:43"I'm all right." That's all you got from her, you know?
0:40:43 > 0:40:44She's that kind of a woman.
0:40:45 > 0:40:48She was strong. Whatever she wanted to do, she'd do it.
0:40:50 > 0:40:53That became the photograph on every front page,
0:40:53 > 0:40:56this woman wrestling with the police.
0:40:56 > 0:41:00But the courage involved in that, what people missed,
0:41:00 > 0:41:02had she have managed to jump,
0:41:02 > 0:41:04the chances are she would have killed herself.
0:41:05 > 0:41:10It was an extremely dangerous and headstrong thing to do.
0:41:10 > 0:41:11But she was a very headstrong woman.
0:41:13 > 0:41:15Do you think you're doing any good with this vigil?
0:41:15 > 0:41:17Certainly. Certainly.
0:41:17 > 0:41:19What do you think you're doing?
0:41:19 > 0:41:20Well, it stops a ship from going
0:41:20 > 0:41:22without a radio operator, haven't we?
0:41:22 > 0:41:25That's a start. It's not the finish, it's a start.
0:41:25 > 0:41:27How much more of this do you intend to do?
0:41:27 > 0:41:28The rest of my life.
0:41:30 > 0:41:31How do you regard yourself, Mrs Bilocca?
0:41:31 > 0:41:33As a sort of suffragette?
0:41:33 > 0:41:34- Don't be daft!- How, then?
0:41:34 > 0:41:37- Why are you doing this? - Because I'm a mother.
0:41:37 > 0:41:40As a mother, Lil had once tried to prevent her son, Ernie,
0:41:40 > 0:41:42from becoming a trawlerman.
0:41:43 > 0:41:46Now she knew he was fishing in the same treacherous waters
0:41:46 > 0:41:48that had just claimed the lives of 40 men.
0:41:51 > 0:41:54But what she didn't know was the worst storm in living memory
0:41:54 > 0:41:56was bearing down on the fleet.
0:41:59 > 0:42:00The weather had got that bad...
0:42:01 > 0:42:07..it increased from medium-heavy weather to just unworkable.
0:42:07 > 0:42:08In the space of...
0:42:10 > 0:42:14..30 minutes. It happened very, very quickly.
0:42:14 > 0:42:15So what we did, we hauled
0:42:15 > 0:42:17all the gear back on board the ship...
0:42:19 > 0:42:21..tied it down. What you call lashing it down.
0:42:21 > 0:42:23Tied it all down. Secured it.
0:42:23 > 0:42:25And by then, it was a full-blown raging storm.
0:42:27 > 0:42:30Over a dozen Hull trawlers battled through the waves
0:42:30 > 0:42:33to get to the shelter of a nearby fjord.
0:42:33 > 0:42:36As hurricane-force winds brought driving snow,
0:42:36 > 0:42:38deadly ice started to build up on the ships.
0:42:41 > 0:42:44While his wife, Jean, was protesting on Hessle Road,
0:42:44 > 0:42:47Ken Shakesby was on the Kingston Garnet.
0:42:48 > 0:42:52The seas were absolutely ridiculous.
0:42:52 > 0:42:54Everybody's off the deck,
0:42:54 > 0:42:56and we have a watch looking out on the bridge,
0:42:56 > 0:43:02radar, three or four men, skipper, mate, watch keepers, looking out,
0:43:02 > 0:43:04listening and everything, you know?
0:43:04 > 0:43:07Trying to get to safety, because it was so big, the seas.
0:43:07 > 0:43:09They would have just filled us.
0:43:09 > 0:43:13And with the ice top-up, we would have just eventually keeled over.
0:43:15 > 0:43:19After hours spent hacking ice from the Kingston Almandine,
0:43:19 > 0:43:21in a desperate attempt to stop her sinking,
0:43:21 > 0:43:25an exhausted Ernie Bilocca had taken to his bunk
0:43:25 > 0:43:27while the storm raged on.
0:43:27 > 0:43:29You get to know the motion of a ship after a while.
0:43:29 > 0:43:32You know when it goes to one side, it'll come back up again,
0:43:32 > 0:43:35goes to the other, comes back up again.
0:43:35 > 0:43:37This particular time, you can feel the actual seas
0:43:37 > 0:43:39and you can hear them pounding aboard the ship.
0:43:39 > 0:43:42You know, you've got hundreds of tonnes of water
0:43:42 > 0:43:44crashing onto the ship.
0:43:44 > 0:43:47And you know, boom-boom-boom-boom, that's OK.
0:43:47 > 0:43:49Boom-boom-boom. Blimey, that's getting a bit...
0:43:50 > 0:43:53By then, you expect it to start to come back.
0:43:53 > 0:43:55I actually thought, we was going to sink.
0:43:56 > 0:43:58We were laid out at an angle, where...
0:43:59 > 0:44:02..I didn't think things were going to come up right again.
0:44:02 > 0:44:04Well, I was that exhausted at the time,
0:44:04 > 0:44:07because of the work and what we'd been doing on the deck,
0:44:07 > 0:44:09the long hours,
0:44:09 > 0:44:10I never had the energy...
0:44:11 > 0:44:13..to get out of my bunk.
0:44:13 > 0:44:16If that ship had have sank, I would have still been laid in my bunk.
0:44:21 > 0:44:22Back on the Kingston Garnet,
0:44:22 > 0:44:25Ken Shakesby heard on the radio
0:44:25 > 0:44:27that the nearby Ross Cleveland was in trouble.
0:44:29 > 0:44:31And through the blizzard, he could just about see her.
0:44:33 > 0:44:35You could see the flashing of his light.
0:44:35 > 0:44:37Bearing in mind, he's moving up and down,
0:44:37 > 0:44:39and you're looking for the light.
0:44:39 > 0:44:43And sometimes the snow, it gives you false images.
0:44:43 > 0:44:46But then we would say, "There's the light."
0:44:46 > 0:44:50And then we heard the skipper saying, this Phil Gay,
0:44:50 > 0:44:53he kept saying, "She's going, she's going.
0:44:53 > 0:44:54"And I can't do anything about it.
0:44:54 > 0:44:57"Give my love to my wife and to the crew's families."
0:44:58 > 0:45:00We're looking, and then...
0:45:01 > 0:45:02..the lights have gone.
0:45:04 > 0:45:07And there's nothing on the screen and...
0:45:10 > 0:45:13It was just after midnight, on Monday the fifth of February,
0:45:13 > 0:45:15when the Ross Cleveland sank.
0:45:16 > 0:45:19Another 19 fishermen were presumed dead.
0:45:22 > 0:45:26News of the Cleveland's loss stunned the Hessle Road community.
0:45:26 > 0:45:28A double trawler tragedy
0:45:28 > 0:45:31now became the triple trawler disaster.
0:45:32 > 0:45:35Despite the enormous losses,
0:45:35 > 0:45:39port missionary Donald Woolley witnessed an extraordinary spirit
0:45:39 > 0:45:41of resilience amongst the women.
0:45:42 > 0:45:46These people were really quite remarkable in themselves.
0:45:46 > 0:45:49Some of them were older, some of them were younger,
0:45:49 > 0:45:54but I think I've never seen bravery as I saw during those few days.
0:45:56 > 0:45:58They were brave because they had to carry on.
0:45:59 > 0:46:02They were brave because they had to manage a home.
0:46:02 > 0:46:05They were brave because the children had to go to school.
0:46:06 > 0:46:09They wanted to show not only...
0:46:10 > 0:46:11..their own love to their children...
0:46:13 > 0:46:15..but sometimes I think they wanted them to...
0:46:16 > 0:46:17..show their dad's love.
0:46:19 > 0:46:21But he was never going to be there again.
0:46:23 > 0:46:26However, some women still struggled to accept the loss of their men.
0:46:30 > 0:46:34The local church arranged a memorial service to help them.
0:46:35 > 0:46:39And there's hundreds, hundreds of people.
0:46:39 > 0:46:44And you walk in there, and all the flowers are laid out,
0:46:44 > 0:46:49and then they start playing Abide With Me and...
0:46:49 > 0:46:50- EMOTIONALLY:- ..all,
0:46:50 > 0:46:51all that kind of thing.
0:46:53 > 0:46:54And that makes it real.
0:46:58 > 0:47:01That made it real. Even though you didn't have a body...
0:47:02 > 0:47:06..all them people coming together, not just my family,
0:47:06 > 0:47:10all of the other trawlermen's families, that's what made it real.
0:47:14 > 0:47:17Meanwhile, the Government ordered an inquiry,
0:47:17 > 0:47:19and summoned the trawler owners for discussions
0:47:19 > 0:47:21on safety in the fishing industry.
0:47:22 > 0:47:26But it was the women's campaign that still drove the impetus for change.
0:47:28 > 0:47:32The next day, Lil, Yvonne and Mary
0:47:32 > 0:47:34travelled to London to a special meeting
0:47:34 > 0:47:36with top government ministers.
0:47:37 > 0:47:39I was dead centre to this one in the middle,
0:47:39 > 0:47:42who turned out to be the head minister.
0:47:42 > 0:47:44As I sat down, I said,
0:47:44 > 0:47:45"I hope we're going to get these things,"
0:47:45 > 0:47:48and just said that, as I sat down, "All of them."
0:47:48 > 0:47:50And he just smiled at me, to begin with.
0:47:50 > 0:47:52Then they started at the end and came through.
0:47:53 > 0:47:57Each of them, saying what they were saying, the girls and whatever.
0:47:57 > 0:47:59He came to me. Then I said all my things.
0:47:59 > 0:48:02I said, "I've got a lot here, I'm afraid."
0:48:02 > 0:48:06But I said, "I'm not going out of here until I know I've got them.
0:48:06 > 0:48:08"And I hope I do get them."
0:48:09 > 0:48:13I said, "They should always have a radio operator
0:48:13 > 0:48:15"on board the trawler, always."
0:48:15 > 0:48:17I said we needed a mothership.
0:48:17 > 0:48:22We needed more modern materials to use on our ships.
0:48:22 > 0:48:26Why can't we use some of the stuff that's used in the aeroplanes,
0:48:26 > 0:48:27that's light and can be used?
0:48:27 > 0:48:30Why can't they find something that could maybe...
0:48:32 > 0:48:35..stop the ice going so far and being so heavy?
0:48:35 > 0:48:37There must be something in this day and age.
0:48:40 > 0:48:43The women also wanted trawlers designed for better safety,
0:48:43 > 0:48:47restrictions placed on the use of inexperienced decky learners
0:48:47 > 0:48:49and a ban on fishing in poor weather.
0:48:51 > 0:48:54When we was coming out, I said,
0:48:54 > 0:48:56"Petal, are we going to have these things, then?"
0:48:57 > 0:49:00And he said, "You are, my dear."
0:49:01 > 0:49:04Real nice. With a big smile.
0:49:04 > 0:49:06He agreed with everything all of us were saying,
0:49:06 > 0:49:09because it all needed doing.
0:49:09 > 0:49:11Everything. Every one.
0:49:12 > 0:49:13Now that was good.
0:49:15 > 0:49:17There was more good news to follow.
0:49:17 > 0:49:19Reports of a miracle survivor.
0:49:21 > 0:49:26This is Isafjordur, the wild, icy north-west coast of Iceland,
0:49:26 > 0:49:29where British trawlermen have been battling against
0:49:29 > 0:49:32some of the worst weather the island has ever seen.
0:49:32 > 0:49:35Now into this remote, freezing fishing port
0:49:35 > 0:49:40has come a British seaman who survived a dying ship.
0:49:40 > 0:49:4426-year-old Harry Eddom was the mate on the Ross Cleveland.
0:49:45 > 0:49:48He survived in a life raft in which two of his colleagues had died.
0:49:50 > 0:49:52The news was broken to Yvonne Blenkinsop
0:49:52 > 0:49:55and the others while they were still in London.
0:49:57 > 0:49:59Somebody comes in the door.
0:49:59 > 0:50:00"They've found one!
0:50:00 > 0:50:02"They've found one!"
0:50:04 > 0:50:06A survivor? A survivor?
0:50:06 > 0:50:08Yes! It was Harry Eddom.
0:50:08 > 0:50:10I thought that was marvellous.
0:50:11 > 0:50:12"They've found one, they've found one!"
0:50:13 > 0:50:15We were all absolutely thrilled.
0:50:18 > 0:50:23Harry Eddom's miraculous survival quickly gained huge press attention,
0:50:23 > 0:50:27making the triple trawler disaster and the women's campaign for safety
0:50:27 > 0:50:29an international news story.
0:50:32 > 0:50:36Newsreel cameras were there to film him reunited with his young family.
0:50:38 > 0:50:40- TELEVISION:- Now the ordeal of Harry Eddom was over.
0:50:40 > 0:50:42He was back with his wife, Rita,
0:50:42 > 0:50:44and their seven-month-old daughter, Natalie.
0:50:44 > 0:50:48The Eddom family were news, good news in a time of tragedy.
0:50:48 > 0:50:50The lone survivor will be a key witness
0:50:50 > 0:50:53in Government and Board of Trade inquiries into the disasters.
0:50:54 > 0:50:56But first, there was the happiness of being home to enjoy.
0:50:59 > 0:51:01Despite appearing in front of the cameras,
0:51:01 > 0:51:04Harry was so traumatised by his ordeal
0:51:04 > 0:51:07that he's never spoken publicly about it.
0:51:08 > 0:51:11But he did speak privately to port missionary Donald Woolley,
0:51:11 > 0:51:14who previously comforted his wife Rita.
0:51:15 > 0:51:18When Harry came back, I had the privilege of going to see him.
0:51:19 > 0:51:21And we had
0:51:21 > 0:51:23a natter about the things that...
0:51:24 > 0:51:25..had happened to him.
0:51:27 > 0:51:29But before I left his home, he said to me...
0:51:31 > 0:51:33"I've got something for you."
0:51:34 > 0:51:36And he went to the sideboard
0:51:36 > 0:51:40and he took out a copy of the New Testament,
0:51:40 > 0:51:43which had been given to him in Iceland.
0:51:44 > 0:51:46And he said, "Do you have any family?"
0:51:46 > 0:51:50And I said, "Yes. We had the one son, Richard."
0:51:51 > 0:51:56And so Harry took his pen and signed inside that New Testament,
0:51:56 > 0:51:58to Richard, from Harry Eddom.
0:51:59 > 0:52:05That New Testament has been on our shelves in our little office
0:52:05 > 0:52:08for 50 years.
0:52:09 > 0:52:12We are proud to have received it from Harry,
0:52:12 > 0:52:15a man who I respect tremendously.
0:52:20 > 0:52:22Following the success in London,
0:52:22 > 0:52:25Lil Bilocca and the others returned to Hull,
0:52:25 > 0:52:27where they reported back to the women of Hessle Road.
0:52:32 > 0:52:36Of course it was wonderful to say, "Well, I've met with Parliament,
0:52:36 > 0:52:38"we've got what we've asked for."
0:52:38 > 0:52:40It just erupted.
0:52:40 > 0:52:42All the women, it was so lovely.
0:52:42 > 0:52:48You just felt euphoric after all the tragedy that had gone on,
0:52:48 > 0:52:50that something is going to be done.
0:52:50 > 0:52:53It won't bring our men back, we know that.
0:52:53 > 0:52:56But it would help maybe the future men.
0:52:56 > 0:52:59And at the time, my husband was one of them.
0:53:01 > 0:53:05But it was a wonderful atmosphere in that hall.
0:53:09 > 0:53:1288 safety measures were enacted immediately
0:53:12 > 0:53:14in response to the women's campaign.
0:53:15 > 0:53:18The first to be implemented was a mothership,
0:53:18 > 0:53:21complete with up-to-date medical and radio facilities.
0:53:22 > 0:53:25Their Fishermen's Charter laid the foundations
0:53:25 > 0:53:28for safety at sea for generations to come.
0:53:28 > 0:53:33Welcomed by all, including those who had once been resistant to change.
0:53:34 > 0:53:36As Mrs Denness said upon her return...
0:53:37 > 0:53:40..to Hull, "We did more in six days
0:53:40 > 0:53:43"than trade unions and politicians have done in a century."
0:53:43 > 0:53:47There's no doubt about it, there's people walking the streets today
0:53:47 > 0:53:51who otherwise wouldn't be, countless thousands of lives,
0:53:51 > 0:53:54future lives saved by making the most dangerous...
0:53:56 > 0:53:58..industry on earth that much more safer.
0:54:01 > 0:54:04Despite the success of the women's campaign,
0:54:04 > 0:54:08by the early 1970s, the future of Hull's fishing fleet
0:54:08 > 0:54:10was looking increasingly uncertain.
0:54:11 > 0:54:14In 1972, the Cod War broke out,
0:54:14 > 0:54:18as Iceland imposed restrictions on fishing rights in its waters.
0:54:20 > 0:54:23In the ensuing battle, the Royal Navy was called in,
0:54:23 > 0:54:27as Icelandic gunships rammed Hull's trawlers and cut their nets.
0:54:33 > 0:54:38By the end of 1976, Iceland had won the Cod War.
0:54:38 > 0:54:41With access denied to its rich fishing grounds,
0:54:41 > 0:54:44Hull's fishing industry fell into a sharp decline
0:54:44 > 0:54:46from which it never recovered.
0:54:48 > 0:54:51The effect on the Hessle Road community was devastating.
0:54:57 > 0:55:00Sadly, trawlers were getting scrapped on one hand,
0:55:00 > 0:55:04and also the bulldozers were moving in to the streets of Hessle Road.
0:55:04 > 0:55:07And the fishing families and the Hessle Roaders
0:55:07 > 0:55:09were being moved out to modern estates.
0:55:10 > 0:55:13As the old fishing industry slowly disappeared,
0:55:13 > 0:55:16so too did the memory of what Lil Bilocca
0:55:16 > 0:55:18and the other campaigners had achieved.
0:55:20 > 0:55:27And when Lil died in 1988 at the age of 59, there was little fanfare.
0:55:27 > 0:55:30I said to Audrey, my partner, "Let's go to the funeral,"
0:55:30 > 0:55:33expecting there to be lots of people.
0:55:33 > 0:55:36You know? I knew it was going to be at the Boulevard Baptist.
0:55:38 > 0:55:39We thought there'd be loads there.
0:55:39 > 0:55:41Anyway, nobody.
0:55:41 > 0:55:47Just the family group went in, and the hearse comes along,
0:55:47 > 0:55:48and nobody in the streets.
0:55:50 > 0:55:53For a woman who had fought for trawler safety,
0:55:53 > 0:55:55it was a sad way for her to end her life.
0:56:02 > 0:56:06Once home to the largest deep-sea fishing fleet on earth,
0:56:06 > 0:56:09St Andrew's Dock is now a wasteland.
0:56:09 > 0:56:12But it's also a place of remembrance
0:56:12 > 0:56:15for some of the families of Hull's lost trawlermen.
0:56:15 > 0:56:18Denise Hilton comes here to remember her husband, Brian.
0:56:23 > 0:56:26There's never an 18th of January I forget,
0:56:26 > 0:56:29which would have been our wedding anniversary.
0:56:29 > 0:56:31His birthday's the ninth of September.
0:56:31 > 0:56:34The time he got lost, the tenth and the 11th of January.
0:56:37 > 0:56:40And my children have always known about Brian.
0:56:40 > 0:56:43The grandchildren, even the great-grandchildren.
0:56:43 > 0:56:46My little Ayla, she's going to be nine this week.
0:56:47 > 0:56:50They've just been doing something at school about the trawlers.
0:56:52 > 0:56:56Obviously she could say, "Well, my great-grandad was on there."
0:56:56 > 0:56:59Because they don't know him, but they know of him.
0:57:00 > 0:57:03Any questions they've ever wanted answered, I've answered them.
0:57:08 > 0:57:11They say, "Will they see us, Nana?"
0:57:11 > 0:57:13I say, "Yeah, but they're just in another room."
0:57:16 > 0:57:17They're always in here.
0:57:18 > 0:57:20And that's all you can say about it.
0:57:21 > 0:57:24They're always in here. Can't take that away from them.
0:57:29 > 0:57:31In 1968,
0:57:31 > 0:57:33Lil Bilocca led the women of Hessle Road
0:57:33 > 0:57:36on one of the most successful protest movements
0:57:36 > 0:57:37of the last 50 years.
0:57:40 > 0:57:43Together with Mary Denness, Chrissy Jensen
0:57:43 > 0:57:45and Yvonne Blenkinsop,
0:57:45 > 0:57:48she transformed the attitude to safety at sea
0:57:48 > 0:57:52and helped save the lives of untold thousands of men.
0:57:53 > 0:57:54They should have an award...
0:57:55 > 0:57:57..for what they did.
0:57:57 > 0:58:00And I was happy, proud,
0:58:00 > 0:58:03and so was my mother, to march behind them ladies.
0:58:03 > 0:58:04And I'd do it again tomorrow.
0:58:07 > 0:58:11Today, Yvonne Blenkinsop is the last surviving leader
0:58:11 > 0:58:14of Hull's Headscarf Heroes.
0:58:14 > 0:58:17I'm so pleased and so proud I did do it.
0:58:18 > 0:58:22I just wanted to do a job, and do it properly.
0:58:22 > 0:58:24And get the safety for our men.
0:58:24 > 0:58:27Because our trawlermen more than deserved it.
0:58:28 > 0:58:29More than deserved it.