NS800 OR SN800? THAT IS THE QUESTION!
By Carol Davison | Photography by www.kerryhaysphotography.com
Terry McDermott, chair of the North Shield’s Fishermen’s Heritage Project (NSFHP) is keeping everything crossed that Friday June 20th brings a day of glorious sunshine. He has been putting his heart and soul into organising a very special afternoon of festivities on that date to mark the 800th birthday of North Shields, something which he hopes will bring the local community together to celebrate the fishing heritage of the town.
I met up with Terry over a cuppa in the Low Lights Tavern to hear more about the June 20th celebrations and also the work of the Fishermen’s Heritage Project. Terry, who fished out of North Shields before joining the Merchant Navy, is a passionate advocate for keeping the history of our fishing industry alive through education and on this note, he pointed out that the logo ‘NS800’, the term being used to describe North Shield’s birthday year, is not factually correct. He explained the system of port registration codes and that each commercial fishing vessel is given a unique registration made up of the two-letter port identification code followed by its registration number. As North Sunderland had already claimed the prefix NS, North Shields was allocated SN. “That’s why you’ll only hear me call it the SN800, not NS800,” he clarified.
Terry co-founded the NSFHP with the late Henry Howard back in 2015. They believed that the fish quay deserved a statue to commemorate its fishermen and so established the project to raise funds. He described how they started with ‘a handful of fresh air’ and within 18 months had raised £75,000. The fundraising eventually culminated in the unveiling of The Fisherman statue on the Fiddler’s Green site in 2017 and the Herring Girl statue on the Western Quay in 2023.
Ten years on and now in his seventies, his energy is as strong as ever and he talks enthusiastically about the future of the project. High on the agenda is the continuation of school trips to the Grimsby Fishing Heritage Centre. NSFHP funds, supported by local benefactors, have fully financed these trips for local school children aged 7 and 8 for the last couple of years. With the local fishing industry in decline, he feels it’s important to educate the children about their heritage, though it seems seeing them happy is just as important to Terry. He was quite emotional describing how sadly, some of the children on previous trips had never been outside of North Shields before. The trip to Grimsby was consequently a new adventure for them with even a ride on the coach causing much excitement – especially the ensuing sing-along! He proudly showed me a bound folder which contained a mass of thank you letters from both teachers and pupils and it’s clear that these visits are a valuable resource for schools at a time of funding shortages and an important life experience for the children. The NSFHP also ensured that local school children were involved in the unveiling of the
Herring Girl statue and one of the letters from a young boy described it as ‘the best day of his life’, something which brought a tear to Terry’s eye. It’s making powerful memories like this that Terry wants to see in the NS800 (SN800!) celebrations.
The June 20th event which has been organised by NSFHP and supported by North Tyneside Council, is due to kick off at 12pm. A procession of over three hundred school children will be led by pipers from the Fisherman statue on Fiddler’s Green along the quayside to a stage on the Western Quay. There the children will sing some traditional songs and Peter Dade of the Fishermen’s Mission will perform a blessing of the fleet. Following the children’s performance, there will be a programme of folk music by local musicians and a spectacular parade of sixty boats on the river, including a water cannon display by the Svitzer Tyne tug. Finishing at 5pm, and with the promise of a few well known faces in the crowd, the event should be a day to remember!
For more information about NSFHP and upcoming projects, check out the North Shield’s Fishermen’s Heritage Project website. A complete itinerary for the June 20th event will be published nearer the date and will be available via various websites including I Love North Shields and North Tyneside Council.
