New plaque Filey’s GIANT
Information board tells the story of the sculpture and Filey’s fishing heritage
A new information board has been unveiled to tell the story of Filey’s beloved fisherman statue.
After months of planning, the board was officially unveiled at a ceremony on Friday morning.
The statue’s official title is “High Tide in Short Wellies”, but he has become affectionately known as Finlay or simply the Filey Fisherman.
Maureen Robinson, who bought the piece from Durhambased sculptor Ray Lonsdale and gifted it to the town, said she was thrilled with the new addition.
She said: “I’m delighted. It has completed the scene and now truly portrays Finlay as a symbol of Filey’s fishing heritage.
“Everyone has been really helpful and it has been teamwork all the way.”
Maureen explained that town clerk Gina Robinson had obtained photographs for the board from Filey Town Council’s archive of local heritage material.
She added: “The Crimlisk Fisher Archive holds a treasure trove of documents, images and artefacts depicting Filey’s past and has access to the public by arrangement.”
Tim Furness of Scarborough Council was responsible for the artwork, which Maureen says is “beautifully presented”.
There were some issues to resolve regarding the siting of the board, which has been placed behind the statue and at a slight distance to make sure it is not in the way of photographs.
Cllr Susan Bosomworth, Town Mayor of Filey, said: “On behalf of the members of Filey Town Council I would like to sincerely thank Mrs Maureen Robinson for her kind donation towards the new information panel which gives detailed information about the Fisherman
statue, locally known as ‘Finlay’ and the artist who created the sculpture, together with information regarding the decline of the fishing industry in Filey.
“The photographs on the Information Panel have been sourced from the Crimlisk Fisher Archive collection.
“It has been a pleasure for members of Filey Town Council to work alongside Mrs Robinson to facilitate this project on her behalf and in conjunction with Scar- borough Borough Council who have done the artwork and the installation for the Fisherman information panel.
“I hope the panel will be of benefit to many people over the years to come and once again I pay tribute to Mrs Robinson for the kind generosity she has shown to Filey by firstly donating the Fisherman sculpture, which we are all so proud of, and now to complete his heritage with this new addition of an information panel is again an extremely generous gesture.”