Exhibition 3rd – 26th August

Who will be first? Westernmen, as Bristol Channel pilots were known, spent their lives at sea awaiting the arrival of some great merchant ship, in order to beat the competition and be the first to get their man aboard. The Bristol Channel is a notorious bottleneck, facing the mighty Atlantic Ocean which surges into it producing six knot tides with a 50ft range. In stormy weather the rowing skiffs, used to transfer the pilots from cutter to ship, would be stowed on deck. In light airs they would be dropped overboard and towed, ever ready to embark their man. Martyn Mackrill captures the dominant emotion of the Westernman – anticipation – as here, under the grey veil of an approaching depression, three great cutters await wind as well as the sight of a distant deep-water sail. For inspiration Martyn used the former trawler, Eda Frandsen, built in Denmark in 1938 to a design which incorporated many features of the pilot cutter.