‘I heard the skippers search for herring on the radio’

I was lucky to have experienced the last years of the drift net era. My childhood was immersed in the routine of the herring fishing. The setting was the village of Hamnavoe, on the island of Burra. Located in a perfect, natural harbour, it is defined by a single pier, around which most of the houses are clustered in a large semi-circle. When I was growing up, there were around a dozen drift net boats from the village, each with its own evocative name. Replenish, Venture, Radiant Star and Golden Harvest are some of the names that still trip off my tongue effortlessly.

I marvel at what I can remember. I can pretty much recall who the crew were on board each boat, what its registration number was, the colour of its wheelhouse and so on. I was not unusual; all the children knew as much as I did. When the fleet was tied up at the pier for the weekend, this was our playground: we’d scramble from boat to boat, fishing off the sterns with homemade lines. The life of the village revolved around the herring season. There was hardly anyone at school whose father was not a fisherman, and most of our mothers had been gutters when they were younger.

I recall pestering my mother to allow me to stay up late so I could hear the drift net skippers speaking on the radio as they searched for herring. Every house had a large wireless, the main purpose of which was to listen to the fishing news on a designated fishing boat channel known as the trawler band. The Home Service or the Light Programme (the forerunners of Radio 4 and Radio 2) were only tuned into when it was known that no one from the boats would be speaking.

Once the nets had been shot, some of the watchmen would sing hymns over the radio. I can recall fighting the sleep that was overpowering me, hearing these men taking turns to sing their favourite hymns. There was no music, just one

man singing, making the moment even more special

in my memory. Two popular choices were Will Your Anchor Hold and The Old Rugged Cross, hymns that are still sung at fishermen’s funerals today.