Lindisfarne Boats

Lindisfarne Boats · **3 Likes**

Lindisfarne, also known as Holy Island, is an iconic landscape feature off the Northumberland coast in north-east England, and is linked to the mainland by a tidal causeway. There are myriad of photo opportunities on the island, especially around the C16th castle which can be seen in the background of my photograph. There are also remains of a monastery on the island.

From the middle Ages, Holy Island was an important fishing harbour; initially supplying fish for the monastery and later for commercial sale. In the mid-C19th there were 27 herring fishing boats on the island, but the industry declined in the early-C20th, due in part to competition from steam boats. During World War I, access to the Baltic market for herring was closed, and by the end of the war the Island’s herring industry had ceased. But this wasn't the end of the story. Many of the old herring fishing boats were repurposed as sheds on the shore. These old boats were upturned, covered in pitch tar for waterproofing and cut off at one end for the installation of doors. Many of these boats still remain, although sadly a lot of the previously tarred roofs are now covered with black plastic sheeting.

The boats provide an eye catching subject for the photographer with lots of opportunities for different compositions. It was very windy on the day that I visited Holy Island and the clouds raced above the boats. I opted to use a long exposure (240 seconds - 4 minutes) to capture the clouds streaking above the boats. In my mind the conversion of the photo to B&W makes the scene look especially moody and the streaked clouds appear to resemble a ghostly celestial sea which echoes the moribund herring fishery.

dwgray · 04-10-2023, 03:34 PM