Fisher Folk and other local heroes
Recorded 1 year ago
About this recording
The exhibition Fisher Folk and other local heroes by Dawn MacLean (nee MacKay) was held in North Coast Visitor Centre, Thurso and Waterlines, Lybster. In this recording Dawn explains how this exhibition evolved over time.
Initially she created 19 pencil portraits of local people from the Thurso and Scrabster area, but as the project progressed, she realised that each person had a significant story to tell. Therefore, Dawn spent time collecting each person’s unique story and the resulting exhibition displayed the portraits accompanied by the biographies of the local heroes.
“People were really interested in the people that I had drawn and more so they were interested in their stories.”
Included in the exhibition is the portrait and biography of Ali Simpson.
“Ali was the last surviving member of the Thurso lifeboat crew who had gone out in 1969 to pick up the Longhope lifeboat after it had gone down in rough seas.”
The Longhope lifeboat disaster occurred on March 17, 1969, in the Pentland Firth, when the Longhope lifeboat, the T.G.B., capsized in heavy seas while attempting to rescue the crew of the Liberian cargo ship Irene. All eight crew members of the T.G.B. were lost. The incident led to the development of self-righting lifeboats.
Dawn has not only recorded a description of her exhibition for Wick Voices, but she also took part in a Wick Voices recorded conversation whereby she assisted Ali in sharing his memories of the Longhope lifeboat disaster.
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