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Name/TitleGutters working above caravan park West Terrace
About this objectGutters working above caravan park on West Terrace - registration on lorry ESK?, a Caithness number. Ullapool began in 1788 as a planned village to exploit the boom in the herring fishing industry. Every season boats and herring gutters would arrive from all over Scotland to catch and process the 'silver darlings', as the fish were sometimes known. The herring industry declined in the 1930s and the processing became more centralized on the East coast although boats continued to fish on the West coast. 'Herring girls' would follow the herring fleet around the coast of Britain. The herring catches were unloaded into large wooden troughs called farlans. Most women could gut an average of 40 fish each minute but some were significantly faster. The packer would pack the fish in salt in barrels and the fish would be pickled in the liquid that formed.
Date Made1950?
Object TypePhotograph
Subject and Association KeywordsUllapool
Subject and Association KeywordsFish processing
Object numberULMPH 2000 0597
Copyright LicenceAttribution - Non-commercial - Share Alike (cc)
