About the Fish Trail

Introduction to Gordon Young’s Fish Trail (1992)

Gordon Young was commissioned to produce the trail by Hull City Council for the 1992 Festival. Young has been producing public art for over 30 years, and has major pieces in other northern coastal towns, such as Carlisle, Blackpool, and Morecambe. His work addresses the history and language of border towns, for example, Carlisle’s Cursing Stone and Reiver Pavement (2003). John Siddique discusses Young’s commitment to social engagement, alongside his interest in ‘unsung people and places’.[i] Siddique describes these as ‘places on the outer edges, often fragile, sometimes broken’.[ii] The Fish Trail was managed by Humberside Arts and sponsored by Seven Seas ltd, a manufacturer in the city, established by Hull trawler ship owners in the 1930s. The trail commemorates industrial heritage as a foundation for the city’s identity whilst also promoting current industry (at the time). The factory on Hedon Rd closed in 2012, with a loss of 250 jobs.

The trail consists of representations of 41 fish and invertebrate species, one or more for each letter of the alphabet - from anchovy to zander. This involves a range of materials and processes, including stone of varying colours and textures alongside glass, brick, steel, bronze and other metals. Fish are carved, engraved, set, or burnt onto their ground, and there is variety and subtlety in their representations. Some of this is determined by chance - using every letter of the alphabet (except K) as the initial letter for each species, and representing each life size, creates certain parameters. Conversely, the species of fish and the materials used are linked to their locations in humorous and ironic ways that reveal linguistic, historic, and literary connections. There are x-ray fish etched into glass, red herrings in red brick, plaice in the market-place, a catfish chasing a dogfish, a shark outside a bank, a monkfish on Whitefriargate (where there was once a friary) and an electric eel outside an electric substation.[iii] Alongside the Minerva Hotel there is a haddock carved into black Belgian carboniferous limestone, and the words, ‘Blistering Barnacles’ - a reference to the Belgian cartoon Tintin and the infamous character Captain Haddock.[iv] These connections between words, images, and materials, back and forth from the real to the fictional, capture and make permanent momentary flights of fancy as we see relationships across different spheres and meaning is made multimodally.

The fish aren’t easily removed, they are set, carved, or burnt into paving stones and board walks where they enhance and embellish the site.[v] Some individual elements respond to their locations, as outlined above, and the overall presence of fish on the quayside recalls historical moments when fishing and trawler ships arrived at the docks and landed their catch. These engraved and carved fish mark the spot where their real-life counterparts lay on the quay having escaped their nets. This is a particular type of site-specificity – the thing being commemorated is represented and frozen on the spot where it happened.

The original purpose of the trail was to encourage participants to explore Hull’s Old Town and disused Fruit-Market. These areas, now developed and regenerated, were underused 30 years ago. The trail begins with anchovies in Victoria Square and ends with a zander at the top of Whitefriargate. Between A and Z, the 2-mile route weaves around cobbled streets, alleys, alongside the river, and past points of historical significance. Visitors can pick up a map and children make rubbings of the fish. There is a childlike pleasure in following clues, and this can be communal as people share moments of humour and discovery. Beyond the immediacy of treasure maps and trails there are also rewards for specialists in geology, history, craft, and fish. As well as being funny and interesting, The Fish Trail introduces and invites a different experience of the city with pauses and points of focus at odds to a functional navigation of public space. Malcolm Miles defines public art as either decorative: ‘the integration of art and craft work in the design of the built environment’, or, ‘critical’.[vi] He links The Fish Trail with Tess Jaray’s pavement and street furniture in Centenary Square Birmingham as ‘integrated design’ and ‘images of lost industry inserted in the pavements of Hull’.[vii]

The trail commemorates the fishing industry which is crucial to Hull’s heritage and identity. It is a popular tourist attraction and engages visitors and residents with an interactive trail which introduces the city, key places of historical importance, as well as a variety of fish species and fictional references. The trail encourages participants to experience public space in new ways outside daily routines. It is accessible to everyone from children to specialists and provides positive experiential, educational, and economic benefits. Young’s work promotes craft skills and adds aesthetic value and interest to the built environment. Miles describes a ‘renewed history of decoration in which motifs and patterns carry meaning’,[viii] and advocates for community links and narratives to be built into public art projects from the beginning.[ix] Young’s projects are collaborative.  He works with writers, historians, geologists etc. This means that local expertise is sought, and interdisciplinary relationships forged, which may continue beyond the construction of the work. Young established a factory in Hull, with valuable work and training opportunities in specialised craft and industrial skills.

Jill Howitt

 

[i] John Siddique, ’I’m playing all the right notes but not necessarily in the right order! In conversation with Gordon Young’ in Mark Sutcliffe (ed.) The Comedy Carpet Blackpool (Booth Clibborn Editions, 2013) p.22

[ii] Ibid. p.24

[iii] Mike Horne, ‘The Geology of the Hull Fish Trail’, Humberside Geologist No.12, available online: http://www.hullgeolsoc.co.uk/fishtrail.htm (accessed 19 May 2021)

[iv] Ibid.

[v] However, the paving stones and the fish have been removed on different occasions as the paving is replaced, and Cod is currently missing from its paving stone – having disappeared overnight

[vi] Malcolm Miles, Art, Space and the City: Public Art and Urban Futures (London: Routlege,1997), p.202-3

[vii] Ibid.p.5 and p.8

[viii] Ibid.p.203

[ix]   Ibid.

Old College Try

by The Mountain Goats ‧ 2002

From the housetops to the gutters
From the ocean to the shore
The warning signs have all been bright and garish
Far too great in number to ignore
From the cities to the swamplands
From the highways to the hills
Our love has never had a leg to stand on
From the aspirins to the cross-tops to the Elavils

But, I will walk down to the end with you
If you will come all the way down with me

From the entrance to the exit is longer than it looks from where we stand
I want to say I'm sorry for stuff I haven't done yet
Things will shortly get completely out of hand
I can feel it in the rotten air tonight
In the tips of my fingers, in the skin on my face
In the weak last gasp of the evening's dying light
In the way those eyes I've always loved illuminate this place
Like a trashcan fire in a prison cell
Like the searchlights in the parking lots of Hell

I will walk down to the end with you
If you will come all the way down with me

The Critical Fish Trail are delighted to include the lyrics from ‘Old College Try’ (album Tallahassee). We discovered the song via a series of coincidences – including the title of an artwork by Anya Gallaccio and a discussion at Art History Club. We immediately felt the connection between this beautiful song and our project – The Fish Trail takes you from the centre of the city to its edge beside the Humber Estuary.

Thank you so much to The Mountain Goats, songwriter John S. Darnielle, and Kevin O’Halloran for permission to use the song and their kind and encouraging words.

FOLLOWING THE TRAIL

By Patrick Johnson

An extract from Patrick’s essay in which he describes his experience following The Fish Trail. The full essay is in our ESSAYS section - link

Clutched in my hand is a map for the route. My eyes alternate between looking at the map and scanning the footpaths for the fish. I start at City Hall, with a shoal of ANCHOVIES pointing in the direction of the trail. On the other side of Victoria Square are the old Dock Offices, better known as the Maritime Museum, which are an instant reminder of Hull’s heritage. Across the road the LOBSTER lurks. “Will you walk a little faster”, a quote from Lewis Carroll’s The Mock Turtle’s Song, urges me on. By the old Beverley Gate, where King Charles 1 was refused entry to Hull, I stand on the COD, staring at the refurbished Burtons Building at the end of Whitefriargate. It is here that I turn towards the river.

Onwards along Princes Dock Street, I leap over the FLYING FISH. Princes Quay dominates the skyline. At the cutting edge of architecture in its day, the shopping centre is now looking dated and tired. Like so many of the shopping areas, it only looks half occupied. I walk over the new footbridge on the A63 and head towards the Humber.  

Walking the trail is an opportunity to remember, and perhaps connect to, Hull’s heritage in the fishing industry. Like many people in this area, fishing forms part of my family history. Communities grew around the industry. Once one of the biggest fishing ports in Europe, Hull docks were full of trawlers, with tonnes of fish being landed on the quays. I remember my father telling me tales of mile-long trains leaving from the dockside to take fish to Billingsgate market in London. All this has now virtually disappeared.

The sounds of clanking masts swaying in the breeze ring out as I progress along the marina. Walking past the HADDOCK and around the corner by the Minerva pub, the gusts of wind off the river hit my face. Striding alongside Victoria Pier, the wooden structure jutting out into the dark water of the river, I come to the large RAY, its tail curling round to point in my direction. Stepping on the GARFISH, I reminisce about the old Humber ferry as I pass the Pilot’s Office. Turning right, the cobbles of the High Street, with the promise of more fish, await me…

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