What the Sea Saw celebrates the heritage of fishing along the East Yorkshire coast, particularly in communities in Scarborough and Staithes, and captures the memories of the fishing community from the 1950s to the present day. The project, in partnership with the Scarborough Maritime Heritage Centre and Staithes Museum, reflects this fishing heritage in a series of events in Scarborough and Staithes, including an audio trail inspired by oral histories, an archive film, workshops in schools, and a final performance event combining stories and sea shanties sung by local choirs, accompanied by fish and chips for the audience and participants.
The project is being produced by Digital Drama and is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, with thanks to National Lottery players.
“Scarborough’s maritime heritage is crucial to the origins and roots of our town. Scarborough was once the 5th largest herring port and the 7th largest shipbuilding port in the country. It was the first seaside resort and had one of the first lifeboats. The maritime heritage plays a crucial role in informing the public and educating local children about the past.” Lindy Rowley, Director, Trustee, Vice-Chair, Scarborough Maritime Heritage Centre.
Writer Helena Fox: “It’s been a privilege to have this wonderful opportunity to explore the oral histories at Scarborough Maritime Heritage Centre, some of which are recordings of people I had had the pleasure to spend time with and I hope this audio drama, interweaving real life memories, goes someway to bring these testimonies of a resilient, hardworking and close-knit fishing community to life.”
Kate Valentine of Digital Drama adds: “We are thrilled to have received this support thanks to National Lottery players and are confident the project will enable people to share the rich heritage of the fishing community in Scarborough through listening to the audio trail”.
Digital Drama is an award-winning production company highly experienced in running multifaceted complex heritage projects with a variety of project partners to deliver successful heritage outcomes for participants, Lottery players, and project partners. Examples of these projects can be seen on the website www.digitaldrama.org/projects/
Digital Drama was awarded a grant by the National Lottery Heritage Fund to celebrate the heritage of fishing along the East Yorkshire coast, particularly in communities in Scarborough and Staithes, and capture the memories of the fishing community from the 1950s to the present day.
The What the Sea Saw Audio Trail was launched on Thursday 2nd of May 2024 as part of the Scarborough Streets Festival. It dramatises the oral history memories of Scarborough’s fishing community from the 1890s to the present day, taking listeners around the iconic “Bottom End” to evoke the town’s historic relationship with the sea.
The What the Sea Saw Audio Trail can be heard in full here: https://soundcloud.com/igitalrama/sets/what-the-sea-saw-audio-trail
Using money raised by the National Lottery, we inspire, lead and resource the UK’s heritage to create positive and lasting change for people and communities, now and in the future www.heritagefund.org.uk
Download the What the Sea Saw trail leaflet as a pdf here
