Headscarf Revolutionaries
Filey Literature Festival
12 Silk Handkerchiefs
Sunday 11 May
Evron Centre Concert Hall, Filey
7.30pm
Adult £15, Concessions £12
In 1968 three Hull trawlers, the St Romanus, the Kingston Peridot and the Ross Cleveland, sank in the icy waters of the Arctic. Fifty-eight men died in what became known as the Dark Winter.
The heartbreak and anger that followed saw the women of Hull rise up and take on the trawler owners and government. In a remarkable campaign, they managed to change maritime safety laws to ensure that fishing communities would never again have to suffer the grief and loss they had endured.
Inspired by Brian W. Lavery’s book The Headscarf Revolutionaries, 12 Silk Handkerchiefs, opens a window on Hull’s Hessle Road fishing community in the aftermath of the Triple Trawler Disaster of 1968.
Joined on stage by stalwart of the Hull folk scene, musician Sam Martyn, Reg Meuross’s powerful songs are interwoven with narration from author Brian W. Lavery and an audio/visual show from the time of the disaster.
12 Silk Handkerchiefs is a tale of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. For years trawlermen fought for survival in the harshest of working conditions: frozen seas with very little safety or protection. It took Hull woman Lillian Bilocca and her fellow headscarf revolutionaries to fight the companies. They took on the Government until desperately needed changes in the safety laws were made.
Tickets are available in person from Filey Post Office or via the WeGotTickets website.
