Remembrance service to commemorate Revolutionaries

A remembrance service to commemorate four women who fought to improve safety in the fishing industry is due to be held in Hull for the first time.

Yvonne Blenkinsop, Mary Denness, Lillian Bilocca and Christine Smallbone took on the industry and government in a campaign following the sinking of three trawlers in the 1960s.

Floral tributes and a minute's silence will be observed at midday on Sunday at the junction of Boulevard and Hessle Road, where each of the women has a memorial bench.

Campaigner Ian Cuthbert, who has organised the event, said: "There's plenty of services for lost trawlermen, and quite rightly so, and quite deservedly so. But there's never been one just for those women."

Cuthbert said he expected "a very good turnout", adding: "There will be flowers everywhere. It will be the most colourful street you've ever seen."

The women's campaign started when 58 fishermen lost their lives after three trawlers - St Romanus, Kingston Peridot and Ross Cleveland - sank in the space of less than a month in 1968.

There was only one survivor - Harry Eddom.

Following what became known as the Triple Trawler Tragedy, the women established the Fisherman's Charter, which demanded improvements such as a radio operator on every ship, better safety equipment and improved training.

Cuthbert began campaigning for recognition for the women in 2016 and has since raised funds for a statue dedicated to them.

He said changes to the fishing industry following their campaign was " beyond measure".

"They were told to keep their mouths shut, it was a man's world," said Cuthbert.

"They were ignored and they were told basically - live with it. This is how it works. This is what the fishing industry is like. And they wouldn't do that.

"They said enough's enough. And they put a petition together for safety, which got 10,000 signatures in three days in an area that only had a population of 14,000 people."

Cuthbert said he hoped the service would not just celebrate the women, but would also raise awareness of their story and their impact.

"There shouldn't be a soul in this city or anywhere else who hasn't heard of this story and doesn't know what those four women did for the fishing industry," he said.

"There's people walking down Hessle Road right now as we speak, shopping in the shops and drinking in the pubs and eating in the cafes that wouldn't be here if it wasn't for those four women, the lives they've saved."

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