Category: Newhaven

General public and former whalers and their families sought to help co-design new online Whalers’ Memory Bank

In June 2023 the South Georgia Heritage Trust and the South Georgia Museum launched a project called The Whalers’ Memory Bank.

Supported by funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the project is about creating a living, growing digital time capsule where veterans of the whaling industry, their families and communities can come together to contribute and share their stories with a wider audience. 

Since then, the South Georgia Museum has been busy collecting hundreds of stories, photographs and memorabilia from the former whaling communities – the response has been amazing. 

But we want to make sure we tell these stories in a way that captures everyone’s imagination. Presenting stories in a way the former whaling communities want to see, but also in a way that appeals to a wider audience so they can understand this important slice of Scottish social history.

That is why we are putting out a call for anyone who wants to join us either for a short workshop or just drop in and find out more and give us your thoughts.

Over the weekend of 22 and 23 June there are a number of opportunities to join in and help us through a range of workshops and drop-in sessions that are taking place.

Saturday 22 June – we will be at The Scottish Maritime Museum in Irvine. We will be running a workshop from 10.30am until 12.00 which we are encouraging people to book onto. We will also be running a drop-in session for general visitors to the museum from 2-4pm. 

Sunday 23 June – we will be at The Scottish Fisheries Museum in Anstruther. We will be running a workshop from 11.00am until 12.30 which we are encouraging people to book onto. We will also be running a drop-in session for general visitors to the museum from 1.30-3.30pm. 

Each workshop will last about an hour and a half and we would welcome any former whalers and their families to come along, bring any memories or stories you want to share but, most importantly, be happy to help us shape our early thoughts and ideas on the Memory Bank.

But you don’t need to have had any association with whaling to join in. We are really looking forward to getting input and feedback from the general public so you can also either book onto one of the workshops or come and join us anytime during the drop-in sessions over the weekend should you be at either of the museums.

To book onto a workshop on either Saturday 22 or Sunday 23 May email memorybank@sght.org or just drop in if you want to join us for a more casual chat at the drop-in sessions.

Please note there is an entrance fee for both museums. Workshop attendance is free, but if you wish to visit the rest of the museum once it is ended there will be a reduced entrance fee of £4 for the Scottish Maritime Museum and £5 for the Scottish Fisheries Museum.  

Helen Balfour, Community Engagement Officer for the Memory Bank said: “The story of modern whaling in the Southern Hemisphere is a controversial one with British companies playing a key role in the industry.

“These companies had a largely Scottish workforce, with many from Shetland. Now, only a dwindling number of men survive that have first-hand memories of this industry, an integral part of Scottish and Shetland’s social history. 

“As someone from a family with many connections to whaling, I am conscious that this is story well known to some but not one that is more widely understood or discussed. We don’t only want to delve into the stories of whalers, we want to explore questions such as: why was whaling so important? how did it help power the world between the wars, and what was it like to live, and work from the remote island of South Georgia in the Southern Ocean?

“We have already done some workshops in Shetland in May where we really learnt a lot from whalers, their families and the community. We want to continue that work and hope to see as many people as possible over the weekend of 22 and 23 June to help us shape and tell this hidden piece of Scotland’s social history.”

Linda Fitzpatrick, Head Curator at the Scottish Fisheries Museum who is also helping with the wider collections management of the project said: “This unique project has many features that resonate with the work we do at the Scottish Fisheries Museum to engage audiences with topics relating to the heritage and development of fishing technologies, including whaling. 

“There is no doubt that reflecting on whaling is problematic: it was brutal and exploitative, and few would welcome its return.  Nevertheless, the industry was an important feature of Scotland’s industrial development and generated a distinct and vibrant culture.  

“This is an important moment, therefore, to reach out to ex-whalers and their communities to capture the living memories of those who took part in the industry and to preserve them for the future.  

“We warmly invite anyone with an interest in the subject to come along over the weekend to either museum over the weekend of the 22 and 23 June.”