Call for former dock site to get new lease of life

Campaigners want to see the former dock buildings restored

A petition to improve St Andrew's Dock in Hull as a place to remember those who lost their lives in the fishing industry has attracted more than 2,000 signatures.

Many of the buildings at the former dock are derelict and have fallen into a state of disrepair.

Campaigners said they wanted to see the buildings restored and the area given a new lease of life as a tourist destination.

The man behind the petition, former fisherman Brian Flaxman, said he wanted to see the area transformed into a memorial park "out of respect to our lost fishermen".

He said the site had suffered more than half a century of neglect and vandalism.

Others said it had become a forgotten world that was at risk of being lost forever.

Former trawlerman Vic Wheeldon, who is a trustee of St Andrew's Dock Fishing Heritage Group, said the site was a huge part of his upbringing.

"My father was a fisherman, so I was familiar with the dock even before I left school," he said.

A memorial at the site depicts 13 trawlermen within a garden shaped like a ship's bow

A memorial to more than 6,000 Hull trawlermen who died at sea was unveiled at the site in 2023.

Mr Wheeldon described it as a fitting place to visit, but added that the derelict Lord Line building at the dock, which serves as a monument to the city's fishing industry, would have made an ideal site for a museum.

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