Hull: Work to begin on delayed trawlermen memorial garden

The memorial garden will open at St Andrews Quay in 2023

Work is to begin on a delayed memorial garden for thousands of Hull trawlermen who died at sea.

An artwork commemorating 6,000 lost fisherman was removed from St Andrews Quay in 2019 ahead of flood defence enhancement work.

Plans for it to be reinstated in a new £240,000 garden were beset by delays during the Covid pandemic.

Hull City Council said work on the garden would begin in early spring 2023 and was expected to last 10 weeks.

It follows the completion of the Environment Agency's reinforcement of flood defences along the Humber riverbank earlier this year.

The memorial garden has been funded by money raised by the St Andrews Dock Heritage Park Action Group (STAND), a charity started in 1989 by ex-fisherman John Crimlis, who lost two brothers from Hull trawlers.

Peter Naylor's sculpture was unveiled in 2016

Boards showing information about Hull's fishing industry will be installed alongside the artwork.

Peter Naylor's sculpture, depicting the crew of a trawler, was first unveiled in 2016 and has been kept in storage since it was removed.

Gemma Aked, the council's corporate director for regeneration, said: "The project will reinstate the artwork within a landscaped memorial garden which befits the historical importance of the dock to the local community."

The council has contributed £65,000 in funding for the garden and has leased the land to STAND.

The work will be carried out by Wrights Construction.