We were pleased to welcome Ian Goodyear, Director of Operations at The Fisheries Museum in Anstruther, as guest speaker on 3rd June.

It was a pleasure to hear of the work of this very fine museum - and also very timely as the museum is about to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its founding on 4th July 1969. We heard that, from July 2019 to late June 2020, the museum will be putting on a whole host of events starting with a spectacular opening ceremony on the 4th July, where the museum will welcome home the ‘Reaper’, the museum’s prized Fifie fishing boat after major restoration.

From July 2019 until January 2020 the museum will host a journey through the last 50 years of the fishing industry, charting the changes to the fleets, the harbours, the livelihoods and the lives of those who work to put fish on our table - an insight into the real price of fish.

The museum occupies premises of almost 28,000 square feet and is located in an historic setting facing Anstruther’s picturesque harbour. It tells the fascinating story of the Scottish fishing industry in stunning detail. A fact that emerged and is perhaps less well known, is that the fishing industry had its roots in the highland clearances; people being forced to fishing in order to survive.

The museum collections include extensive and historically important records of the fishing industry and communities as well as many artefacts and preserved examples of the wooden hulled boats. 19 boats in total are preserved. Even so space permits only about 20% of the total collections to be on display.

Ian illustrated his talk with many photographs from the collections and spoke enthusiastically of the detailed histories of some of the most famous boats. ‘Reaper’ of course, but also ‘The Research’, ‘Silver Spray’ and ‘Lively Hope’.

Many Anstruther Rotary club members have direct or family links to fishing - a relationship that made this talk especially interesting and following many questions, Roderick Skinner proposed a warm vote of thanks on behalf of the club.