ART OF THE DOCKS

My Dad, Frederick Charles Stone, was a Grimsby fish merchant. He began his working life as a barrow boy then progressed to be a filleter and finally ran his own business as a fish merchant in the 1950s and 60s. He was a Grammar School boy who, due to his parent’s financial situation, left school aged 14.

His maxim was “Nothing’s impossible, the impossible just takes a bit longer to achieve” and from him I got my determination and my work ethic.

My Dad was a workaholic and so if I wanted to spend time with him it often meant going down dock at the weekend when he went to check his freezers and catch up with paperwork. I would sit and draw in his office.

My Dad’s first business was on the old pontoon was called F. C Stone. He then moved to Henderson St and was director of a company called Choice Foods Ltd. Later he ran another company called Barnett & Roberts Ltd.

After surviving a horrific car crash in 1966 he semi retired but continued working as a director along with Fred Smith of Barnett & Roberts Ltd operating out of Ocean House and then Abacus House selling smoked salmon by post. (1960s/70s I think)

My Dad had 2 cars in the 50s; an old black Ford which was usually parked at Riby Square car park as he didn’t take his second car, a large Rover Coupé onto the docks. He also had 2 suits for work (he always wore a shirt and tie even on the docks) one suit was worn on the docks only and he always had a change of clothes before coming home!

Sue Stone
I have worked as a professional textile artist since 2006 and my memories of going down dock as a child have inspired several of my textile artworks.

2008 – N E Lincolnshire Museums collection
Hand and machine stitch

In the 1950s, Grimsby’s fish docks were a familiar place for me. One of my strongest childhood memories is of being taken on board a trawler by my Dad who was a fish merchant, meeting the crew, and exploring the ship. It could have been an open day, or perhaps my dad arranged it privately—I’m not sure—but I do know I was around six years old and had just started school, which places the visit in about 1958. I was fascinated by how the men lived and worked in such a confined space during their long and dangerous trips at sea.

Whilst on board, I was given an enormous enamel mug with a stripe around the top, filled with milky tea. The following Monday at Nunsthorpe School, we were asked to write about our weekend. My story was simple “I had a trip on a trawler and drank a mug of ship’s tea!”

This cherished memory inspired my artwork ‘A Mug of Ship’s Tea’, which portrays me holding that mug alongside my Dad, Fred, standing by a trawler with the crew in the background. The piece is now part of the North East Lincolnshire Museums collection at the Grimsby Fishing Heritage Centre, preserving this treasured moment from my childhood.

2008 – Hand and machine stitch

This piece shows my Dad, Fred Stone with his brother Harry at work on the old pontoon on Grimsby Fish Docks.

My Dad along with many other small fish merchants started his business on the old pontoon and my memory of it is that there was a very small office somewhere up a spiral staircase. I liked the spiral staircase so much I asked my mum if we could have one in my bedroom at home.

My Dad’s business on the pontoon was F. C Stone.

2008 – Private collection
Hand and machine stitch

The Parcel of Fish’ shows me with my Mum in our 1950s kitchen, complete with reeded glass fronted cupboards. Like most families in Grimsby we ate a lot of fish and every Friday lunchtime my Dad brought home “a parcel of fish so fresh you could still taste the sea”, at least I always thought you could and for many years after my Dad retired I never ate fish as it just did not taste the same.

We ate a lot of different fish; Plaice, and Lemon sole were my favourites but we also had Haddock, Cod (but only at the right time of year) and Skate wings.

2009 – The Franklin Collection
Diptych – Digital print with hand and machine stitch

‘In the Front’  shows my Dad, Fred Stone (on the left) standing proudly outside his business Choice Foods with two of his filleters Charlie Craven and Johnny Buckingham.

And ‘Out the Back’ is a tale of fish being lost via the back door and this piece depicts a shady looking character sneaking out the back with a very large fish. Filleters were often given a parcel of fish which often supplemented their wages but sometimes, as in this case fish just disappeared.