Bridlington has, for decades, been associated with shellfish landings – especially the iconic Lobster.
In this article, the Echo features fishing families and the fishmongers who tell us about one of the town’s success story.
Thanks to the Forgaard Agency for their help.
An Arnold’s sign first went up over the shop at Queen Street Bridlington in the 1950s, but there has been a fishmonger on the site for over 100 years.
Which isn’t surprising, because the harbour is a stone’s throw from the shop door – the stock doesn’t have far to travel!
The original Arnold was Swedish and moved to Hull in the mid 1900s.
On a trip to Bridlington he saw an opportunity to create a business and set up as Arnold’s, selling fruit, vegetables, game and seafood.
The business grew and developed and today is run by his grandson, Andrew, and partner Donna, focussing on shellfish and seafood.
They both bring local knowledge and a variety of experiences to the business – and being born in Bridlington means the sea and fishing are part of their make-up.
Donna’s background in catering and hospitality, with kitchen expertise gained at the seafood restaurant Loch Fyne, makes her the perfect person to pass on cooking advice and tips to her customers.
And for those who want to skip the cooking and prep and go direct to eating, freshly caught and dressed lobster and crab are (nearly) always available in the shop.
Arnold’s buy their Bridlington Bay lobster either direct from the boats or, more usually, from the landing companies such as Coastal Shellfish. They then cook, prepare and dress it.
Dressed lobster sounds fancy – and so many people assume that means it’s expensive. But Arnold’s make Bridlington Bay lobster as accessible as possible. They cook it, halve it and the inedible parts are removed. The delicious claw and knuckle meat is then placed back into the head cavity and it’s ready to eat. A squeeze of lemon, maybe some mayonnaise and you’ve got yourself a delicious meal for around a fiver.
Find Donna at 33 Queen Street, Bridlington, YO15 2SN.
Bridlington has been home to fishing families for centuries and the skills and local knowledge has accumulated, passed down through the generations.
Parent taught child teaches child – and so it continues. Today, many of the boats in the fleet are crewed by family teams, including Tradition which belongs to the Stephenson family.
John Stephenson is now aged 76 and retired, but he first went to sea aged 15 and spent 56 years fishing in Bridlington Bay.
Fishing was so much part of his family heritage that he never considered doing anything else. And judging by his stories of school teachers letting him miss school in order to go to sea (in exchange for a few crabs), everyone else expected him to follow that path too.
Today, it is John’s son Rich who skippers Tradition. GPS and an onboard computer make it easier to track the pots and mobile phones make communication quicker, but a day in the life of the Tradition crew is as long, strenuous and unpredictable as it was when John first went out.
As we spoke to John, Tradition had left harbour at 3am with Rich at the helm,
plus grandson Jake and apprentice Oli as crew. After three hours they would arrive 25 nautical miles offshore, where they would begin the work of pulling up, inspecting, emptying (hopefully), rebaiting and returning around 400 pots.
They were expected back in Bridlington Harbour at around 5pm when they’d unload, before preparing Tradition for the next day when they’d repeat the process.
With about 2,500 pots in total, the cycle is continuous and the role is not for the faint-hearted.
For John, the satisfaction of achieving was a big attraction: “Fishing requires an inventive mind – if something’s not working you have to find an alternative, because without a catch there’s no income.”
He talks about the beauty of lobster fishing being that it is on the lobsters’ terms – if they don’t want to go in the pot, they won’t.
So it’s up to the boat crew to make sure that everything is as favourable for a catch as it can be. With a job that is so influenced by variables – the weather, seasons and tides are not in anyone’s control – it requires a real commitment to keep going to sea.
Thank goodness that the crew of Tradition – and the rest of the Bridlington fleet – have that commitment. Not only do they make native Bridlington Bay lobster available, they are continuing a longstanding tradition and passing on their knowledge to the next generation.
So when you next tuck into Bridlington Bay lobster, eaten with fresh bread and butter or in a bowl of bisque, spare a thought for those people who took the lobster on the first stage of its journey from pot to plate – because you wouldn’t be eating it without them.
To find out more about Bridlington and the huge lobster industry: http://bridlingtonbaylobster.com
