The National Fishing Heritage Centre

Fishermen are often described as having the toughest job in the world. The National Fishing Heritage Centre is a multiple award-winning visitor centre and museum which vividly depicts the hardships of that life.

You are invited to sign on as a crew-member for a voyage of discovery which takes you from the back streets of Grimsby through the worst extremes of the elements to the brink of disaster.  Follow the trail through exhibition areas, small rooms and circuitous alleys, never knowing where the next door will lead. Use the navigational maps to plot your course and the on-board equipment to reach the Arctic fishing grounds. Experience the raw blast of the wind, the rolling seas, the urgency and excitement of the catch, the heat of the engine room, and the cramped living conditions.

Remember to get a timed ticket to go on board the fishing trawler, ‘Ross Tiger’, which is moored adjacent to the Centre. Explore inside and imagine what it would be like out at sea. Take time at the end of your tour to visit the Doughty Collection, examples of which can be seen in the vicinity of the café.

The Collection was amassed by one man: Wilfred Vere Doughty, a director of the Consolidated Steam Fishing and Ice Company, former Proprietor and Editor of the Grimsby Evening Telegraph. The collection is of such value and importance that, when Doughty bequeathed it to Grimsby in 1942, it became the starting point for a Museums’ Service in North East Lincolnshire.

The collection of ship models includes the twelve foot long Narkunda, a 16,000 tonne steamer built by Harland and Wolf; ‘The Death of Nelson’, a diorama believed to date from 1805/6, showing the quarter deck of the HMS Victory at the moment when Nelson was shot, and the Amelia, a beautiful model, dating from 1899, of the Royal Yacht of Don Carlos, King of Portugal. Then return to the café for refreshments.

Events are held throughout the year: see the Matisse on display from the 19th January 2008, also there will be a display of surfboards during the summer as part of the history of surf exhibition.

Grimsby National Fishing Heritage Centre, Alexandra Dock

Telephone 01472 323345
www.nelincs.gov.uk/leisure/museums