In the 19th and early 20th centuries, as fisherwives and lasses sat by the fireside knitting ganseys for their trawlermen in the cottages scattered between Whitby’s shores and yards – little did they know they’d be so culturally significant nearly 200 years later.
Much more than a fishermen’s uniform, ganseys represent community, heritage and identity as well as a skillset being kept alive by only a few people today.
Deb Gillanders, of Robin Hood’s Bay, is possibly one of the last hand-knitters of these garments and throughout this weekend and next week, she will be showcasing her skills and her extensive gansey collection.
As part of Heritage Open Days (HODS), Deb is displaying around a hundred ganseys, old and new, from around UK and The Netherlands as well as wool, needles and lots of free advice.
HODS is England’s largest community led festival of history and culture, and takes place each September in a variety of locations with historic significance – some of which are not usually open to the public.
There are a number of events in and around Whitby, including Deb’s display at Fylingthorpe Methodist Church which gives an insight into how fishing families worked.
Every year, herring migrated down the east coast of the UK and the Dutch fishing fleet of steamers were followed by herring lasses who would gut the herring catch when they came ashore.
When they came to Whitby, these girls would lodge with local families, with their lasses carrying out the same jobs aswell. Once they had finished their day’s work and got themselves cleaned up, they would sit together and knit.
“Some will have been 11 and couldn’t understand what was being said, but could learn a knitting pattern”, Deb said.
“It was incredible how illiterate peasant women could turn these into works of art, but you didn’t have to write anything down if you knew how to do it, and they created patters in their head.
“The fishing community was very flexible. You would think small villages were very parochial but they were more international than you would think. They were hopping on a boat and going across the ocean like it was the A1.”
People talk about Whitby gansey patterns which feature ropes and twists and triangles said to be derived from the Scottish flag, or Bay patterns, with a cable twist, but the differences weren’t so straightforward.
Take the ‘Whitby’ gansey pattern for example, it isn’t ‘the’ Whitby pattern but it is actually ‘a’ Whitby pattern.
You might get married to another fisherman from another place, you live at his mother’s and she wants you to knit her pattern, Deb explains. And each knitter, even if they used a similar pattern, likely used a different stitch.
Deb said: “I could show you ganseys by one person and there will be several variations, there are no two the same.”
There is a tale, possibly fact, possibly folklore which says fishermen who died at sea were identified by the pattern on their ganseys so the body could be returned to the right village.
Like the twist on the gansey, this tale is a twist on the truth, says Deb, due to the costs of burial and transportation at that time.
“If a body did come ashore, it might be it went back in with the tide and was buried at sea”, she says. “It is harsh but it was a way of dealing with it. If you didn’t know who it was, the women would look, not just at the pattern but how it was made. The stitch used would identity the knitter, it was very specific.”
Alf Hildred was a trawlerman who came to live and work in Whitby well over 50 years ago and he knitted ganseys. His method was purl stitches. If the stitch was one purl, two knots, one purl it was probably knitted by Ethel Richardson, says Deb.
She lived on Church Street in Whitby and was born in 1907.
“Ethel was a fabulous knitter, she passed away a long time ago but I could spot her stuff a mile off”, added Deb.
So the question of ‘the’ Whitby pattern or ‘a’ Whitby pattern can possibly never be answered.
Deb learned to knit as a child and put it down for years. She was inspired to learn to knit ganseys after meeting Alf at a party many years ago.
She recalls: “He was wearing a gansey he had knitted himself and I had never seen anything like it. It was properly old and I just thought ‘I want one’. I sat next to him for the next 20 odd years and learned from him.
“There is so much I really like about ganseys. It is part discovery and part anarchy – once you know what you are doing, you can do what you want with the patterns.”
Also part of the HODs programme and having seen 300 years of local history is The Little Yellow Cottage.
Overlooking Whitby harbour and tucked into Church Street, it had been derelict for years, before being restored by the current owner who will open its bright blue front door on September 19 and share some of the things he discovered during the renovation.
The Grade I listed Abbey House is also usually closed to the public, but dates back to the building of the original Whitby Abbey in 657. On Wednesday September 16, there is a guided tour and talk of the house and gardens.
Port Hole and Ripleys Yard at Baxtergate, The Victorian Spa Well House, Lion Lodge Masonic Hall, Goathland’s St Mary’s Church, and events at NYMR Goathland and Grosmont also feature in this year’s HODS programme with more details, dates and times here.
