Time for a bit of gymnastics, good for a laugh. This was taken at Rock Hall, which was another fishing station further up the coast at Milton Haven, when my grandfather was a bit younger and before moving the Kirkside. That's him standing in the centre.

With no TV and probably no radio either the fishers, like the farm workers, had to make their own entertainment. This is evident from the bothy ballads of the time. It is reputed that my grandfather was a very strong man and that his "party piece" was to write his name on the bothy wall with a 56lb (25kg) weight hanging from his little finger. I have heard a story that one day,when they were preparing the nets to go into the sea, he got so fed up with three of the fishers struggling to get a sea anchor onto the back of the boat. He pushed them aside got his arms under the anchor and lifted it up onto the stern of the boat. When he and his brother were young they were very competative and did a lot of weight lifting always trying to outdo each other.

Back

---