The Rocket Crew and their Ganseys

By Paula Chew

Paula Chew is hooked on Ganseys, here she reveals a little of their fascinating history.

I grew up in Bridlington, a small fishing and tourist town in East Yorkshire, England. Steeped in fishing history, with many of my school friends going to sea after leaving school, I always had an interest in the industry. My Father was a crew member of the Bridlington Lifeboat for many years, and I remember most Sundays the children of the crew spent the mornings in the Boathouse or on the beach whilst their Dads maintained the Lifeboat.

I also had relatives who lived in Flamborough, a small village four miles north along the Bay. Flamborough is famous for its beautiful chalk cliffs, the two superb fishing bays one north and one south of Flamborough Head, and of course the Lighthouse. It is a beautiful village with a long history of fishing. The seas are treacherous off Flamborough Head and there are many tales of tragedy and bravery attached to most of the long standing families of the village, who can trace their fishing heritage back for generations.

My Mum and Dad moved to Flamborough after I had left home. My Dad wanted a gansey, they used to wear the RNLI ganseys on the Lifeboat, but he wanted a Flamborough pattern. I said I would knit one, not really knowing anything about the construction of the garments, or the diversity of patterns.

A lady in the village who had learnt to knit them from her mother-in-law when she married a local fisherman, offered to write the pattern down for me. Living away, the pattern arrived in the post. It was about half a page long with unintelligible notes on it! Of course, no-one could follow a written pattern, these patterns weren't written down, you learnt to knit a gansey by being shown, and learning mainly as you knitted it.

I searched my local library and found a book, my lifesaver! 'Traditional Knitting' by Michael Pearson. Superb illustrations on the way the ganseys are constructed 'in the round'. No sewing up, that appealed to me even more - love knitting, hate sewing up! I found the charts that related to Flamborough patterns, chose some to put together to make the design, and then started my first attempt. It was a lot easier than I had envisaged, the garment just grows and evolves. You are not restricted by a written pattern, knit it until it fits. My husband was the model, and had to keep trying it on with loads of knitting pins sticking out everywhere, to see if the body was long enough, or the armholes were deep enough yet. It was a super project, Dad was thrilled, and of course they last forever, so he is still wearing it.

I was hooked and have knitted so many now that I can't remember them all. The most difficult was researching a Bridlington pattern for the retired mechanic of the Bridlington Lifeboat, Rod. He was very tall and had a large frame so it was a big undertaking. Also, I couldn't ever recall seeing a pattern that was specific to Bridlington except in an old Frank Meadow Sutcliffe photograph of a shrimp fisherman taken in the late 19th century. The photograph was good enough to notate the pattern and three months later the gansey was finished.

Rocket Cart cottage

The Rocket Crew gansey that I have written down instructions for, came from a photograph in the Michael Pearson book. Tom Lisle was a member of the Rocket Crew in Cullercoats, and he is pictured in the book wearing this gansey with his medal for gallantry. Most Lifeboat stations had Rocket Crews with apparatus to shoot lines off the cliffs when vessels were in distress, too close to the rocks for a lifeboat to get near enough. The line was secured, and crew members of the stricken vessel were winched off using a Breeches Buoy. In Flamborough there is a building at the top of the lane in the village called 'Rocket Cart Cottage'. This is where all the apparatus was stored, kept centrally located, and could be used quickly from the cliff tops, either north or south of the headland.

Sit In Breeches

Rocket Cart

There are still local people within the East Coast villages who are keeping the gansey knitting tradition alive. They knit their own family patterns and still give them for special occasions. In the small town of Filey, there is an excellent museum containing an exhibition of traditional knitting, and a lady demonstrating at certain times of the week. Sewerby Hall, two miles north of Bridlington contains a comprehensive exhibition of the Rocket Crew, with a reconstruction of a Breeches Buoy and rocket equipment. Whitby, Staithes and Robin Hoods Bay all have examples of their own patterns knitted locally which are available to buy either finished or in kits. The Manor House in Flamborough also has many different village patterns knitted up and can be bought online. They also sell the steel pins in sets of five that I have found invaluable.

On Boxing Day in Flamborough there is the tradition of Long Sword Dancing. The dancers, all wearing their ganseys entertain the villagers outside the local pubs (of which there are many for such a small village). This provides the best exhibition of gansey knitting on the East Coast!

Also see in this issue Paula's Rocket Crew Gansey pattern.

Suggested Reading:
Michael Pearson, Traditional Knitting, Collins 1984
Mary Wright, Cornish Guernseys and Knit-frocks, Polperro Heritage Press 2008
Gladys Thompson, Patterns for Guernseys, Jerseys and Arans, Dover Publications Inc. 1979