Dad filmed this little piece of social history on a beautiful balmy June evening in 1966. A few years ago, I sent it to the Mallaig Tourist Information Centre and, as far as I know, it can still be viewed there. At the time, I received a rather lovely message back saying that one local had been overjoyed to watch their father “doing the job he loved”. Something that strikes me now is just how small these traditional fishing trawlers were.
Dad is astounded that to date (May 2019) this film has been watched more than 10,000 times on my YouTube channel.
But something else intrigues me even more. Can you spot the “Russian spy”?
***Footnote: Very sadly we lost Dad in June 2019 and just three weeks later Flint TV contacted me to ask permission to use footage from this film in a More4 TV programme they were making called “The World’s Most Beautiful Railways”. The West Highland line to Mallaig featured in the series and sure enough, footage from Dad’s film was used at the beginning of one of the episodes. It was just such a shame that he never knew, as I would have loved to have seen the look on his face when it was broadcast. Thank you Flint TV.***