St. Andrew’s Dock Heritage Park Action Group – STAND

STAND – St.Andrews Dock Heritage Park Action Group is the brainchild of ex-fisherman, John Crimlis, founded in 1989. John had lost two brothers from Hull trawlers which prompted his idea to hold an Annual Service of Commemoration for all of Hull’s Lost Trawlermen at the site of the old fish dock (St. Andrews Dock), now a busy retail park. Initially, he was joined in the venture by local historian, Alec Gill who, over the years has become a well published author and producer of videos, CDs and DVDs about the Fishing Industry, the Fishing Community and the City of Hull. His educational work and research led to an Honorary Doctorate and an MBE award; he is now better known as Dr. Alec Gill MBE .

John Crimlis left the sea to work ashore and was a long term member of STAND, being active in organising what has become known as the Annual Lost Trawlermen’s Day Service and volunteering at the Arctic Corsair. He was particularly skilled at model making and over a six year period, he produced an amazing replica of St. Andrews Dock and the associate fish markets. This model is based on a dock scene from the 1950s and has held pride of place in a number of maritime venues : the Maritime Museum and the Arctic Corsair Visitors Centre. It is currently in storage whilst the new North End Shipyard is being completed and will be displayed in the new high-tech Visitor Centre, which will be adjacent to the Arctic Corsair when she moves to her new berth within the dry dock. John also put together a photograph gallery of many lost Hull trawlermen, which were also displayed within the Arctic Corsair Visitor Centre; in addition he created a second copy of the same which he sited at the Annual Lost Trawlermen’s Day Service in the marquee on St. Andrews Retail Park. We hope these photos will be digitised and displayed in the new Visitor Centre. John Crimlis sadly passed away in May 2019 and did not see the Arctic Corsair being moved or the completion of STAND’s permanent Memorial to Hull’s Lost Trawlermen scheduled for Autumn/Winter 2022, after a series of unavoidable delays including the Covid-19 pandemic.

Seen below – the model made by John Crimlis of St. Andrews Dock in the 1950s

_{John Crimlis' model of St Andrews Dock and associate fish markets
He painstakingly photographed every part of the Dock and Markets and then, by hand, created every model in minute detail}

STAND is an Unincorporated Charity registered with the Charity Commission # 1128457 since March 2009 by the then Chairman Adam Fowler who was a stalwart and remained in that role for almost twenty years. The Charity has a local and national Membership of more than 70 members. There is a board of Trustees, currently five (5) in number, who manage the day to day business of the charity. Monthly meetings are held and an Annual General Meeting takes place each June. The charity has a written governing document, a Constitution, to which all decisions are related.

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The longevity of STAND as an organisation can be attributed to a dedicated voluntary group of people, many of whom are no longer with us. These people deserve some recognition and the following in particular played long and industrious roles as STAND members and also volunteers on the Arctic Corsair. As mentioned, Adam Fowler led the group before it attained Charity Status and was supported by Jim Williams, Rob Ellis, Anita & Charlie Waddy, Arthur Cowan, Barry Atkinson, Eric Powley, Trevor Evans and George Cheevers.

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In fulfilling one of the aims of the Constitution, STAND have organised and sponsored the Annual Service to Hull’s Lost Trawlermen for more than thirty three years, which in recent years has been supported by Kingston upon Hull City Council’s Events Team. This partnership includes Kingston upon Hull City Council providing a marquee and associate accessories such as seating, public address system and support staff at the Service to protect the public from the winter weather elements of the River Humber and to ensure conforming with Health and Safety regulations for the event. The Annual Service continues to be an important event in STAND’s calendar and is well attended and appreciated by all those who are present. There is more information about the Annual Lost Trawlermen’s Day on this website.

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STAND Patrons

Hull West & Hessle MP – Rt. Hon. Emma Hardy

Rt. Hon. Alan Johnson

Rt Rev Dr Eleanor Sanderson (Bishop of Hull)

STAND Chaplain – Rev. Tony Cotson