Tag Archives: formed Hessle Road Women’s Committee

Hull tower blocks named in honour of trawler campaigner women

Three tower blocks in Hull have been renamed in honour of women who fought for new safety laws after a slew of fishing tragedies in the 1960s. Dubbed the Headscarf Revolutionaries, Yvonne Blenkinsop, Lillian Bilocca, Christine Jensen and Mary Denness changed the fishing industry for good. They took action after a triple trawler tragedy in 1968 which saw the loss of three Hull trawlers and 58 crew. Name plaques on the Porter Street flats were unveiled on Friday. The women’s campaign started when 58 fishermen lost their lives in three separate trawler sinkings in the space of less than a month in 1968. The trawlers – St Romanus, Kingston Peridot and Ross Cleveland – all sank in quick succession, and only one man survived. Photos, >click to read< 08:50

Headscarf Revolutionaries: ‘Big Lil’ saved my life and that’s why she should be named the Greatest Hullensian of All Time

Alongside Christine Jensen, Mary Denness and Yvonne Blenkinsop, ‘Big Lil’ formed the Hessle Road Women’s Committee as the dire consequences of the Triple Trawler Tragedy in 1968 came into full focus. The group, known as the Headscarf Revolutionaries, has become immortalised in books and murals locally, but consensus remains that their work is not celebrated enough outside of Hull. Bilocca, a fish wife, led the group after becoming enraged by the loss of 58 men in the winter of 1968 when the St Romanus, Kingston Peridot and Ross Cleveland all sunk in a matter of weeks. >click to read< 10:06