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Seascape And SeafoodUllapool and its fishing lifeVivien Devlin“Their laughter like a sprinkling
of salt
Fishing has been a way of life for generations of Scots over the past two hundred and fifty years and more. Around Scotland’s salt-wind swept coastline, thriving ports and village communities grew up from Newhaven on the Forth, Anstruther and Pittenweem along the East Neuk of Fife, north to the rocky cliffs around Aberdeen and Fraserburgh and over to the sheltered harbours of Mallaig, Tarbert and Ullapool of the West Highlands.
Ullapool was, as a local resident remarked, “weaned on fish” and that precious heritage is deeply engrained in the life and heart of its people. Today there is still an important fleet of a dozen boats catching lobster, oysters, mussels and scallops worth £ 2 million a year to an international market. And at the height of the busy summer season thousands of visitors make their way from Inverness to Ullapool, stopping off for a few days touring Wester Ross before, perhaps, taking the Cal Mac ferry over to Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis.
On the Saturday a vibrant festive spirit took over the village, with funfair attractions, children’s fish-themed fancy dress parade - pirates, herring girls and mermaids - while the harbour quay was transformed into a Fish Market beside a marquee exhibiting artwork, handmade soap, leather and wooden crafts. As a finale to the day’s events, a new community dinghy, Wee Hector, was launched in style with a bottle of champagne. Ullapool Boatbuilders were commissioned by Fish Week organisers to construct a boat for the Festival. Mark Stockl, former classical guitarist turned boat builder, was given this prestigious task - 16 ft long, 6 ft wide with a 15 ft mast, the handcrafted frame is made from local oak and larch varnished to perfection. The cost was £ 9,000, partly funded from donations with children sponsoring a rivet at 50 pence each.
An anonymous ballad recalls the plight of these exile families, who would never forget their homeland. “From the lone shieling of the
misty island Wester Ross has an enchanting, wild, abandoned beauty, from the dramatic mountain range around Torridon to the white sand beaches along the Gairloch coastline. Head north from Ullapool and take the single track road west into surreal landscape - miles of empty, sheep-scattered bens and glens, passed the famous rugged peak Stac Pollaidh before you reach the sea cliffs and coves of Achiltibue and along the “wee mad” twisting road to Lochinver. Take a cruise up Loch Broom to observe the birds, seals, dolphins and Minke whales around the cluster of tiny islands – the Summer Isles - shimmering and changing shape and mood in sea mist and sunshine. Light is the dominant factor in this glorious seascape with an expanse of white, blue and soft grey skies meeting the horizon. On a clear day you can see Skye and the Outer Hebrides. Fish Week 2004 was a pilot venture but due to the enthusiasm of villagers and vistors it was a great success. Five hundred people visited the Sea exhibition, the Saturday Market drew the crowds and the Recipe book is selling like hot [fish] cakes. I heard American guests at the Ceilidh Place [who had come across the Festival by chance] ask about where they could hear Celtic music concerts and were happy to drive 25 miles to Achiltibuie to hear Saltfishforty perform. Most excitingly, word of Fish Week has now spread to Pictou, Nova Scotia. There, a full scale replica of the Hector has been built and the descendants of those very first emigrants are keen to sail her across the Atlantic to Ullapool sometime in the near future.
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TM
The
idyllic white-washed village of Ullapool curves around a natural peninsula
on the shores of Loch Broom, where the eponymous sunshine-yellow flowers
blossom along the roadside in spring time. The port was created by the
British Fisheries Society in 1788 when fishing became an organised industry
at the height of the herring boom. There was no market at the time for
fresh fish - herring had to be cured in brine as white herring or smoked as
kippers. The fishermen went to sea while the women - the famous Herring
Girls with their fingers wrapped in protective bandages - gutted, split,
salted and packed the fish in whisky casks. 
This
was a flourishing time for Ullapool but work was always dependent on the
vagaries of weather, sea and fish - perhaps because of over-fishing there
were sparse herring catches by the 1840s. Boom times followed lulls. From
the early 20th century it was thriving again with fishing trawlers from
Ireland, Germany, Holland, Russia and Eastern Bloc countries roaming the
Scottish seas. The massive Klondykers, fish processing factory cargo ships,
were a common sight moored off shore in Loch Broom while lorries lined the
harbour wall to export thousands of tons of herring to Continental Europe.
By the 1990s, Klondykers and lorries were declining while local fishermen
were turning to mackerel and other shellfish to make a living. The tide had
turned. 
Tourism
is a vital part of the economy and a couple of years ago local businesses,
shops and hoteliers decided to work together to put the old fishing port
clearly on the map. Instigator of this plan was dynamic entrepreneur Jean
Urquhart, Highland councillor as well as proprietor of The Ceilidh Place -
hotel, restaurant, bar, beer garden, book shop, art gallery and music venue
– a year-round global travellers’ meeting place for good food, drink,
conversation and eclectic culture since 1970. 
And
so the Ullapool Tourism and Business Association [UTBA] was formed and one
of their first projects was Ullapool Fish Week which took place in May 2004.
The overall aim of this festival was to focus on fish and promote the
village and its continuing dependence on the sea for food, employment,
export and tourism. As well as arts and entertainment, Fish Week was a
valuable occasion to celebrate the past and discuss future prospects for the
community. The colourful programme of events included ceilidhs and concerts,
fish tastings and boat building, fishing competitions, island walks, boat
trips, Lifeboat demonstrations and sailing regatta. Ullapool hotels and
restaurants devised special menus and published a Fish Week Recipe book of
appetising dishes such as Drambuie-flavoured Lobster Thermidor from the
Seaforth Inn.
The
whole village took part – schoolchildren, chefs, musicians, artists and
fishermen as well as every visitor in town. Highlights? – a superb archive
display at Ullapool Museum illustrating the roller coaster highs and lows of
the fishing history; a contemporary art exhibition called The Sea featuring
painting, sculpture, prints, photography, tapestry and weaving from 17 local
artists; live gigs by top Celtic band Capercaille and the amazing Orkney
fiddlers, Saltfishforty, fusing traditional ballads with the Blues; daily
seafood barbecues and ending with a glamorous Fish Ball.
With
true Gaelic hospitality, you are sure to receive ceud mile failte, a hundred
thousand welcomes whenever you may visit this north west corner of Scotland.
Wester Ross is drenched in ancient history, a rich Celtic culture and the
unforgotten memories and stories of its fisher folk. But the aim of Fish
Week wisely went beyond a rose-tinted nostalgic view of the past. It was a
celebration, with music, conversation, seafood and a dram, of this
contemporary, cosmopolitan happening place which is Ullapool today. All
going well, with a following wind, the second Ullapool Fish Week will take
place from 9-15 May 2005.