Gansey Girl

Bridlington's north pier has this attractive bronze sculpture by Steve Carvill, installed in 2015 to honour the town's fishing families. Called 'Gansey Girl', the fisherman's wife is knitting a gansey, a traditional fisherman's jumper. Each fishing community had its own identifiable pattern, made up of motifs related to the sea: nets, ropes, ladders and herringbones. The tradition dates back to Elizabethan times and made it possible to identify where a fisherman was from, just by his jumper. The ganseys were hard-wearing and designed with the front and back the same so they could be reversed to even out the wear. They are tight at the hem and cuffs to mitigate against wind and water.  (Read more about them HERE). The fish on the plinth bear the names of some of the local fishing families.