This photograph was taken on the Isle of Man in the early 1900s. Such scenes were repeated at fishing ports all over the UK. The boats have returned to harbour with their catch and having unloaded the fish, girls would gut them (remove the inedible bits) and pack them into barrels, ready for their journey to market, which could be hundreds of miles away. The girls could gut up to three fish per minute and, as can be seen here, it was hard, physical labour. This is a rare ‘action shot’ of everyday working lives over one hundred years ago.

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