Dockside Dandies of Lowestoft
15:00-16:00
Sunday 23/06/24
Interstellar Ideas on the Beach
The Dockside Dandies of Lowestoft is a project that began over 10 years ago when Peter Wylie recovered a moment of forgotten history. It tells the story of a fashion amongst the young fishermen of Lowestoft that occurred in the early 1960’s. Through over 26 interviews Peter gathered stories of the fishermens’ unusual, sartorial flair, the bold colours, style and cut of the suits that they wore when they came back home after weeks at sea. This research led BBC Radio 4 and then much later BBC television to feature programmes on them.
2024 sees the publication of a limited-edition book called The Dockside Dandies of Lowestoft – the result of Peter drawing on the hours of interviews and the numerous newspaper articles, talks and features in magazines that arose from his research. Peter’s work allows the voices, tales and memories of the Lowestoft fishermen to come to life. Ten years after his initial research, the captivating story of the Lowestoft fisherboys and their bright coloured suits continues.
Join Peter Wylie in conversation with Wayne Hemingway.
Peter Wylie was born in 1956 on Whapload Road, Lowestoft – a part of what some called the Beach Village. The son of a fisherman and brother of a fisherman, Peter studied Fine Art and has lived in east London for over 30 years initially as a teacher, but for over 15 years as a painter, with subjects of either the North Sea or Modernism in architecture.
As Peter says, the Dockside Dandies research arose through chance, and wanting to do positive things for his home town.
Wayne Hemingway MBE is an English designer and co-founder of Red or Dead. He is also on the Design Council Trustee Board and having been with the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment for a decade since its inception is now on the Design Council CABE Committee. Wayne is a founder-Director of First Light Festival CIC.