Hannah Booth

@hannahbooth

Northumbrian in the Netherlands | Writes about connections between Britain & its North Sea neighbours | Historical linguist turned science writer & editor Writing: Website:

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Hannah Booth@hannahbooth· 19d

When her own husband Cuthbert was pressed, Dolly followed him to sea on board his man-o’-war, helping the ship's surgeon with a ‘nerve of iron’ According to a local source, she was also famed for 'her ability to rhyme extempore on any subject', a skill she no doubt used to her advantage many times

An 1850 photo portrait of Dolly Peel, aged 68 (South Tyneside Libraries)

Hannah Booth@hannahbooth· 19d

North Sea Friday Folk #11 — lives shaped by the shallow sea on our doorstep Today’s the turn of Dolly Peel (1782-1857), legendary fishwife of South Shields A smuggler of brandy & tobacco, she also fiercely resisted the press gang, scuppering their efforts to seize local men 📷 jim field, CC BY 3.0

Statue of Dolly Peel by Billy Gofton (b.1945), on River Drive, South Shields, Tyne and Wear (jim field: CC BY 3.0)

Hannah Booth@hannahbooth· 21d

I find this satellite image of sea ice drifts off Greenland's east coast from earlier this month completely mesmerising: eu-space.europa.eu/components/e... (European Union, Copernicus Sentinel-2 imagery)

Satellite image of sea ice drifts along Greenland's east coast, acquired by one of the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites on 14 July 2026. The image shows the pattern created by the interaction between sea ice, ocean currents and surface winds. Sea ice appears in bright white, while open water appears in dark blue to black. Fine grey streaks highlight thinner ice and surface features tracing the southward flow along Greenland's eastern coastline.

Hannah Booth@hannahbooth· Jun 23

“Nearly everywhere the jumble of port life, with all its stinks, noises and clashing colours, has been removed from city centres, and so from the public consciousness.” Jan Morris in Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere, so far a wonderful read.

Front cover of Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere by Jan Morris.

Hannah Booth@hannahbooth· Jun 16

The SOUTH Orkney Islands in March this year, complete with drifting icebergs around the islands of Signy and Moe #anotherhemisphere (European Union, Copernicus Sentinel-2 imagery): eu-space.europa.eu/components/e...

Satellite image of Signy and Moe islands, acquired by one of the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites on 31 March 2026. The image reveals exposed rock, sparse vegetation, glaciers and icebergs drifting in the marine environment.

Hannah Booth@hannahbooth· Jun 2

The star-shaped fortifications at Naarden in the Netherlands, today's Copernicus Image of the Day: eu-space.europa.eu/components/e... (European Union, Copernicus Sentinel-2 imagery)

Satellite image of Naarden (Netherlands) from 26 May 2026, showing the town’s star-shaped ramparts, bastions, and surrounding moat, which enclose its historic centre. To the south, the city of Bussum appears in pale grey and pink tones, contrasting with the bright green fields and woodland around it. North of Naarden, the dark waters of the Gooimeer border the landscape, while roads and rail lines cross the surrounding tracts of reclaimed land.

Hannah Booth@hannahbooth· Jun 1

"Traditionally the oarfish was known to many as the Herring King, since it was thought to guide the fickle herring shoals through the waves and towards those hungry and waiting along the coast." From the latest North Sea dispatches: northseanexus.substack.com/p/ghost-nets...

The oarfish or herring king. Illustration from C. F. Holder & D. S. Jordan, Fish stories alleged and experienced, with a little history natural and unnatural (Henry Holt, 1909), p. 24.

Hannah Booth@hannahbooth· May 28

A restored Leudo — traditional sailboat of the Tigullio Gulf in Liguria. Formerly used to transport wine & cheese along the Riviera. The nearby Republic of Genoa prohibited ports along this part of the coast, and so the Leudo was designed to enter the water directly from the beach. #anothersea

A wooden sailboat (Leudo "Nuovo Aiuto Di Dio") on the beach at Sestri Levante in Liguria, last week. Against a bright blue sky, with bathers, sea and green hills in the background.

Hannah Booth@hannahbooth· Apr 24

The Highland Clearances and the dawn of the Caithness herring fisheries form the backdrop for his popular novel The Silver Darlings (1941): "All along these coasts...there was a new stirring of sea life. The people would yet live, the people themselves, for no landlord owned the sea...” 3/3

Front cover of Neil Gunn's The Silver Darlings, Faber and Faber 1969 edition. The quote is taken from page 13 of that edition.

Hannah Booth@hannahbooth· Apr 24

As Gunn wrote of his childhood: "If his mother was the earth, his father was the sea. In fact he could hardly think of his father without thinking of the sea." 2/3 📷Gunn's memorial in Dunbeath, showing Kenn and the Salmon from his early novel 'Highland River' (Stanley Howe, CC BY-SA 2.0)

Sculpture of Kenn and the Salmon from Gunn's Highland River, commissioned by the Neil Gunn Society in 1991 to mark the centenary of the author's birth. Nine-year old Kenn, the central character in Highland River, is shown carrying home a huge salmon, poached with his bare hands from the Dunbeath river. The quote on his childhood comes from Gunn's autobiography The Atom of Delight (page 101).

Hannah Booth@hannahbooth· Apr 24

North Sea Friday Folk #10 — lives shaped by the shallow sea on our doorstep Today’s the turn of Scottish novelist Neil Gunn (1891-1973), son of the Caithness coast, his father a herring-boat captain working out of Dunbeath 1/3 📷Gunn in 1949 (Estate of Lida Moser / National Galleries of Scotland)

Neil Gunn, 1891 - 1973. Novelist. Photographed by American photojournalist Lida Moser in Edinburgh in 1949 (Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Print Room). https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/108685.

Hannah Booth@hannahbooth· Apr 20

"You took us then into your homes as fugitives and friends, we took you forever into our hearts." The memorial given to the people of Gelderland (NL) by the 1st Airborne Division in Sept 1994 to mark the 50th anniversary of Operation Market Garden and the Battle of Arnhem. 📍Oosterbeek, NL

The text on the memorial reads: To the people of Gelderland. 50 years ago British & Polish Airborne soldiers fought here against overwhelming odds to open the way into Germany and bring the war to an early end. Instead we brought death and destruction, for which you have never blamed us. This stone marks our admiration for your great courage, remembering especially the women who tended our wounded. In the long winter that followed your families risked death by hiding Allied soldiers and airmen, while members of the Resistance helped many to safety. You took us then into your homes as fugitives and friends: we took you forever into our hearts. This strong bond will continue long after we are all gone.
1944 – September – 1994. Photo: Hannah Booth.

Hannah Booth@hannahbooth· Apr 17

🌷 It’s that time of year again! Tulips in full bloom across South Holland www.copernicus.eu/en/media/ima... (European Union, Copernicus Sentinel-2 imagery)

This image, acquired on 14 April 2026 by one of the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites, shows South Holland at the peak of the spring flowering season. Fields arranged in narrow plots display vivid bands of red, yellow, and orange, each corresponding to a distinct bulb variety. Urban areas appear in grey tones, while darker patches indicate water bodies and channels.

Hannah Booth@hannahbooth· Apr 10

For his work on the Shetland Bus, Larsen became the most highly decorated Allied naval officer during WWII He would also go on to star as himself in the 1954 British-Norwegian war film Suicide Mission, appearing alongside many of his previous crew members 3/3 🖼️Poster for the film Suicide Mission

Poster for the 1954 film Suicide Mission, directed by Michael Furlong and starring Leif Larsen. Also released under the title "Shetlandsgjengen" in Norway. Billed as "the first motion picture adventure every re-enacted by the heroes who actually lived it".

Hannah Booth@hannahbooth· Apr 10

Larsen went to sea age 16, growing to know local waters well — useful knowledge for the war to come From 1941 he made 52 trips across the North Sea, ferrying special agents & supplies between Shetland & Norway, usually under cover of darkness 2/3 📷Shetland Bus memorial, Iain Lees (CC BY-SA 2.0)

View over Scalloway Harbour, Shetland, with the Shetland Bus memorial shown in the foreground.

Hannah Booth@hannahbooth· Apr 10

North Sea Friday Folk #9 — lives shaped by the shallow sea on our doorstep Today's the turn of Bergen-born Leif Andreas Larsen (1906–1990), also known as “Shetland Larsen” for his work on the secret Shetland Bus operation during World War II 1/3 📷Leif A Larsen, Marit Larsen (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Black-and-white portrait photo of Leif A Larsen in uniform. Date unknown.

Hannah Booth@hannahbooth· Apr 7

I return from a few days in Zeeland with the pleasant, satisfied tiredness that only a blast of sea air can provide

Hannah Booth@hannahbooth· Apr 3

North Sea Friday Folk #8 — lives shaped by the shallow sea on our doorstep Today it's the turn of scientist & illustrator Dorothy Thursby-Pelham (1884–1972), who in the early 20th century made extensive surveys of the plaice population in the southern North Sea 📷At work in Lowestoft, Cefas (OGL 3)

Black-and-white photograph of Dorothy Thursby-Pelham examining a scientific illustration of a fish while at work at the Directorate of Fisheries in Lowestoft, 1930s.

Hannah Booth@hannahbooth· Mar 27

Storm memorably described Husum as the "graue Stadt am Meer" (grey town by the sea) in his 1852 poem dedicated to his hometown www.poemswithoutfrontiers.com/Die_Stadt.html 🖼️1900 postcard by Jan Hamkens showing Storm's poem

An illustrated postcard showing a brown sailing ship on the sea, with the grey skyline of Husum in the distance, and the three verses of Theodor Storm's poem Die Stadt.

Hannah Booth@hannahbooth· Mar 27

Storm's most famous work Der Schimmelreiter (1888) — completed just a few months before his death — tells the story of Hauke Haien, a young North Frisian who envisions a new form of dyke to keep the sea at bay along the local stormswept coast 📷Front cover of the Fischer 2003 edition

Hannah Booth@hannahbooth· Mar 27

North Sea Friday Folk #7 — lives shaped by the shallow sea on our doorstep Today it’s the turn of German poet and novelist Theodor Storm (1817-1888), a son of the Wadden Sea, born in Husum 🖼️1903 postcard of "Husum's poets" by Jan Hamkens

An illustrated postcard showing the Husum skyline in the distance and portraits of three poets associated with the town: Emanuel Gurlitt, Theodor Storm and Carl Heinz Keck

Hannah Booth@hannahbooth· Mar 25

The Danish island of Læsø in the Kattegat strait, today's Copernicus Image of the Day www.copernicus.eu/en/media/ima... (European Union, Copernicus Sentinel-2 imagery)

Satellite image of Læsø island, surrounded by vivid turquoise waters. Shallow sandbanks and submerged ridges are visible in light blue, while forest appears in green and cultivated land in pale tones.

Hannah Booth@hannahbooth· Mar 20

Ensor remained in Ostend through both world wars In Dec 1942, a radio broadcast mistakenly announced his death — Ensor’s response to this bizarre event was to visit his own monument in the city to pay his respects, to much public surprise 📷 Ensor's Bust in Ostend (Georges Jansoone, CC BY-SA 3.0)

Bronze bust of James Ensor, depicting his head and shoulders, mounted on a stone pedestal with masks, an artist's palette and a skull, plus the inscription "Pro Luce Nobilis Sum", his chosen motto. Georges Jansoone, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Hannah Booth@hannahbooth· Mar 20

Many of Ensor’s works were influenced by his coastal surroundings — the Flemish seaside in its heyday 🖼️ The Baths at Ostend, 1899

A crowded seaside bathing scene with many figures and bathing coaches. James Ensor, De Baden in Oostende, 1899, via Wikimedia Commons.

Hannah Booth@hannahbooth· Mar 20

North Sea Friday Folk #6 — lives shaped by the shallow sea on our doorstep Today's the turn of Belgian artist & Ostend son James Ensor (1860-1949) Known for images of grotesque fantasy, inspired by childhood memories of his family’s seaside souvenir & curiosity shop 🖼️ The Call of the Siren, 1893

Oil painting showing a seaside bathing scene with a hesitant male figure in a striped swimsuit descending steps toward the water, and a more confident female figure knee-deep in the water gesturing toward him. Jame Ensor, L' Appel de la sirène (La Baignade), 1893, via Wikimedia Commons.

Hannah Booth@hannahbooth· Feb 17

Sediment plumes in the Wadden Sea — yesterday's Copernicus image of the day (European Union, Copernicus Sentinel-3 imagery) www.copernicus.eu/en/media/ima...

Satellite image of the Wadden Sea along the Danish and German coasts, showing sediment-rich coastal waters in reds and oranges. From Copernicus Sentinel-3A, celebrating its 10 years in orbit.

Hannah Booth@hannahbooth· Feb 13

The bay on the island of Lepsøya where Betty and the Columbine finally reached land is still known as Colombinebukta (‘Columbine-bay’) today 3/3 📸 Colombinebukta, Fotoagelias (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Hannah Booth@hannahbooth· Feb 13

Betty's routine journey to Lerwick as the sole passenger on board turned into a 9-day trial, during which she made a meagre few biscuits and a bottle of milk last Eventually the Columbine ran aground in Norway near Ålesund, where Betty was rescued by local fishermen 2/3 🖼️ The Graphic 13.3.1886

Hannah Booth@hannahbooth· Feb 13

North Sea Friday Folk #5 — lives shaped by the shallow sea on our doorstep Today it’s the turn of Shetland knitter Betty Mouat, who in Jan 1886 found herself alone and adrift in a North Sea storm on the Columbine, after its captain was washed overboard 1/3 🖼️ The Graphic 13.3.1886

Hannah Booth@hannahbooth· Feb 11

@projectfishistory.bsky.social additionally for NL: the coat of arms of Zandvoort, up the coast from Scheveningen