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Collecting Eggs at Flamborough Head
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Collecting Eggs at Flamborough Head
Collecting seagulls eggs at Flamborough Head, Yorkshire. A traditional practice for farmers whose land adjoined the cliff edge, which gave them a legal right to supplement their income by selling eggs. The farmer sub-licenced gangs of three or four climmers, to gather eggs of the gulls, common guillemot, razorbill and others from the cliff side. It was a perilous business, requiring fitness and skill, but the rewards must have been great - in 1908 such eggs commanded a shilling a dozen (about the same as a hundredweight of coal) and it was estimated that gangs could collect up to 300 or 400 eggs a day in season. Date: 1911
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Media ID 14117515
© Mary Evans / Grenville Collins Postcard Collection
Bags Baskets Cliff Clifftop Climbers Climbing Collect Collecting Danger Dangerous Dangers Donkey Eggs Flamborough Gang Gull Gulls Panniers Perilous Pouches Removing Ropes Seagull Seagulls Tradition
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Collecting Eggs at Flamborough Head: A Traditional and Perilous Practice This evocative photograph captures the scene of collectors, or 'climmers,' at work on the cliffs of Flamborough Head in Yorkshire, England, in 1911. The collectors, typically young boys, are seen carefully gathering eggs from the nests of seabirds such as common guillemots, razorbills, and other species that made their homes on the steep cliff faces. At the time, farmers whose land adjoined the cliff edge held a legal right to supplement their income by selling these eggs. They would sub-license gangs of three or four climbers to carry out the dangerous task of collecting the eggs. The collectors would climb the cliffs using ropes and baskets or panniers, often aided by donkeys, to transport the eggs down to the waiting boats. The practice was both a tradition and a risky business. The climbers needed to be fit and skilled to navigate the treacherous cliffs, which were subject to frequent storms and rough seas. However, the rewards must have been significant. In 1908, seabird eggs commanded a price of a shilling a dozen, which was equivalent to the cost of a hundredweight of coal. Gangs were estimated to be able to collect up to 300 or 400 eggs a day during the season. Despite the risks and the hard work, the tradition of collecting seabird eggs at Flamborough Head continued for many years, providing a valuable source of income for local farmers and their laborers. Today, the cliffs of Flamborough Head remain an important breeding ground for seabirds, and visitors can still see the remnants of the old stone huts that once housed the collectors and their families.
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