“On Sunday we had a home fixture. The Beverley Folk Festival began 32 years ago and has gone from strength to strength. Held at the racecourse it boasts five music venues in huge marquees plus some indoor events in the Stands.

I was being interviewed in one of these by Radio Humberside producer and supporter of the festival, James Hogarth.

Beverley is just seven miles from my old constituency of West Hull and there were many Hull people at the event. Whereas in Lowdham John Holmes had urged me to talk about the collapse of the fishing industry in Hull and the long fight for justice by the trawlermen (which is told in my latest memoir) because he felt there was insufficient public awareness,  Beverley was where many of the trawler owners had lived and some of the ships were built. It’s proximity to the Humber meant that the story and the inspirational characters involved needed to be emphasised rather than revealed.”