Hannah Booth

@hannahbooth.bsky.social

1220 Followers 1525 Following

Northumbrian in the Netherlands | Writes about connections between Britain & its North Sea neighbours | Historical linguist turned writer & editor Writing: https://northseanexus.substack.com Website: https://hannahmarybooth.com

View of Dordrecht from the mouth of the Noord, Adam Willaerts, 1629 (Dordrechts Museum).
Beach with Fishermen, Adam Willaerts, 1627 (Museo del Prado).
Clement Reid's map from his 1913 book Submerged forests (p. 40).
Photo portrait of Clement Reid by Elliott & Fry. Half-plate glass copy negative, 1910s. National Portrait Gallery, London, NPG x100343 (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
An 1850 photo portrait of Dolly Peel, aged 68 (South Tyneside Libraries)
Statue of Dolly Peel by Billy Gofton (b.1945), on River Drive, South Shields, Tyne and Wear (jim field: CC BY 3.0)
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.
Front cover of Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere by Jan Morris.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Front cover of Neil Gunn's The Silver Darlings, Faber and Faber 1969 edition. The quote is taken from page 13 of that edition.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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".
View over Scalloway Harbour, Shetland, with the Shetland Bus memorial shown in the foreground.
Black-and-white portrait photo of Leif A Larsen in uniform. Date unknown.
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.
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.
Front cover of Theodor Storm's Der Schimmelreiter, showing a stormy sea with waves overwhelming coastal defences, and the Fischer Verlag logo.
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
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.
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.
A crowded seaside bathing scene with many figures and bathing coaches. James Ensor, De Baden in Oostende, 1899, via Wikimedia Commons.
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.
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.
The opening vignette to Ibsen’s Terje Vigen from the workshop of F Hendriksen after August Jerndorff, 1876–1881, 1882
Bust of Henrik Ibsen in Grimstad, taken in 1939
A prehistoric skull fragment (Otter, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons)