If you have ever taken a wander down to the Bridlington seafront early in the morning over the last few years, you might have bumped into Tony Pockley.
An ex-fisherman, former director of the Independent Shellfisherman’s Cooperative and one-time owner of the Kimberley fishing boat, Tony is used to being up with the lark. Now, however, he wakes to catch sunrises instead of shellfish, trading nets and pots for his iPad as the tool of his trade.
The calendar and the motivations behind it
In his 2026 calendar, ‘A New Day’ – on sale at our ISC shop on Gummers Warf, he speaks lyrically of his driving force,
“Every sunrise tells a story of fresh starts. For me, each dawn. is a promise: no matter how dark the night, light always returns. Since Parkinson’s entered my life and nudged me away from my fishing boat, I’ve risen early with my iPad to meet the sea. In those first golden minutes of light, I hunt for colour, motion and possibility. The images in this calendar are the moments that made me stop, stare, and tap the screen to capture hope itself.”
The calendar itself raises money for research into the condition that changed Tony’s life so abruptly. As well as providing a new means to fight Parkinson’s, the calendar represents hope and renewal in the face of overwhelming darkness. Tony took the decision to keep pushing onward and upward in the face of the downward spiral of the condition. As he says, all he needs is “patience, determination, and a stubborn belief that tomorrow will outshine today.”
The long story: A series of moments
Tony was diagnosed with Parkinson’s over a decade ago, back in 2015. For much of the time since then, he has been taking and selling photographs of sunrises and sunsets in Bridlington. His work is popular in the town and beyond. You will see the pictures in many local tourist establishments, as they capture the town’s mix of classic beauty and fresh cheer perfectly. He has recently raised many thousands for Parkinson’s research by selling his photos in a 2026 calendar.
Tony is inspired by the aspects and views of Bridlington that many might call banal, and that might indeed be banal in the cold daytime light. But the golden hours of dawn and dusk throw a new and original brightness on them, and Tony is there with his iPad to capture them.
He gives an example, “One morning, two waves collided and exploded upward before vanishing in seconds. I called the spray “Parky” – it felt like Parkinson’s itself: unpredictable, hard to pin down, yet strangely beautiful when caught at just the right moment. That shot anchors April, World Parkinson’s Day month, reminding me that even our toughest battles can shimmer with unexpected beauty.”
“Every page of ‘A New Day’ carries that same energy.”
All proceeds from sales of Tony’s ‘A New Day Calendar go toward research and treatments for Parkinson’s disease, helping people to manage, live and thrive with the condition as fully as possible in future.
Find out more on the BridHub website.
