Time Frame: Happy times a-fishing off Mina Zayed

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It could be any kid’s summer holiday, anytime, anywhere in the world. But the young girl staring out to sea as her grandfather casts his line in this treasured photograph is Melina Mitri – a reader, then aged 6 – fishing off Mina Zayed in Abu Dhabi in 1984.

The gentleman in the seafarer’s cap is Mannoli Cassimatis, a keen fisherman who was visiting his daughter and her family, from his home in Cairo.

As Melina remembers, “My grandfather loved the sea and he loved to fish, and so we would go out there and spend the day fishing. We would keep all the fish in the freezer and eat from it well after he had left.”

At that time, Melina’s family were living right on the seafront. “On Fridays, we’d walk along the Corniche as a family near the Volcano fountain,” she says.

There’s still a breakwater protecting Mina Zayed, but aside from the dhows, festooned with fishing nets, that line up overlooking ever taller towers, it’s doubtful that Melina’s grandfather would recognise the port today.

Development had begun – a container port was established in 1982 – but as this photograph suggests, there was peace and quiet still to be enjoyed and little to disturb the fish.

* Clare Dight