Gathered from the Marches

Martin Morgan

Salmon Fisherman, Black Rock, Monmouthshire

Lave Net fishing is a traditional method of fishing which has been practiced for generations along the North shore of the Severn Estuary. Martin is a longstanding practitioner and advocate.

“As a young boy I watched my grandfather and uncles carrying their lave nets from their home at Sudbrook into the Severn estuary to fish . Even then I was a keen rod & line / hand line fisherman. Around the age of 10 I was at last taken out lave net fishing. It was not until my mid 30’s that I eventually obtained a licence. We call these fishing grounds at Black Rock - The Gut, The Hole, The Grandstand and Gruggy. We can only fish for salmon on the biggest spring tides. Some days we don’t catch anything and it could simply be down to the direction of the wind. The tradition is that we share the fish among whoever is fishing with us on the day.

The demise of commercial salmon fishing in the estuary led to more restrictions on our small operations by Natural Resources Wales such as an ineffective catch and release policy which has threatened to wipe us out. Consequently, our work in turning our fishery into a tourism/heritage site has been destroyed. It’s a form of cultural vandalism.

I have enjoyed walking in the footsteps of my forefathers and passing on my skills & knowledge, doing something few can do. We are all proud Welshmen but living very close to the border we have many English fishing friends. We all have a common link and that is the Severn estuary.”

“I have been working stone in one way or another for nearly 40 years, living and working from Knucklas, on the Welsh borders, since 1994. Originally I studied sculpture conservation but went back to college in Weymouth to study masonry and carving. I was not much good at masonry but did love the carving, so afterwards went to work at Clivedon Conservation carrying out replacement carvings for capitals, noses, toes, beasts and such like.

I am what’s known as a direct carver, with no models or drawings, I love the process of carving into a rough piece of stone, with just an idea and a piece of charcoal and seeing how it develops. The wonderful array of British stones always excites me and the different ways they behave when carving.”

To be very honest it was hard finding the perfect house, to be able to work from home and bring up our young family, as well as being in the middle of a wonderful village with a train station. To be able to walk from home up any of the surrounding hills, but especially Knucklas Castle hill with its majestic views over the border into Shropshire was important.”

Lottie’s Portland Stone Sculpture, The Lost Words can be seen upstairs in the gallery bay window. This piece was originally shown at the Snape Maltings, Suffolk in 2019 and was inspired by the Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris book, The Lost Words.

https://www.lottieolearystonecarver.co.uk