Salmon Fishing - Putchers or Lave net (General)

by slowhands , proud of his ancient Dean Forest roots, Friday, December 10, 2010, 09:51 (5105 days ago) @ mrsbruso

Putchers, Lave nets or Seine nets were all legal so long as you were "licenced" and/or owned the fishing rights :-)

I'm not aware of any general fishing rights that Foresters can lay claim to ,hence my caution re Poaching

on the Severn

The Duke of Beaufort had 400 salmon putchers at Horse Pill in 1866 (fn. 4) and owned the fishing rights in the river between Beachley and Cone Pill. About 1820 the tenant complained of losses caused by poaching which had been prevalent for 60 years. (fn. 5) The fisheries were conveyed to the Crown by the Duke of Beaufort in 1901, and by the Crown to the Wye Board of Conservators in 1924, the fishing rights being vested in the Wye River Authority in 1969

From: 'Woolaston: Economic history', A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 10: Westbury and Whitstone Hundreds (1972), pp. 109-114. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=15775 Date accessed: 10 December 2010.

A fishery in the Severn at Lyde Rock to the north of the Beachley passage was bought by John Philpot in 1573, (fn. 5) and other Severn fisheries belonged to the estate which William Batherne sold to Alexander James in 1620, (fn. 6) to the Madocke family's estate in 1599, (fn. 7) and to Waldings manor in 1696. (fn. 8) In 1820, however, the Duke of Beaufort was apparently claiming all the fishing rights in the whole stretch of the river adjoining Tidenham. The tenant of the duke's fishery then complained that there was so much poaching that he was unable to make any profit from it as the poachers undersold him in the markets. (fn. 9) At that period the chief part of the fishery was in Beachley Bay where there were both putcherweirs and boats using stop-nets. (fn. 10) In 1837 the tenants of the fishery had erected in Beachley Bay 14 hedges of stakes, containing over 1,700 putchers, and were proceeded against by the conservator of the duke's fisheries for hindering the progress of the salmon upstream to their spawning-grounds. (fn. 11) In 1866 the duke's fishery on the Severn at Tidenham included 754 putchers just south of Slimeroad Pill and 375 at Lyde Rock, as well as 9 boats using stop-nets in Beachley Bay and 4 boats operating near Pill House. (fn. 12) The inhabitants of Beachley included a number of full-time fishermen throughout the 19th century. (fn. 13) During the later 19th century the Duke of Beaufort's Severn and Wye fisheries were leased by Miller Bros. of Chepstow who exported salmon to London, Bristol, and elsewhere. (fn. 14) In 1969 the putcher-weir on the Severn near Slimeroad Pill was still in operation, and stop-net-fishing continued in the Wye.

From: 'Tidenham including Lancaut: Economic history', A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 10: Westbury and Whitstone Hundreds (1972), pp. 68-73. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=15759 Date accessed: 10 December 2010.

on the Wye

Successive generations of dukes of Beaufort have been great benefactors to the Wye by making financial contributions and selling netting rights to the Wye Conservators, thus ensuring that they were viable and were able to carry out their valuable work of improving the Wye.

Five other weirs on the Wye belonged to the Tutshill Farm estate from 1655 but in the mid 18th century Francis Davis's right to use them was challenged by the tenant of the Duke of Beaufort's Wye fisheries. (fn. 3) No fixed fisheries were included in the duke's Wye fisheries adjudged privileged engines in 1866, but only 23 boats using stop-nets between Chepstow Bridge and the mouth of the river. (fn. 4)

From: 'Tidenham including Lancaut: Economic history', A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 10: Westbury and Whitstone Hundreds (1972), pp. 68-73. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=15759 Date accessed: 10 December 2010.

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Ἀριστοτέλης A Gloster Boy in the Forest of Dean ><((((*>