Aust Parish Gallery

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Picture: 41 / 46

Old Salmon 'Putchery'

Peter Haworth has recently taken this beautiful shot of the Severn at Aust, showing the remains of a wooden frame used to hold rows of salmon putchers (conical fish traps made of willow or hazel). This wooden 'rank' or 'engine' of putchers, erected at right angles to the tidal flow, was fished until fairly recently. In fact, as Peter was taking the picture, a man approached him who said that many years ago he had worked on this 'putchery' as he called it. He now lives in France and was visiting the spot for old time's sake. Salmon have been caught in putchers on the Severn since Anglo-Saxon times. 'Certificates of Privilege', dating from the 1860s, specify the maximum number of putchers which can be used in named locations on the Severn. In 2006, 713 salmon were caught in five licensed putcher ranks in the Severn Estuary.