Once commonplace along the River Severn between Newtown and Bewdley coracles are returning to the Montgomery Canal as part of the Making Waves programme celebrating the local canal.
Making Waves in Coracles will take place on Saturday, 27 June and will see a selection of coracle displays and events including the first public appearance of the newly-built re-creation of the Welshpool coracle.
Morning events will include coracle racing for the first time in Welshpool. Teams of four are being invited for relay races across the canal and back, in support of Macmillan Cancer Support.
In the afternoon there will be further demonstrations and events, and the opportunity to have-a-go, with the assistance of the Coracle Society.
Pat Ward of the organising committee said: “Traditionally coracles were found throughout Britain and many parts of the world as a means of crossing a river, for net fishing, as a livelihood or simply for poaching.
“Four distinct types evolved - at Bewdley, Ironbridge, Shrewsbury and Welshpool.
“Restrictions to fishing with nets and night lines lead to a gradual decline in the numbers once found at Leighton, Trewern, Pool Quay, Llandrinio and even the lower reaches of the Vyrnwy above Melverley.
“Stories abound of unusual feats, poaching escapades and the rescue of livestock in times of flooding.”
Pat added: “We have now re-created the Trewern or Welshpool coracle from accounts of meetings with former local coracle characters, fortunately recorded and donated to the Welshpool museum by Coracle Society President Sir Peter Badge.
“The new coracle has been tried out on the Montgomery Canal by John Davies. John comes from Shrewsbury which was a centre of coracle building and river use until recent times: six generations of the Davies family have been involved in making and using coracles.
‘Throughout the 1960’s – 1980’s three of the generations were once a frequent sight departing upstream from Frankwell to fish the Severn at The Isle with rod and line.
‘Here as in many places the river takes a virtually full circle travelling a distance of some five miles only to return to the opposite side of the same field, but coracles are light enough to be easily carried the few yards across instead.’
John, a vice President of the Coracle Society, is a prolific coracle builder and was largely responsible with his uncle Fred Davies for ensuring that the long heritage of coracle building along with their invaluable skills and experience has not been lost and was passed on to the Green Wood Centre in Ironbridge where Coracles are still built today and the knowledge passed on to future generations.’
Pat said: “This apart John and his uncle Fred are perhaps best widely known for their devotion to Shrewsbury Town Football Club for retrieving footballs kicked into the river during matches from the former Gay Meadow pitch – even when the river was in full spate and darkness!
“John and other members of the Coracle Society from will be attending our Coracle Regatta in Welshpool on June 27th.
“We are inviting teams from sports clubs, pubs, local businesses or other groups to race one another in a series of relay races, and to raise sponsorship for Macmillan Cancer Support who are generously providing the racing coracles (see attached picture). This should be challenging and exciting: we are keen to recruit teams to take part in these races.”
In the afternoon there will be a traditional Coracle Regatta.
There will be demonstrations of how to make a coracle, and we shall be providing coracles for experts and perhaps would-be experts to take in races or challenges such as picking up a replica fish or trying to complete as many 360 degree turns in a given time.
Pat said: “We are lucky that the event will be accompanied by a highly-informed and without doubt entertaining commentary by Gerwyn Lewis founder of Ironbridge's Green Wood Centre and its pioneering coracle building courses.
“There is no charge to join in or to come and watch.
The canal is sufficiently wide at the Town Wharf (opposite the lower end of the Tesco Car Park) and all these events can be seen from both sides of the canal. Come along, see the fun!”
Entries for the coracle races are eagerly sought and applications can be made via www.Makingwaves2015.co.uk
