SHOCK HERRING NET THEFT

"It was never like it in my day!" How often have you heard your father or grandfather say that? and how many times have you said you'll never say it, but found yourself repeating it continually to your own children? I have lived endlessly in Clovelly, I have fished and tripped my years away, never earning a living but slowly blending into my surroundings, slowly becoming my father. It is now I can say, "It was never like it in my day!" Things don't seem to change for the better, the respect, the values and the principles of the village, the open door, the watching eye, the places you did not go and the things you just did not do. Why is it we have to be shaken into reality at the cruel hands of some sneak in the dark thief!

This last week I removed my Herring nets from my boat, finally signalling the end of another season, the nets were put into an open shed, with the intention of moving them to a safer place soon after, though as it appears not soon enough! Somebody or somebodies unknown have taken it upon themselves to take five of the nets leaving me with three; maybe I should be grateful for the three, but I find I am angry, with myself for not having moved them sooner. The nets are not new, I look after the nets, washing, mending, repairing them each year, most were over ten years old, but they each had a story; like the day I caught a 13 foot basking shark and had to tow it back to the harbour so we could free it from the nets and release it back to sea, it took two weeks of mending to fix the nets then!! Or the day the nets sunk under the wieght of 3000 fish, the largest catch of herrings since 1976, or of the celebrities like Rick Stein, Marco Pierre White, Mike Smylie and most recently BBC's Countryfile that have helped haul the nets.

But they are gone, probably sold for beer money or worse money! Someone feels satisfied with their nights work, I hope they are happy. For me it means I have to find £400 in order to replace them before the next season, unless of course any of you hear anything and kindly let me know; and I really can say without fear of contradiction, "It was never like it in my day!"