The Cockling Trip - 1939
The following photo shows Hugh Singer, my Dad
(Tom Harman) and me. It was taken by Hugh's Dad back in 1939.
It was taken by Hugh's Dad back in 1939. We were heading over to Shellness
(Sheppey) where we would anchor
on the cockle banks, eat our sandwich and wait for the tide to go
out. In those days, there would also be many boats from the
Essex side!
Dad's boat 'The Welcome Messenger, F60' was an original
Sheringham Crabber brought to Whitstable by the Cox family when
the whelkers migrated from East Anglia. Like many of those boats,
it had been updated with a 'petrol/paraffin Kelvin engine."
In the picture, we are holding the tools of the trade - a
short-handled rake and a net scoop. Cockling was a tough business.... with long days during which it
was necessary to.....
- get up early
- set off for Sheppey on the ebb tide
- paddle up to the knees in mud, and
- rake the cockles until the tide returned
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Getting afloat and off the mud banks with a loaded boat could
be treacherous if the wind was up with the returning tide.
Once back in the harbour, the bagged cockles had to be unloaded
and pushed on a cart to the store.
Washing The Cockles
The picture below is self explanatory. The date is the 'mid
forties'. The
location and background are of interest.
The photo was taken at the front of Dad's store. (That's what he called it....
not a shed!). It was at the end of a long row of 'Whelkers'... but
only his had a mountain of cockle shells outside!
The stores were located at the back of the harbour's East Quay. In the background, railway boundary railings
separate Long Beach from the harbour property. The railings themselves are interesting. There is nothing like
using materials at hand. The posts are forged out of railway
lines!
There was no water at hand for the fishermen. It had to be
carried by a yoke and buckets.... from way over near the Winding
Shed.
Cooking Cockles
At the store, coppers would be filled and fires lit. The picture
above shows Dad and Jers Gambrill cooking with two
coppers.
The cockles were placed in the copper in a wire
basket until "done". From there, they were tipped into a
sieve that hung from the ceiling and shaken. The cooked cockles fell out of their shells and through the
sieve..... leaving the shells to be thrown out through the
open window.
Once cooked, the catch had to be salted..... and bagged up
if it was to be transported to London by train.
John Harman
Sidney
British Columbia
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