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Oyster
Bed Markers.... and Seaweed Trees!
It's amazing how
questions raised in the Simply Whitstable Visitors Book often
lead to
answers that enhance our understanding of how things worked in
bygone Whitstable. During a discussion of a German aircraft that
had crashed on the mudflats off Whitstable, one of our readers raised
this 'tongue in cheek' question....
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Can anyone remember the strange phenomenon of the "seaweed
tree" which grew on the mudflats or is my memory playing tricks
again?
All I can
remember is that they were about 4-5 metres high, approx. 100mm
diameter and had no foliage apart from the very top.
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In fact,
memories weren't playing tricks..... and explanations arrived from both
Mark Foreman and John Harman...
| My dad read the reference to the "trees"
that seemed to grow out on the mudflats. He offered an explanation.
During dad's younger years when
there were still oysters to be found out on the beds, the positions
of certain sized oysters and the beds were marked by saplings,
positioned/planted out on the mud. By using these
markers, oysters of roughly the same size could quickly be sorted or
collected by going to the right area.
Mark Foreman
April 2004 |
I presume that
the trees were ideal markers as a boat could pass over them
without incurring damage to the hull. John's note provides a
name for those seaweed trees....
| Marking was often done with
straight tree saplings which were referred to as 'withies'.
As a child out in the WELCOME MESSENGER with my Dad
in the 1930s, I do
remember seeing 'withies' in the water in the area of the Pollard (off the far end of West
Beach). I
believe these marked some of the innermost oyster beds.
John Harman
April 2004 |
Other Markers...
Buoys and Land Marks
Other, quite
different markers were also used....
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Withies weren't the only methods of marking oyster beds. Each oyster
company had its own way of marking its beds and grounds.
One way was
with poles that floated on end. These poles were chained at the bottom end
to an anchor and they would swing with the tide.
Other markers were
large cone shaped buoys. These were tarred black with white bands painted around
them. My brother Ray remembers last seeing some of these.... outside a house
in Chestfield!
Another way of indicating the grounds, was by taking
bearings from land marks - in the form of tall white poles that
had a large triangle on top. These would be located in pairs. One would
be positioned on the shore and the other further in land. From sea, these
would have to be lined up to give the position.
I remember one particular pair. One pole was sited near the Boating Lake and its mate
was near the railway bank at the end of the raised golf link path.
John Harman |
John's explanation
resolved an issue from my childhood in the 1950s! I vaguely recall
that land mark near the railway footbridge at West Cliff. I passed
it on sunny Sundays in summer.... as we made our way to the boating
lake at West Beach. It never occurred to me that it had maritime
connections as it was so far from the beach!
I also vaguely
recall the cone-shaped buoys even further from the sea..... at
Chestfield as Ray Harman noted. Of course, by then, they were
serving a non-maritime function - as markers that prevented cars
from creeping on to the grass verge. I am not certain but I believe
that they may have been linked by attractive chains. Recently, I
went in search of them but they do not appear to be there in the new
millennium!
Fishery
Protection, Creeps.. & Disputes!
Apparently, it
wasn't just a case of marking the valuable oyster beds. Methods
of fishery protection needed to be employed. Some were simple
devices....
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To deter poaching, chains and hooks were also positioned out on
the flats to snare the nets and equipment of those who shouldn't
have been out there in the first place!
Of course, the bone fide
dredgers would have known exactly how to avoid these snares.
Mark Foreman
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| The iron hooks on chains that were used
to deter oyster poachers were referred to as 'Flats Creeps'.
There are stories of Essex boats coming over to the 'Whitstable
side'... whereupon, the Whitstable boats would cross over
the flats creeps with their dredges swimming (raised off the bottom). It was done in anticipation that
the Essex boats would follow! This would no doubt lead to a lot of
shouting and threats of "Just wait til you get over the other
side".
John Harman |
Others involved
a bit of manpower.....
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During the 1920s, my dad also worked on the Watch Boats where
the crew would be aboard for a week at a time guarding the oyster beds.
One boat
was the Post Boy, which was on the beds quite far out. The other
was
the Stormy Petrel. Her position was conveniently off
the Sportsman
Pub!
John Harman |
Withies
and Creeks...
Our 'seaweed
trees' (or, more appropriately withies!) served another
important marking function.....
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A lot of smacks were berthed up in the creeks, as at Faversham and even
more so over on the Essex side in the area of Maldon. The water in these
marshy areas could be quite widely spread with shallow water when flooded.
Hence, it was necessary to mark the channel. This was often done using
those saplings known as 'withies'.
These boats would often have to navigate their way out of the narrow channels,
one after the other in the early morning darkness. That is why many had a
portion of their transoms painted white for the following boat to see.
John Harman |
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