Andy Butler on Fishing

Mostly Bembridge, Fishbourne, Thorness, Saltmead, mostly in the sort of East and Nor East and North of the Island. Oh, and Yarmouth Harbour was good later in the winter.

You only worked spring tides so you would only work one week in two which was the Springs and you could only work for a few hours as the tide dropped back so then you would pick winkles and then you had to bag them up and hide them and wait ‘till you’d got enough and then they would all go up to a chap we dealt with in London. Can’t remember his name now.

And then they went to Billingsgate where our other stuff used to go but we didn’t actually have to go to Billingsgate.

We could go to this chap who had a depot in Pudding Lane. We had our own key, so we’d drive up at night, dump it off and then come home which if you had to go to Billingsgate you weren’t allowed to touch anything.

It all had to be unloaded by the Porters otherwise they’d all go on strike and it was very tightly controlled, and you’d be there for hours which was no good if you wanted to get back to the Island.

You’d come back to the Island and go float again you know, and then eventually get some sleep. So, it was much easier when we stopped doing that, going to Lymington.

You know, it made life a lot easier.