John Luff and John Woodford on Fishing

Lisa: Can you tell me a bit about the making of pots?

John L: Well, everybody used to grow their own willows, and they had their own withy beds where they used to grow them, mainly along from Forelands towards Whitecliff there was a … everybody had their little patch where they used to grow them and they used to cut them in the first week in December and sort them all out and then make their pots for the next year.

Some of those pots would last three years, with a bit of luck and repairing, so they used to make about two dozen new ones every winter. That’s what they used to do.

John W: They had to be tarred didn’t they?

John L: Oh, they were tarred afterwards to preserve them, so you used to wait ‘till the blokes were coming round tarring the roads and slip them a few bob and they’d fill your can up with hot tar .