Palnackie & Flounder Tramping
On the River Urr in Dumfries & Galloway,
a mile or so inland.
a mile or so inland.
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All images are © 400photos.uk
All images are © 400photos.uk
Palnackie is a small village (you can see all of it in some of the photos) on the River Urr
in Dumfries & Galloway not far from the Solway coast.
At this point the river is still tidal (and is for a few more miles upstream as far as Dalbeattie) so the boats tend to need high water to get in and out. These were taken near high tide.
It was never a major port but supported a few fishing boats in its heyday. There's a popular holiday park just outside the village and that's the A711 passing the village to the north.
Palnackie's main claim to fame is as the host of the World Flounder Tramping Championships run each August in support of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
Competitors wade about at low tide on the mud flats of the Urr Water (seen in the top photo) and use their bare feet to trap fish in the mud. This was once how commercial fishing was done in these parts but in older times a three-pronged barbed spear or trident was used to prong the fish. That's not allowed these days.
You might have seen similar spears (called leisters, locally) used to catch eels in various rivers in the south. It's a very ancient form of fishing dating back to the stone age and is still used effectively in some parts of the world on a daily basis.
Several times over the last few years the event has been cancelled or restricted for various reasons and it's not as popular as it once was, which is a shame as it's fun and is run for good, charitable purposes.
Perhaps if it were more visual it might get picked up for tv (Sky Sports??) but watching a few people tramping about in shallow water is maybe not exciting enough. Or what about a cookery program? 150 ways to cook a flounder?
Just visible at the top of the first photo is the village of Kippford, further downstream and also not far from Orchardton Tower.
At this point the river is still tidal (and is for a few more miles upstream as far as Dalbeattie) so the boats tend to need high water to get in and out. These were taken near high tide.
It was never a major port but supported a few fishing boats in its heyday. There's a popular holiday park just outside the village and that's the A711 passing the village to the north.
Palnackie's main claim to fame is as the host of the World Flounder Tramping Championships run each August in support of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
Competitors wade about at low tide on the mud flats of the Urr Water (seen in the top photo) and use their bare feet to trap fish in the mud. This was once how commercial fishing was done in these parts but in older times a three-pronged barbed spear or trident was used to prong the fish. That's not allowed these days.
You might have seen similar spears (called leisters, locally) used to catch eels in various rivers in the south. It's a very ancient form of fishing dating back to the stone age and is still used effectively in some parts of the world on a daily basis.
Several times over the last few years the event has been cancelled or restricted for various reasons and it's not as popular as it once was, which is a shame as it's fun and is run for good, charitable purposes.
Perhaps if it were more visual it might get picked up for tv (Sky Sports??) but watching a few people tramping about in shallow water is maybe not exciting enough. Or what about a cookery program? 150 ways to cook a flounder?
Just visible at the top of the first photo is the village of Kippford, further downstream and also not far from Orchardton Tower.
