#coracles have features in common with #whitewater #kayak; wide & flat bottomed, they spin on the water & your maneuverability comes from your skill w/paddling. You scull all the time & it's design allows for a one handed sculling technique, using fishing gear while paddling w/finesse. Impressive

Reading about the history of #coracles; a saucer shaped skin on frame boats sourced from local materials and widely created by cultures all over world/history. They're associated with the UK/Ireland, but exist everywhere. They were used to fishing, poaching, traveling, or simply for fun. #kayak

Two coracles with paddles on a dock waiting to be paddled! Do you dare? Do you know how? Will not knowing how stop you? Will not knowing how make you commit to learning? These ancient vessels, largely unchanged over thousands of years were used for tending salmon nets on the streams of what is now Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England, though similar forms are known from the Levant, Tibet, China, and of course: North Dakota. Essentially, they are a bowl-shaped boat for one person-- highly maneuverable, very portable, and quite easy to build. A little known fact about coracles: They are the fastest boats in the world!!!!! ........ (to build). These are built based on early 20th century lines, with sawn lath and painted canvas 'skins.'

A pair of coracles: Boyne on the left, and Cleddau on the right. Replicated as best I could from J. Geraint Jenkins' "Nets and Coracles," 1974. #boats #boat_building #coracles

"But it is in Wales where the density of coracles was most high. Today it is only on the Teifi, the Taf and the Tywi that coracles are used in the traditional way." - from Coracles of the World by Peter Badge (2009) #coracles #wales #river

"But it is in Wales where the density of coracles was most high. Today it is only on the Teifi, the Taf and the Tywi that coracles are used in the traditional way."
- from Coracles of the World
by Peter Badge (2009)

#coracles #wales #river

Best of Ironbridge 2024

A bridge with a view and the famous coracles of Ironbridge

11th August

#ironbridge #shropshire #travel #photography #heritage #history #coracles

Best of Ironbridge 2024

Tommy Rodgers - "Coracle Man"

7th May

#ironbridge #shropshire #coracles #heritage #tradition #worldheritagesite #travel #photography

When the famous #Ironbridge was built at #Coalbrookdale, locals resented the penny toll so they used #coracles to cross. They were also used to catch #rabbits during floods. #history #traditions