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There is a tradition on the River Teifi for each village
fished from with coracles to have its own maker of the craft. Cenarth,
Llechryd and Cilgerran are the main centres for fishing and despite
the prohibition of Coracle fishing at Cenarth for thirty years the village
still has a maker from an unbroken line stretching back in time for
many hundreds of years. One of the last fisherman at Cenarth and coracle
maker was John Christmas Thomas who although deceased for many years
is still well known and his picture is on postcards still available
in Cenarth. One of his coracles is on display above the shop and café
by the bridge and is probably forty years old.
Ronnie Davies is the current maker who is well known for his skill as
a maker of high quality coracles.
Further down the river at Llechryd is Bernard Thomas who although in
his eighties fishes every day of the open season and also builds coracles.
In the 1970s he achieved the remarkable feat of paddling his coracle
across the English Channel to France. The accompanying photographs show
that although the Teifi coracle is a distinct type there are subtle
differences in the building technique by the individual style of each
maker.
Llechryd Bridge
The Teifi Coracle was last used to assist sheep washing at Cenarth in the 1970's
Willows poles are cut in the wintertime to a length of about 8 feet then
split down the middle. Using an old type of foot operated vice called
a shaving horse and a very ancient tool the drawknife (also known as a
planing knife in Wales) the split willow is shaved down to a thickness
of about a quarter of an inch. A bundle of finished lathes are then emerged
in the river for about a week, which will assist in bending them.
The weave pattern by
Cenarth Coracle Maker Ronnie Davies
This is the weave pattern used today
by Bernard Thomas of Llechyrd
A pine seat of about twelve inches wide under which a bulkhead of nine
supports a foot long is attached to. The lathes are interlaced at right
angled with two diagonal lathes crossing in the centre above the cross
lathes.
Two the weaving is begun using hazel rods in pairs and turned tip to butt.
Behind the seat there is only one cross rib so additional support is added
by a semi-circular plait that is unique to this type of coracle.
Weaving is continued around the gunwale under and over the seat until
there are three layers of weave this is the basic frame finished. The
covering for this type of coracle was flannel and later calico were and
are used.
Waterproofing of tar/bitumen paint completes the build. Another unique
feature is the paddle usually made from the outside of an Ash tree.
