On the Carmarthen waterfront coracles are stored ready for easy access to the river and the visitor may see fishing on some afternoons during the season although most fishing is at night . A report on the fishery in 1863 described the coraclemen as "lawless and aggressive". The Towy coracle is longer than the Teifi type and other differences include a wooden bowl as a baler stored under the seat. Today 12 licences are available to fish the river. In recent years the traditional lathe coracle has been replaced by glass fibre by many of the netsmen.

This Tywi coracle (pictured below) was made by Conwy Richards this summer from an instructional video made by Raymond Rees of Carmarthen who is descended from many generations of coracle fishermen. In his video he instructs how to build this type of coracle in a clear and straightforward way without the need for woodworking skills and using just basic tools. For anyone wanting to build a coracle then the Tywi is recommended and of a type that is very safe and stable on the water and easy to use with a little practice. (see links page for the web site of Raymond Rees).

WORKING CORACLE
Photographed in August 2002 was this working Tywi coracle under construction by the riverside at Carmarthen.

Tea Card of the 1980's

Coracle Way Road Sign

River Tywi Coracle

On the Upper River Towy close to Llangadog Bridge in the mid-nineteenth century lived the wealthy family the Stepney-Gulstons who owned at least three coracles and have left photographs of their activities on the river from about 1871. Although in the photographs the coracles appear to be Towy design there are variations to the ones used by the netsmen at Carmarthen. Instead of the basket work gunwale a lathe one is evident -a variation later used by the netsmen. Also the paddles are from the River Teifi also the bulkhead design under the seat made from verticle supports as opposed to a planked horizontal design normally seen on the Tywi.