Michael Hindhaugh

Food & Drink

The sun is out and the wooden boats are ready. We have our waders on and kit in dry bags. Michael points to one of the two blue boats, “You chaps can go in that one.” Each boat or ‘cobble’ as they are known, has a large net sat on its stern, two wooden oars and not much else. Rob and I stand leaning against the net and Michael rows us out to the sand bank. The other boat, full of experienced fishermen, is already on there, setting up.

Michael Hindhaugh grew up in Berwick and he says, “The River Tweed used to have about 30 fisheries in its first four miles. There was literally a fishery every 300 yards.” Nowadays only one remains, Michael’s. He’d always loved seeing the fishing, it was part of the town’s history; so when the final fishing station closed through retirement in 2014, a way of life had been lost and Michael decided to do something about it. “Back in the ‘70s when I was a kid, I’d always go down to the fishing stations and try to lend a hand, so looking out a few years ago and seeing no-one seemed wrong.” He approached the Berwick Harbour Commission, which owns a number of netting stations and suggested re-introducing the netting back to the town. Thankfully they agreed and Michael set up the River Tweed Wild Salmon Company.