People of Conwy: Tom and Trevor Jones
People of Conwy: Tom and Trevor Jones
Two members of a family that has fished the Conwy for mussels for more than 100 years, Trevor and his son Tom talk about growing up on the quay, their traditional fishing methods and the good times they have shared with other fishermen over the years. Trevor was a Conwy lifeboat volunteer and won a RNLI bravery award in 1970, as you can read on our page about the lifeboat station.
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Transcript - Trevor in italics:
He has them for breakfast, I have them for tea [both laugh]. That’s the difference
I’m Tom Jones, Fisherman at Conwy Mussels
I’m Trevor Jones, Tom’s dad, and I’m a fisherman as well, semi-retired.
I’m a fisherman, my dad’s a fisherman, his dad was a fisherman, my taid, so I’m probably the third or fourth generation myself …
When we were kids, me and my sisters we always used to play on the quay, going in a boat, rowing around; we were rowing around on the river when we were 7 or 8 years old you know …
So for me I mean; I knew I wanted to be a fisherman when I started like, you know did like, just playing really when you first start as a teenager, so I knew I’d one day end up doing fishing of some kind, probably with the mussels …
… the mussel season in Conwy has always been September to April, which we say is every month with an ‘r’; that’s the saying …
… we still use the traditional way of collecting mussels which is with a long rake …
… so you’re raking them off the sea bed, like one man in a boat, very physical, demanding work …
… It’s always been the way it’s been, hand gathering and mainly with a rake with a long handle …
… anything up to 20 foot, 25 foot, and that was the traditional method and it still is …
Most of the mussels in them days were sold in Birmingham, Sheffield, Halifax, Huddersfield, places like that …
… In them days up to 30 ton a week, were getting sent from Conwy, right through the winter …
… I mean times have changed really, markets have changed … people are coming to us now, you know, because we have people now from London and everywhere still coming to us saying “oh we used to have your mussels, we’ve come all the way here now to get them again …
… we can sell them and keep them local now so it … it works in our favour really …
… There have been massive changes in my lifetime with fishing, on the quay in general with the fishing … I don’t believe mussels will ever be done from Conwy in bulk, I think it will be more like Tom’s doing it, niche markets, selling on the door …
… It’s not the same now because you went down and maybe only one or two of you. In the old days there would be like 10 or 15 boats all raking in different places and you were all having a bit of banter as you were working and things …
… I always love the laughs you have, the camaraderie, because the job’s a very hard job; you know it’s cold, windy, early hours, so you’ve got to have a laugh, you’ve got to enjoy it … but it’s a community here in Conwy you know, the fishing, you know you’re all in it together you know … you look after each other and it, you know, that’s what makes it an enjoyable job …
… and it’s nice in a little way to make sure it’s keeping going on the right path …