Poke stours & looking home, a photo from Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland

Photographer's Note

Metal poke stakes or stours as they are called locally(not sure of the spelling)are stacked while not in use. These stakes are driven into the sand when in use and nets hung on them to catch salmon.These have been her for a number of years for some reason. The poke nets are still being fished and I understand that these are just stours not needed at the moment.This view is from the Solway Firth towards Annan. You can see the location here
Click on the link at the bottom of the page to the shore walk and then click on the map. This was taken in the Solway Firth south of the area marked Summergate. This my stomping ground from where my Solway Fishing pictures have been taken.
Poke nets are a pocket type net. The three types of fishing found on the Scottish side of the Solway are stake , poke and haaf net. Stake and poke are desribed in legal jargon as "fixed engines". This means that they are fixed and semi permanent in that the stakes that hold the nets are driven into the sands and the nets are put up and taken down at the beginning and end of the season. Haaf nets by contrast are strung over a frame (beam) that is carried across the sand to be held by the fishermen in the water. Adter the end of eaach tide the men carry these 16 foot beams back to shore.

saxo042, tyro, graffer, cobbydale, Kielia, feather has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

saxo042 (38078) 2009-08-25 14:21

Hi Bev,
This is really a very good picture! A background of a beautiful sky and trees and green fields! The brown sand with randomly placed puddles and then all these poles forming a row. But what I find most interesting is the note! Quote "stours as they are called locally(not sure of the spelling)"! This is definitely and crearly a word that the vikings brought with them. In Sweden we call a long pole a "stör" with that "ö" pronounced as in German (Umlaut). So apparently the vikings brought both "håv" and "stör"! There must be a lot of local, dialect words here with the same origin! Very interesting indeed!
Kind regards
Gunnar

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tyro (30513) 2009-08-25 15:33

Hello, Bev.

Another fine picture and note to add to your educational series on Haaf Netting and other forms of salmon fishing on the Solway.

But this picture stands out above the others in my opinion. Peter (graffer) will be able to discuss the nicesties of your fine composition better than I, but I believe that the fine sharpness, colours and contrasts, as well as your viewpoint, have given this picture great impact. That near stack of poles really jumps out of the frame and hits you between the eyes.

And, of course, Gunnar has given us all a fine lesson in etymology - something else you can add to your notes for your forthcoming exhibition!

Excellent!

Best Wishes,

John.

graffer (1800) 2009-08-26 3:06

Hello Bev,

My first thought on looking at this, was that it reminded me of the D-Day defences on the Normandy invasion beaches. Indeed these fearsome looking structures would be a hazard to navigation themselves.

So, as a composition, what have we got here? Triangles in profusion, and three-dimensional triangles with reflections too.

There is a very strong diagonal of perspective from right to left, as the eye is led from the two closest stours on towards that further construction of poles that lines up neatly with them, then to the low land and the sky in the distance.

Soft pastel colours throughout, and a very interesting note.

Kind regards,

Peter.

cobbydale (1958) 2009-08-26 3:41

Good documentary shot Bev, nicely composed and with good colours too. I like your notes, which build well on your previous posts on traditional fishing techniques. We did spend a pleasant week in the area (a cottage somewhere near Palnackie) in the early nineties when our kids were little, and I remember we found it a friendly and uncrowded part of the country though very popular with jelly fish on some of the beaches :-)
cheers
Leon

holmertz (94534) 2009-08-26 7:18

Hello Bev,
Indeed very peculiar, but also very beautiful. If you had written that these assemblies of "störar" were actually works of public art, I might have believed you. Collections of brown wood on a line across the vast plain of brown mud - very attractive.
Regards,
Gert

AROBN54 (11475) 2009-08-26 20:49

Oh, this is another fine one, Bev.
That same great wide view, outstanding detail, and the composition is just MAD good. The sharp angles of the stours contrast so nicely, too, with the round puddles and the clouds in the distance. I especially like all the white houses you can see on the distant hills and along the shore. Your note was wonderful, too. What a fabulous series! Many thanks and warmest wishes,
Shelly

Kielia (24077) 2009-08-27 11:30

Hi Bev,
I cannot but praise the excellent management of the light! Outstanding POV on this fascinating coast and very fascinating colors. There is a special atmosphere that you have captured excellently. Congratulation!
Warm regards
Harriet

wolf38 (30) 2009-08-28 2:15

Hello Bev. The ebb-tide shows things, which are otherwise hidden. A really interesting photo with graphically structured foreground. Outstanding composes. Phitographisch realizes in the best way. Regards, Wolfgang.

feather (51130) 2009-08-28 4:02

I live on the NE coast close to strong traditional fishing areas Eg Whitby. Admittedly I don't know a lot about fishing, but I have never seen any of the fishing methods you have in your area, so this is very interesting. It's also an excellent image, with the stours having gathered pools around them as if to provide a mirror for reflections. Well done
Kath