'We're master coracle makers, and it's our duty to protect these endangered boats' - Veteran boat builders on history and Shropshire connections

And last weekend a special race was held on the River Severn in Shrewsbury to commemorate Fred Davies, the legendary Shrewsbury Town FC football fetcher who would take to his little coracle boat to pluck balls which had been hoofed out of the old Gay Meadow stadium and into the water.

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However, coracles have been placed on the “red list of endangered crafts” by the Heritage Crafts Association, meaning there are strong fears that they could become extinct within a generation.

Two of those watching on and refereeing the Fred Davies race from the riverbank were Dave Purvis and Peter Falconer, from The Coracle Society.

Dave said: “Now on the Red List of endangered crafts,  we feel it is our duty to ensure that Coracle making is protected from oblivion so future generations will be able to enjoy it as we still do today.”

Dave, aged 85, is from Ripon Men’s Shed in North Yorkshire and a past chair of the society, who learned his craft 25 years ago at the Greenwood Centre in Ironbridge and continues to build and teach coracle making today .

Peter, 83, lives in Leintwardine, near Ludlow, and is honorary president of the society and a founder member.

He learned his craft with the legendary fifth generation Ironbridge coracle man, Eustace Rogers.

Peter is believed to be the last remaining Hide coracle maker in the UK, and it was he who built the Teme river style coracle, which he brought along to the Severn in Shrewsbury to show racegoers. He made it from his own home grown hazel and willow rods and covered it with Hereford cowhide skin obtained from the Leintwardine slaughterhouse. The paddle is fashioned from native ash board.

Both men were keen to share the history of coracles and their own escapades on the water over the years.

Dave said: “The provenance of coracles go back to the Stone Age as depicted in cave paintings of that era.

“The 10,000-year-old Coracle burial grave, discovered in an archeological excavation near Dalgetty Bay in Fife some years ago, led to the belief that with the exception of flintknapping, coracle making is arguably our oldest continuous piece of tangible heritage still being practiced today.”