Netting the Tide
This short film of Tom Smith and Prince is known to many of us. We are pleased to make it available through the website. It was made by film students at Manchester Polytechnic (Now Manchester Metropolitan University).
Screen shot courtesy British Film institute
This absorbing documentary profiles Tom - a Sunderland Point fisherman - who was probably the last to use a horse and cart for shrimping. As he leads Prince out onto the sands of Morecambe Bay, he reflects upon his trade, recognising the limitations of working at the isolated location of Sunderland Point, but also the benefits of having a congenial four-legged partner.
Watch the film here - Click on the box ‘Watch for Free’
Screen shot courtesy British Film institute
Seeing this wonderful video again we are moved to remember Tom Smith. But there was also a special partnership between Tom and Prince. Those of a certain age will remember this remarkable horse with amused affection. We decided to go and see Alan and ask him for his memories of Prince.
‘A hooligan!’ said Alan laughing. We asked him to elaborate, but first a bit of biography.
Prince was bought in the mid 1950’s from a dealer in Pilling specifically for horse and cart shrimping on the west shore, there would other duties including transporting sacks of mussels collected in Morecambe or Half Moon Bay, Heysham. Prince was re-shod at the blacksmiths in Overton which at that time was in the Ship Inn yard – in these years George Jackson was the village blacksmith.
Astonishingly, Prince took wading in the sea without any dissent and even when the weather was so bad, and waves were breaking over his back he never flinched. He quickly picked up how Tom wanted to shrimp and knew by a mixture experience and instinct what Tom wanted him to do next.
Screen shot courtesy British Film institute
On one very bad winter’s night, the snowy weather had turned in to a blizzard, with a gale of wind from the South East, Tom was forced to tie down his shrimp boxes at the front of the cart and lie down behind for shelter. Holding onto the reigns he turned Prince into the wind and headed for home. Prince would stop now and again to turn his back into the blizzard for a breather with no instructions to do so from Tom, he pulled the cart and Tom back to the safety of the Lane end and home.
Tick courage and determination. Add mischievous character. When out to pasture on the Salt Marsh just beyond the Anchorage, he would saunter over to cars parked on the shingle and press his nose on windows or into open windows looking for a share of a visitor’s picnic.
When on the marsh pasturing with the tide coming up he would keep a careful eye on the road for returning home, he would negotiate the way home on the road wading through the tide belly deep and keeping between the marker posts, he could handle the hazards of the road better than some of the residents and visitors.
When the mood struck, he would pay a visit to First Terrace, avoiding the noisy shingle, he would tread quietly along on the mud to sneak past number 3 and miss being overheard in passing and caught by Tom for an early stabling. Prince would stand by open doorways and windows looking for scraps and once was caught with head and shoulders inside number nine inquiring after tasty treats. He was also reported to have made a noise on more than one front door seeking attention.
Enjoying a belly scratch, he would straddle the posts on First Terrace - he is the culprit for breaking more than one.
This is one of our favourite Alan Smith photos, it’s Prince at the Top of the Lane heading home, it’s not Tom, but his brother Philip.
‘And a hooligan?’ we asked. Alan says he could be moody, and if he was in the stable would kick up a thunder of a fuss wanting attention and to be free, he worked out that kicking on the door in the right place could loosen the bolt and the door would swing open, Prince would be off on to the marsh and a brief taste of freedom.
Alan remembers when Tom was away on National Service, he had to collect Prince from the fields when out to pasture. Seeing Alan, Prince would race to the furthest corner of the field. Even when the halter was finally secure - after bribery with a couple of apples - Prince would roll around on the ground refusing to come quietly.
Prince passed away peacefully in 1982, he was an elderly horse and went off his legs and was unable to walk and the vet was unable to do anymore for him. It needed special equipment to winch him from the stable and onto a lorry to be taken away. A sad day for all who knew him, and he was greatly missed and so is Tom, Prince was his working partner for almost 30 years and was a truly faithful and remarkable animal.
Screen shot courtesy British Film institute