A Man Between Three Rivers (1975)

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  • Опубліковано 29 вер 2024
  • A biography of Ernie James, the last of the Fen Tigers who made a living by eel catching and punt gunning. A film especially dear to me since it was directed and produced by my grandfather.
    Director: Ron Downing
    Executive Producer: Dick Joice
    Production: Ron Downing, Geoffrey Weaver
    Wildlife Photography: Ted Eales
    Winner of both the Royal Television Society’s Regional Programme Award and the Writer's Award 1976.
    rts.org.uk/site...
    Musical credits:
    1. 00:27 - 01:20 Introduction and Allegro, Op. 47 - Edward Elgar (1905)
    2. 05:24 - 06:12 Symphony in G minor: III. Vivace - Ernest John Moeran (1934/1937)
    3. 07:53 - 08:55 Symphony in G minor: II. Theme & Variations - Ernest John Moeran (1944)
    4. 10:15 - 10:55 Symphony in G minor: III. Vivace - Ernest John Moeran (1934/1937)
    5. 11:37 - 12:43 TBC
    6. 13:05 - 13:55 Symphony in G minor: I. Allegro - Ernest John Moeran (1944)
    7. 14:40 - 15:40 Symphony in G minor: III. Vivace - Ernest John Moeran (1934/1937)
    8. 15:45 - 17:00 Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp: I. Pastorale - Claude Debussy (1915)
    Intermission
    9. 17:45 - 18:50 Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp: I. Pastorale - Claude Debussy (1915)
    10. 19:10 - 19:50 Symphony in G minor: III. Vivace - Ernest John Moeran (1934/1937)
    11. 22:42 - 23:22 Symphony in G minor: III. Vivace - Ernest John Moeran (1934/1937)
    12. 24:10 Symphony in G minor: I. Allegro - Ernest John Moeran (1944)
    13. 30:45 Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp: I. Pastorale - Claude Debussy (1915)
    14. 33:00 Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp: II. Interlude - Claude Debussy (1915)
    15. 37:30 Lonely Waters - Ernest John Moeran (1932)

КОМЕНТАРІ • 370

  • @barrygraham7598
    @barrygraham7598 2 роки тому +18

    I'm from Northern Ireland and its just wonderful watching the English way of life. This footage is priceless, Ernie learned so much on the fells. The Pub is a meeting place for these wonderful characters. Loving the accents and both sharing the craic. Thanks for sharing 😊👍💚☘☘☘

    • @TheAllyMor
      @TheAllyMor Рік тому +1

      I doubt that exact accent is spoken by anybody these days. Died out with Ernie.

    • @chucky2316
      @chucky2316 5 місяців тому +3

      Thank you Barry I'm a devon boy and plenty who speak like Ernie 👍 , I refuse to bow down and give my english british culture up. Still alive and well in the countryside to the point the anti hunters are wondering why they are putting up a show buoy

  • @paulmaltby4074
    @paulmaltby4074 4 роки тому +17

    I came across this fantastic film while on lockdown for covid 19 . It is one of the best things I have seen on you tube , and has brought a smile to my face in these dark times . A time when you appreciate the most important things in your life family, health this film shows all what we are missing in life . Thank you for sharing it with us

    • @gefd1983
      @gefd1983  4 роки тому +8

      Glad you enjoyed it Paul. I end up re-watching this a couple of times a year, helps keep life in perspective I think!

  • @paulmechaniow838
    @paulmechaniow838 4 роки тому +125

    Thanks for sharing this it brought tears I was 9 at the time of making this film although tougher times financially the country was a safer and mentally healthier place.

    • @strickostricko
      @strickostricko 2 роки тому +5

      People had different concerns. There can’t be many things worse than knowing where your next meal’s coming from.

    • @Roscoe.P.Coldchain
      @Roscoe.P.Coldchain 2 роки тому +24

      Immigration

    • @fishfingers160
      @fishfingers160 2 роки тому +6

      @@Roscoe.P.Coldchain your comment certainly is bollocks

    • @Theoatob
      @Theoatob 2 роки тому +12

      @@Roscoe.P.Coldchain Not immigration but Super markets. They drove down food prices by forcing farmers to accept less money. They had to pay lower wages but Brits didn't want so little pay and naturally in order for many farms to survive they employed migrant labour. Now theres barely any migrant labour here, super markets still pay less and farms have folded all over Lincolnshire and elsewhere. Only super farms owned by the likes of those such as James Dyson thrive. Only they can operate on lower margins and afford to automate. There's also the fact we compete internationally and import >40% of our food

    • @juslitor
      @juslitor 2 роки тому +5

      @@fishfingers160 why though?

  • @matthewgabbard6415
    @matthewgabbard6415 2 місяці тому

    Ah, Alan Dobie is the narrator. A very good actor and very underrated during his time. I recently watched the old BBC production of War and Peace with Alan and Anthony Hopkins. Both great actors

  • @brashers759
    @brashers759 Рік тому +1

    I went to a rural primary school, and we used to visit characters like this, as such by the time I was 12, I understood and was semi competent in most rural crafts, I even knew how to thatch a roof. I then went to a secondary school in a town and struggled with the curriculum, so much so that at 16 I left having not completed my GCSE’s and failed the 4 subjects that I did attend the exam. However I did obtain city and guilds qualifications in craft design and technology. In this mad and very strange world that we find ourselves in, now, where the curriculum is focused on teaching children that they can identify as a tomato 🍅, I feel very strongly that instead, kids should be taught some real world skills like these, where they’d be able to focus their thoughts on being creative, and maybe grow a tomato than identify and become one..

  • @MsSlosh
    @MsSlosh 2 роки тому

    Fantastic film, I was 15 when this was made, and can remember summer hols, working on my uncles farm in Norfolk. Great characters

  • @artisansportsman8950
    @artisansportsman8950 4 роки тому +6

    We have moved on since then , large population , work in different kind of jobs. If I had a choice I would of lived then rather than now, this is just my opinion though.

  • @danielgreen3715
    @danielgreen3715 3 роки тому +3

    Modernisation is not always the best way forward!! ..The rythyms of the wild and of the seasons are replaced with Alarm clocks Mobile phones and Takeaways ...Give methis way of life Anytime!

  • @Pippinjuice
    @Pippinjuice 2 роки тому

    What did they use the plover for? Feathers?

    • @gefd1983
      @gefd1983  2 роки тому +1

      To sell to market for other people to eat as well as for themselves to eat.

  • @gavingaming123
    @gavingaming123 6 років тому +110

    What an amazing snippet of what is sadly a bygone age. It’s horrific to think that we at the present time are missing the importance of all the sustainability and conservation of resources that Ernie’s generation fostered and lived by. I cannot thank you enough for sharing what is a milestone in the history of how country folk lived. I will be sure to share this. All the best from Scotland. Garry

    • @SteveSmith-zz4ih
      @SteveSmith-zz4ih 4 роки тому +17

      i blame Governments, they want the mighty dollar and want the Plebs (us) to be fully dependent on them or big business, they do NOT want us to be independent.

  • @mikes8917
    @mikes8917 2 роки тому +17

    A simple life, no consumer pressure, no TV, no Mac Donald’s, no social media. Wonderful. I would trade the modern world for the old anytime.

  • @paulpaul5606
    @paulpaul5606 3 роки тому +17

    Ernie is dead and so are his skills. that makes me feel sad no one will ever do this again like old Ernie

    • @lewissmith5924
      @lewissmith5924 3 роки тому

      I know.

    • @chucky2316
      @chucky2316 5 місяців тому +1

      His skills aren't dead

    • @mrdynamic7887
      @mrdynamic7887 2 місяці тому +1

      ​@@chucky2316your right these guys are like unicorns nowadays just people who keep the traditions alive 💯

  • @alf9638
    @alf9638 2 роки тому +9

    Ernie lived to the ripe old age of 99 years old and died in 2005, where he was born and lived, in Norfolk.

  • @manonamountain
    @manonamountain 4 роки тому +68

    One of the most enjoyable documentaries i've ever watched, back when shops used
    to close, and only clergymen worked on a Sunday!

    • @richylad
      @richylad 4 роки тому +1

      manonamountain you might enjoy watching this vid also, ua-cam.com/video/F4XNv0QGwdA/v-deo.html

    • @Roscoe.P.Coldchain
      @Roscoe.P.Coldchain 2 роки тому

      Yes we could do with a world cull so that we can all relax more ....20 million people is more than enough for the size of England

    • @fishfingers160
      @fishfingers160 2 роки тому

      @@Roscoe.P.Coldchain you can be first then.

  • @davidschmidt6013
    @davidschmidt6013 4 роки тому +34

    "Plastic has put an end to the willow trade." I can't tell you how depressed that simple statement made me feel.

    • @richardjbarlow
      @richardjbarlow 4 роки тому +2

      *desire to weave intensifies*

    • @kimmason9935
      @kimmason9935 3 роки тому +1

      What a beautiful way to earn a living such a shame I bet most of these men have died and not got to pass on there knowledge a true river man I'm not the same person in the close season

    • @Bennybigballs24
      @Bennybigballs24 2 роки тому +1

      True story sir

  • @christrinder1255
    @christrinder1255 2 роки тому +10

    My dad was a wild fowler, punt gunner using the punt and gun he inherited from his father, my grandfather. Dad also also used a rifle for shooting. He didn’t shoot for profit but to feed his family. My father was born and bred in Poole so his location for shooting was Poole Harbour, and he was a founder member of the Dorset Wildfowlers. Poole harbour is a very large but shallow harbour with lots of winter wildfowl. Now unfortunately those days are gone, when my sister and I as children, were living on one of the 5 small island when dad worked as the boatman before becoming the first National Trust Head Warden for Brownsea Island and looking after rather than shooting wild fowl. Before that time in the winter our main meal fare consisted roast wildfowl. When the shooting was good we had a whole duck each! Mallard and widgeon were my favourite but teal and pintail etc we’re always welcome to the table. I particularly liked the ferreting out of the last pieces of meat from the carcass with my fingers, nothing was wasted!
    I have to buy the taste of my childhood food now, but am happy to relive those wonderful flavours. It’s a time gone bye but I’m so grateful to be one of the last generation who remember those days, when life was more natural and hunting shooting and fishing was for the table. Christine

    • @gefd1983
      @gefd1983  2 роки тому +2

      Thanks for the lovely comment Christine. I'm happy to say that fowling continues to take place on the harbour (I'm a member of Dorset WA) and what I manage to take home is still very much enjoyed by me and my loved ones!

  • @TheSimpleStella
    @TheSimpleStella 4 роки тому +92

    Wow, very fascinating. My parents now run the lamb and flag, they celebrated 20 years of running it this year!

    • @ludo9234
      @ludo9234 4 роки тому +5

      I'll be there with my dog sometime this year.

    • @pault8470
      @pault8470 3 роки тому +3

      Where is it ? I,m doing a UK tour next summer

    • @robinwells8879
      @robinwells8879 3 роки тому +5

      I have eaten there and it was wonderful. My bedroom window looks out over the washes from a little further up at Mepal.

    • @davidwarren4824
      @davidwarren4824 2 роки тому +1

      Has it changed much

    • @robinwells8879
      @robinwells8879 2 роки тому +14

      @@davidwarren4824 physically no but the characters are fewer and farther between now. The Cambridgeshire accents of my youth are mostly gone, replaced by estuarine Essex. The wildlife happily is much the same. I even have my old fen skates!

  • @sgtg4600
    @sgtg4600 4 роки тому +59

    If we could only wind the clocks back.

  • @johnk1639
    @johnk1639 4 роки тому +17

    Made the year I was born. Seems like a hell of a lot longer than 44 years. Truly better times.

  • @freespiritnufc5661
    @freespiritnufc5661 3 роки тому +11

    Simply wonderful ,
    I'm back watching this a year later, even better the second time around,
    Ernie was 69 when this was made,he went on to live longer than the Queen ,a ripe age of 99 I suppose he was king of his own way of life🌈👌

  • @gatsby4985
    @gatsby4985 4 роки тому +48

    Felt privileged to watch this film, a fascinating insight into a magical era and Ernie pulled us into that part of time that has now gone.

    • @manbunnmcfanypakjustacoolg4965
      @manbunnmcfanypakjustacoolg4965 4 роки тому +6

      I'm glad someone had the forthoug to document it before it was gone. It makes me sad to think how life could be compared how we've made it.

  • @catastrophecats7877
    @catastrophecats7877 5 років тому +115

    Thank you for uploading this 😃. Ernie was my Great Grandad!

    • @HuntViewEire
      @HuntViewEire 4 роки тому +12

      What a man he was , lived a live we can only dream about

    • @bdh3949
      @bdh3949 4 роки тому +14

      You are very lucky. Make sure you can pass this video on to your grandchildren.

    • @donnafalconer7293
      @donnafalconer7293 4 роки тому +8

      Lovely wish it was like that now, streams and rivers today are choked to death with weed, nobody gives a damn in this day and age. Bring the fen man back I say 🙂

    • @MrZippy101
      @MrZippy101 4 роки тому +4

      Hello Catastrophe Cats 😺, Thank you for introducing yourself and your connection to this remarkable man and his way of life. What a beautiful documentary. As with a lot of vintage programes I like to try and guess the age and birth of certain characters....With the healthy lifestyle of Ernie's I'm guessing he may have been older than he looks at the time of filming in 1975....could he have perhaps been around 65 - 70 yrs old when this film was made? That would have put him at a similar age/generation as my grandad, who was born in 1905.....I am 46, born 1973 (he was 15 yrs senior to my grandmother). The old brain cogs were whirring then, as you said Ernie was your great grandad! I was just wondering what age you are? (as I find the different generation ages quite fascinating...). Regards Jane p.s. I really enjoyed Elwyn and Django's antics. I too am a cat lover, we have three 😻

    • @shitehawk1969
      @shitehawk1969 4 роки тому +3

      Show a 18 year old this its another world.. What a fantastic way it was then sadly never to return and at what cost.

  • @tucobow5580
    @tucobow5580 3 роки тому +27

    Thank you so much for posting this, after a tough day it really helped, such a beautiful film and reminder what life is all about.

    • @vincehilare3586
      @vincehilare3586 2 роки тому

      godbless you . Buddhist Teachings also a great way to remind ourselves what life is really about. Ajahn Brahm and Thich Nhat Hanh two great teachers of Buddism. It will change your life.

  • @6brman10
    @6brman10 2 роки тому +19

    I just found this on a wet Sunday morning. It let me escape for a while from the grim reality of 2021. I'm no fan of water generally, but this is fascinating. I'm now retired on the edge of the Somerset levels, but up until two and a half years ago lived in a farm cottage in South Oxfordshire. I spent all my spare time with farmers and keepers, did a lot of deer and vermin control with a rifle. When we went there, you could hear lapwings most of the time. Not now. Buzzards, Red Kites, fox, badger, all the usual predators. Anything that nested on the ground had no chance, despite my best efforts. And the likes of Packham want to introduce more.

    • @robbiebanks9182
      @robbiebanks9182 Рік тому

      Peckham hasn.t clue bout wildlife or countryside

  • @scotthowieson1191
    @scotthowieson1191 Рік тому +5

    He lived for another 30 years passing away aged 99 in 2005

  • @Meibeon
    @Meibeon 4 роки тому +71

    As someone who grew up with this sort of chap as mentors I cried watching this , thank you for uploading it.

    • @robbiebanks9182
      @robbiebanks9182 Рік тому +2

      I know exactly how u feel .Though i.m a angler .can.t help but think. The best of countryside pursuits are long gone .many of these reminisces bring a tear to my eye .member watchin programme of old wexford punt gunner .cant remember exact figure but think he downed bout 180 golden plover in one shot

  • @edwardbarr1533
    @edwardbarr1533 4 роки тому +14

    Why can’t they make programmes like this anymore.Anglia made some excellent television as did all the ITV companies.Now we have an ITV that just appeals to the lowest common denominator.
    Thankyou Wildfowler

    • @paulbillingham4594
      @paulbillingham4594 4 роки тому +9

      I agree entirely with this comment. It's all fake tans and false eyelashes on ITV now. And that's just the blokes

    • @annabizaro-doo-dah
      @annabizaro-doo-dah 2 роки тому +1

      @@paulbillingham4594 😜👏👏

    • @blackmarbles1047
      @blackmarbles1047 2 роки тому +3

      Totally agree Edward ,today's TV I find utterly depressing & peurile .

  • @cc-ic7rj
    @cc-ic7rj 4 роки тому +17

    Never mind the Gym these guys were as fit as a Flea... that was proper work Wow at there age as well !!!

  • @timwingham8952
    @timwingham8952 4 роки тому +24

    I've lived in SW Middlesex most of my life, born and bred apart from time in the RAF. But 10 years ago I went to Sutton Gault on the New Bedford River, and fell in love with it. Most people don't get it. They find the Fens boring, but I love the area. It has a unique timeless feel of huge sunsets and sunrises, and clean air. One day I'll move there. One day....

    • @annabizaro-doo-dah
      @annabizaro-doo-dah 2 роки тому +3

      I was born there. It breaks my heart I ever left. I found the people too conservative, didn't like outsiders or if you were different. But they were kind. Now I'm approaching 54 with my own children, stuck in London. I've let them down badly :(

    • @Billo99999
      @Billo99999 2 роки тому +2

      @@annabizaro-doo-dah You should not feel like you have let them down. At the time you did what you felt was right and followed your instinct. Life is a journey and we have to choose which paths to take, you chose to move away no doubt for good reasons.

    • @carlsherwin5557
      @carlsherwin5557 Рік тому +1

      I'm a fenman, don't forget your wellies😁

  • @simonattwood4540
    @simonattwood4540 4 роки тому +25

    What a cracking piece of film totally engrossed in it superb !!!

  • @rlrphotography-uk
    @rlrphotography-uk 4 роки тому +9

    Cant believe this was on the net.brilliant ,the wife had ernie's Violin given to her as a present to see it on here was amazing.

    • @gefd1983
      @gefd1983  3 роки тому +1

      I hope it's been tuned since then!

  • @pauldurkee4764
    @pauldurkee4764 4 роки тому +22

    This documentery is a joy to watch.
    When ernie goes to the pub, you notice he leaves his bicycle outside without locking it, britain when it was a more civilised place.

  • @stuartroyle1402
    @stuartroyle1402 3 роки тому +3

    £100 a week before the second world war started!!,,,,think about it!!,the average wage was about £1 17,n sixpence in 1938!,,so in perhaps a four week season they earned around £400 without including the other 48 weeks of the year eel harvesting etc,,,not too shabby for those days..clever men.

  • @richardn2129
    @richardn2129 4 роки тому +17

    Time lost forever. Beautiful and sad.

    • @richardjbarlow
      @richardjbarlow 4 роки тому +1

      Evidently it's gone but not forgotten

  • @paddymularkey
    @paddymularkey 4 роки тому +35

    Life everywhere and no RSPB in sight

    • @annabizaro-doo-dah
      @annabizaro-doo-dah 2 роки тому

      Well, strictly speaking they've always been down the way in Sandy☺️

  • @suspendeddisbelief401
    @suspendeddisbelief401 2 роки тому +8

    A wonderful programme & snapshot of a time long gone. Absolutely loved it & the way it captured this man's life. Wish there were more like it.

  • @seatroutyt
    @seatroutyt 4 роки тому +16

    Oh what have we lost? something so true, genuine and beautiful. A hard time but a time of perfect harmony for man and nature never to be seen again.What a terrible loss. Thank you for sharing this wonderful glimpse into a lost era.

    • @Liofa73
      @Liofa73 4 роки тому

      Nick Rae -- It's interesting as a piece of history, but the world has changed and you're not seriously telling me that you'd prefer to live this way over your current situation.

    • @britbyname3620
      @britbyname3620 3 роки тому +3

      @@Liofa73 obviously , he is ! And i agree

    • @spencersanderson1894
      @spencersanderson1894 2 роки тому +1

      @@britbyname3620 I agree, would much rather live this simpler life!

  • @XIXjlo
    @XIXjlo 2 роки тому +5

    7.40 "All this knowledge that Ernie holds, is either picked up from personal experience or else he's had it handed onto him as part of a tradition from the fowlers and fisherman before him and like the horseman's magic on the farm, it will die with its owners, for none of it is written down". Makes me sad thinking about that. What a simple life they lived.

  • @sharpshooter4571
    @sharpshooter4571 4 роки тому +16

    Fantastic film. What a grand fella Ernie was, never get knowledge and charactors like him again.

  • @MrMjp58
    @MrMjp58 4 роки тому +8

    Whenever I see 1975 next to any video, I have to watch it.
    For me, everything culturally, changed forever from '76 [I was only 17/18 at the time].

    • @Lytton333
      @Lytton333 2 роки тому +3

      I agree.. it did seem to all turn after that hot summer of 76 scorched England's sward. Punk rock arrived, and in its wake came all the hell of social engineering. In a way it was like a swansong for the end of a story.

    • @MrMjp58
      @MrMjp58 2 роки тому +3

      @@Lytton333 You summed it up beautifully. The culture of the whole country started it's long change to where we are now. I've been in mourning for 46 years.

  • @ricoesnell1176
    @ricoesnell1176 4 роки тому +16

    Wonderful. Lovely to hear such a strong regional accent as well. I bet there’s not many who still talk like this on the Fens.

    • @bushratbeachbum
      @bushratbeachbum 2 роки тому +3

      No, the accent is still very common around Suffolk and Norfolk, though im from there, i occasionally come across folk i find hard to understand. It's a delightful accent and language used is extremely interesting

    • @wor53lg50
      @wor53lg50 2 роки тому +2

      And villiages in northants they still have it..like rung un (wrong one) git the dug ewt, as in( get the dog out) , kent(can not) shent,(Shall not) enna gunna... ( not going to)..

  • @burniemaurins2382
    @burniemaurins2382 5 років тому +16

    Superb, I used to love fishing out in the fens in the 1960's

  • @portcullis5622
    @portcullis5622 4 роки тому +18

    Thanks for the upload of a lovely, evocative film. I watched 'Tom's River' last night (also on UA-cam); about a riverkeeper looking back (in the late 1980s) on nearly thirty years looking after a stretch of the Hampshire Avon. Apart from the wildlife and the insights into their working lives, what I particularly enjoyed was the fact that, in both films, the men were doing much of the narration themselves. This gives authenticity, as it comes from the heart and soul. They really don't make natural history films like that anymore. Now, everything is scripted and narrated, either by a professional voice-over actor, or (much worse, and alas more common) a 'celebrity' is brought in as a hired hand to read the script. It is as though the television companies think that nobody will be interested unless there is a known celebrity involved. Modern natural history television works on the assumption that viewers are ignorant or naive (what I would call a '1970s Blue Peter' style) and the result is that the audience can feel patronised or insulted. I know that I often do.

    • @rahawa774
      @rahawa774 2 роки тому

      Completely agree - the modern style is 'ram it down your throat'

  • @davidstorton910
    @davidstorton910 4 роки тому +13

    I REALLY enjoyed watching that mate ... Thanks

  • @ashleylister4271
    @ashleylister4271 4 роки тому +9

    James Smart was my Gt Grandfather and my Gt Uncle Hargie, James' son, was a great friend of Ernie James...

  • @MMGLK
    @MMGLK 6 років тому +21

    Ernie and the film move to a different rhythm. Keep watching for five minutes or so and you become a part of the film.

    • @timoneill4079
      @timoneill4079 5 років тому +4

      Greetings from Ireland.thank you for this nice film

    • @catastrophecats7877
      @catastrophecats7877 5 років тому +4

      Yes, I definatly agree. I have been to Welney before because my family lived there for century... Ernie was my Great Grandad. I was really surprised when I saw this.

  • @ESmith-ik8vu
    @ESmith-ik8vu 2 роки тому +8

    Not only a splendid documentary of an extinct way of life but television of a rare quality. Thank you.

  • @holydiver73
    @holydiver73 3 роки тому +13

    What a wonderful programme. It saddens me how our country has changed and not for the better. For those of us of a certain age, we all knew an Ernie James and we lament that they’ve all gone now and taken that knowledge and those skills and memories with them.
    A simpler time, a happier time. Mention the word globalist to these people and they would genuinely enquire ‘what are they?’
    They were the last generation of great Englishmen. They were not politicians, war heroes, movie stars or philanthropists. They were people at one with nature and knew what was best for the countryside. They were happy. No one seems to be happy anymore. I hope we find our feet again soon.

  • @GhostBoxmedium
    @GhostBoxmedium 4 роки тому +16

    Amazing heart warming documentary of a bygone time

  • @660einzylinder
    @660einzylinder 2 роки тому +5

    I spent ten years shepherding cattle on the washes, it was a privilege to go to work in such an otherworldly place. The natural silence of a summer morning at 4.30am, if only it could be bottled! Sunrises and sunsets beyond imagination. You might as well have been a thousand miles from human habitation.

    • @gefd1983
      @gefd1983  2 роки тому +1

      Glad you enjoyed the video and interesting to hear your experiences on the washes.

  • @petebony4664
    @petebony4664 4 роки тому +6

    What a wonderful video to watch, a real pleasure. It seems such a shame that we are loosing all the people like those featured in the video just as we are starting to loose all of the field and country crafts that they were so "educated in". Oh to be back in "the good old days" when most of us knew how to live with what nature offered us. Let's face it, how many local butchers do you see nowadays that have (For instance) fresh wild rabbits hanging, hares or pheasants hanging in their windows, not many I'll bet compared to say 50 years ago!

  • @piatpotatopeon8305
    @piatpotatopeon8305 4 роки тому +7

    Wow, I enjoyed this film, but hearing Ernie James's outlook on it all at the end really puts a cap this whole experience!

  • @Rameman33
    @Rameman33 4 роки тому +17

    Thank you for this utter gem of a film. Ah,can we not go back to those times.

    • @patchthesinclair5896
      @patchthesinclair5896 2 роки тому +1

      We may have to ( blessed are the meak?)

    • @Rameman33
      @Rameman33 2 роки тому

      @@patchthesinclair5896 Indeed. Not too far short of the folk I was brought up around as a nipper. I'd go back to that way of living in a heart beat. Like you say, we may have too. Personal perspective I guess.

    • @patchthesinclair5896
      @patchthesinclair5896 2 роки тому +1

      @@Rameman33 ten different jobs according to the season of the year!
      That is living by the moon seasons and not as a servant of the sun dial.
      I have lived largely by seasons and have been the baby boy of the last generation to have worked with a horse for transport, to have memory of the days before a strand of plastic on every beach. It's sad what we have done in the name of progress.
      Tell any young person any thing about things that will be lost after us. Any young person that wants to listen.
      It could save us from following the dinosaurs.

  • @samhunt9380
    @samhunt9380 2 роки тому +7

    Just found this wonderful documentary. Totally fascinating. Ernie James and his friends were such colourful characters. Thank you for sharing.

  • @PenzancePete
    @PenzancePete 5 років тому +11

    Wonderful listening to that Norfolk accent.

  • @paulstoker8346
    @paulstoker8346 4 роки тому +9

    What a lovely little reminder of how some people lived back then.Real experts!

  • @hughtuck5147
    @hughtuck5147 4 роки тому +8

    Love those unique, hand-made, hand-tools the gentleman uses, to make the eel traps.

  • @philyaboots1
    @philyaboots1 4 роки тому +5

    Superb...Thank you. and I'm happy to report that the pub in the film is still open for business.

  • @stuartroyle1402
    @stuartroyle1402 3 роки тому +3

    this is a wonderful film about wonderful people who lived and breathed the fen lifestyle,,,the only thing i find hard to grasp is the "conversation" with someone four miles away!,,my point being,how ,back then ,would they know if someone was opening a conversation.!!

  • @timhoward5863
    @timhoward5863 Рік тому +2

    This is what we have lost.

  • @mathewgreen4099
    @mathewgreen4099 4 роки тому +7

    A fascinating insight into what life used to be like, many thanks for posting.

  • @andyskelton7223
    @andyskelton7223 3 роки тому +6

    Thanks for this, how sad we didn’t preserve more of the old ways.

  • @chemicalqueen5460
    @chemicalqueen5460 4 роки тому +9

    How fascinating, what an insight into his life and how he used the river!

  • @royeastman5166
    @royeastman5166 5 років тому +27

    I never seen anybody kill a dog with fiddle playing but ernie managed it.

  • @thedialectarchive5379
    @thedialectarchive5379 2 роки тому +3

    5:28 19:02 Interesting. His accent has some traces of rhoticity.
    28:54 Their dialects become stronger when they talk to each other

  • @robertmeadows895
    @robertmeadows895 4 роки тому +5

    I'm so pleased I found this ! I stayed in Welney early 1970 s Old Bedford ,New Bedford Rivers ! There was a store that sold 'everything' ,even a mantle for my Tilly ! Another lovey pub was 'Three Tuns' close to bridge !!!

  • @charlieburns4272
    @charlieburns4272 6 місяців тому +2

    It's a way of life that has gone by for a while but I have no doubt it will return though maybe not for hundreds of years or maybe even sooner. But nature tends towards beauty in all things and nature will have it's way. The wheel turns. Learn some good crafts because " it's important to do what You want to do and live how you want to do". Thanks for sharing this film

  • @bjornsvalling1066
    @bjornsvalling1066 3 роки тому +3

    What a delighful film!
    What efforts are made to preserve this way of life? Probably less than the preservation of lapwings...

  • @mrdynamic7887
    @mrdynamic7887 7 місяців тому +3

    You must feel very privileged to have a grandfather like this what a man they dont make them like this anymore really enjoyed it ❤

  • @backpackingireland8624
    @backpackingireland8624 Рік тому +3

    Amazing glimpse into a forgotten story! Imagine looking at this in 2022 using a handheld device. Everything men like Ernie was meticulous thought out and past along. Device , location, time, bait ! All experienced through generations. Sadly the world of today is the poorer . More traditional ways going forever 🇮🇪☘️

  • @neilpearson2921
    @neilpearson2921 4 роки тому +5

    We’ve got everything err but money, cracking!

  • @lewissmith5924
    @lewissmith5924 3 роки тому +4

    Wildfowler, thank you for sharing this.

  • @alanwann9318
    @alanwann9318 2 роки тому +4

    Boy, that's a documentary. So calming and reflective got any more?

  • @adrianrosenlund-hudson8789
    @adrianrosenlund-hudson8789 2 роки тому +2

    All familiar territory. I lived in Ely for years, and delivered and collected post in Welney before that. Lovely to see the beautiful Fens

    • @gefd1983
      @gefd1983  2 роки тому

      Glad you enjoyed it Adrian.👍

  • @johnk1639
    @johnk1639 4 роки тому +3

    This was made the year I was born. Sadly in general it’s all been downhill from there. I lived in rural community, so at least I had a little taste of this kind of life in my younger years before everything went to hell, which in a way makes it even sadder that I knew those days that are now lost forevermore.

  • @nacholibre1962
    @nacholibre1962 4 роки тому +6

    I think that accent has gone now, too. A shame how things have changed.

  • @thornwarbler
    @thornwarbler 5 років тому +7

    What an absolute gem....... thanks for this

  • @carpypete
    @carpypete Рік тому +3

    Great little bit of history that. We'll worth watching.

    • @gefd1983
      @gefd1983  Рік тому

      Many thanks, glad you enjoyed it.

  • @7pinky791
    @7pinky791 2 роки тому +1

    Sadly our Water authorities are privatised and 70+% are owned by foreign individuals and foreign companies. The eels are disappearing, rivers are silting up, and water level are at all time low. Water quality are poor and we are sitting ducks.

  • @philotown
    @philotown 4 роки тому +4

    What a pleasure that was to watch and narrated by Alan Dobie. I`d recognise his voice anywhere. Thank you for uploading it.

  • @Mex1c070
    @Mex1c070 12 днів тому +1

    Brilliant film. Today, people would blame 'global warming' on the floods in the washes.

  • @sammanfield8589
    @sammanfield8589 Рік тому +4

    Quite simply, that film is a masterpiece. Thank you.

    • @gefd1983
      @gefd1983  Рік тому +1

      Thanks, great to hear you enjoyed it.

  • @75PFG
    @75PFG 4 роки тому +3

    I have been fascinated by the Norfolk/Fenland way of life for a long time. A lot of it not dissimilar to my youth as my father was a Wildfowler/eel fisherman on similar washes. I seen this film before and although I'm a long way from Norfolk I had a pilgrimage to that special place and with the hospitality of a very kind Norfolk man,I spent the best part of a week doing and seeing amazing things that meant so much to me.Ernie James is a legend as is men such as Phil Gray who is of similar ilk! Thanks for the upload.

  • @pcmjpcmj6854
    @pcmjpcmj6854 4 роки тому +4

    We will never see those times again...thanks for preserving those memories.

  • @AndyJarman
    @AndyJarman Рік тому +1

    I was holidaying in the Norfolk Broads in 1975 as a young teenager. My brother and I used to stalk the punt gunners in our yellow Canadian canoe. What a bloody stupid thing to do! They could have blown us to pieces.

  • @gavinedinburgh
    @gavinedinburgh 2 роки тому +1

    They don't make documentaries like this any more. Modern nature programmes are dumbed down and anthropomorphised. And, tragically, the world depicted in the fens no longer exists.

  • @ludo9234
    @ludo9234 4 роки тому +4

    Bought back my memories whence I was young lad.

  • @ianb9508
    @ianb9508 4 роки тому +4

    What a wonderful calming and heart warming story. I was 4yrs old when this was made. Brings back so many memories of my childhood. ☺️

  • @barryroach1980
    @barryroach1980 4 роки тому +4

    A lovely well put together 4 season life diary of a man whose skills are slowly fading into some lines in history books. Thanks for sharing this little escape into the simple but meaningful existence.

  • @RogersRamblings
    @RogersRamblings 2 роки тому +3

    Brilliant production. Respect and thanks to Grandad Wildfowler and the people like Ernie James.

  • @jasonjones6463
    @jasonjones6463 Рік тому +3

    What a beautiful chap, and a great film.

  • @Ade4fish
    @Ade4fish 4 роки тому +6

    What a great treat. Thanks Wildfowler

  • @riversidewithme
    @riversidewithme 2 роки тому +3

    Thank you for sharing this film, what a fantastic watch! Your grandfather clearly did a great job producing/directing it, I'm sure you are very proud. Life seemed so much more pleasant back then and I often think I would have been better suited to those times. Cheers 👍👍

    • @gefd1983
      @gefd1983  2 роки тому +1

      Thanks for the kind comment, glad you enjoyed it!

  • @anthonymcnamara4002
    @anthonymcnamara4002 4 роки тому +4

    Fantastic! Thank you so much for sharing this, it's marvellous!

    • @gefd1983
      @gefd1983  4 роки тому

      Thanks, glad you enjoyed it Anthony!

  • @marymcandrew7667
    @marymcandrew7667 4 роки тому +2

    Now I know exactly where J.R.R. Tolkein got his idea for how Gollum used a boat in his deep lake under the mountain! He uses his hands and lies flat in his little boat so he's silent, just as Ernie did in this movie, how interesting!

  • @jesterschameleon1862
    @jesterschameleon1862 4 роки тому +5

    Marvellous film, so enjoyable.

  • @traktorworks3200
    @traktorworks3200 4 роки тому +3

    we humans move on. but have we really moved on. im sure mother nature thinks not....

  • @FF-so3su
    @FF-so3su 2 роки тому +1

    Do you remember England? Was a wonderful place, gone now😢

  • @andygreen2775
    @andygreen2775 4 роки тому +2

    shirts jackets and whitecoats, love it.
    A man should always be dressed, but these boys really rule !!

  • @Daniel-S1
    @Daniel-S1 2 роки тому +2

    I thought Ernie's accent sounded like someone from March. Checking a map I found Welney is very near to March!

    • @annabizaro-doo-dah
      @annabizaro-doo-dah 2 роки тому +1

      I had an Aunt from March, Auntie Elsie. She spoke just like this! I could barely understand her sometimes☺️