Carmarthen - The Coracle Man - art postcard Lodwick - 1970s

Postcard
• Picture / Image:  The Coracle Man, Carmarthen - artist Edith M. Lodwick
• Publisher:  V G Lodwick & Sons, Carmarthen
• Postally used:  yes
• Stamp:  6&half p. turquoise Machin
• Postmark(s):  Carmarthen 30 July 1976 postcode slogan
• Sent to:  Thorpe St Andrew, Norwich
• Notes / condition: 

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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The coracle is a small, lightweight boat of the sort traditionally used in Wales but also in parts of Western and South Western England, Ireland (particularly the River Boyne),^[1] and Scotland (particularly the River Spey); the word is also used of similar boats found in India, Vietnam, Iraq and Tibet.^[2] The word ""coracle"" comes from the Welsh cwrwgl, cognate with Irish and Scottish Gaelic currach, and is recorded in English as early as the sixteenth century. Other historical English spellings include corougle, corracle, curricle and coricle.

Oval in shape and very similar to half a walnut shell, the structure is made of a framework of split and interwoven willow rods, tied with willow bark. The outer layer was originally an animal skin such as horse or bullock hide (corium),^[3] with a thin layer of tar to make it fully water proof – today replaced by tarred calico or canvas, or simply fibreglass. The Vietnamese/Asian version of the coracle is made somewhat differently: using interwoven bamboo and waterproofed by using resin and coconut oil.^[4] The structure has a keel-less, flat bottom to evenly spread the weight of the boat and its load across the structure and to reduce the required depth of water — often to only a few inches, making it ideal for use on rivers.

Each coracle is unique in design, as it is tailored to the river conditions where it was built and intended to be used. In general there is one design per river, but this is not always the case. The Teifi coracle, for instance, is flat bottomed, as it is designed to negotiate shallow rapids, common on the river in the summer, while the Carmarthen coracle is rounder and deeper, because it is used in tidal waters on the Tywi, where there are no rapids. Teifi coracles are made from locally harvested wood — willow for the lats (body of the boat), hazel for the weave (Y bleth in Welsh — the bit round the top) — while Tywi coracles have been made from sawn ash for a long time. The working boats tend to be made from fibreglass these days. Teifi coracles use no nails, relying on the interweaving of the lats for structural coherence, whilst the Carmarthen ones use copper nails and no interweaving.

They are an effective fishing vessel because, when powered by a skilled man, they hardly disturb the water or the fish, and they can be easily manoeuvred with one arm, while the other arm tends to the net; two coracles to a net. The coracle is propelled by means of a broad-bladed paddle, which traditionally varies in design between different rivers. It is used in a sculling action, the blade describing a figure-of-eight pattern in the water. The paddle is used towards the front of the coracle, pulling the boat forward, with the paddler facing in the direction of travel.^[5]

Another important aspect to the Welsh Coracle is that it can be carried on his back by one man. 'Llwyth dyn ei gorwgl' — the load of a man is his coracle. (Welsh saying).

Carmarthen (pron.: /?k?r'm?rð?n/ kar-MAR-dh?n; Welsh: Caerfyrddin pronounced [k???r'v?rð?n]) is a community in, and the county town of, Carmarthenshire, Wales. It is sited on the River Towy 8 miles (13 km) north of its mouth at Carmarthen Bay.^[1] In 2001, the population was 14,648.^[2]

Carmarthen lays claim to being the oldest town in Wales but the two settlements of Old and New Carmarthen were only united into a single borough in 1546.^[3] Carmarthen was the most populous borough in Wales between the 16th and 18th centuries and was described by William Camden as ""the chief citie of the country"". However, population growth stagnated by the mid 19th century as more dynamic economic centres developed in the South Wales coalfield.^[3] Currently, Carmarthen is the location of the headquarters of Dyfed-Powys Police, the Carmarthen campus of the University of Wales, Trinity Saint David and the West Wales General Hospital.

type=printed postcards

theme=topographical: british

sub-theme=wales

county/ country=carmarthenshire

number of items=single

period=1945 - present

postage condition=posted