Do you remember when people used to catch salmon in the River Severn? Huge fish - you won’t see the like of them in the river now.

Christabelle Tymko’s family used to fish. Every year, from April to August, they tended their putchers - willow fishing baskets - while the river’s mud sucked at their wellingtons.

Christabelle’s memories were captured as a part of our Tales of the Vale Oral History project. Local volunteer Jacquie Rinaldi sat down with Christabelle and recorded her stories while they flipped though the family’s photo albums.

Now these precious photos and recordings have been brought together in this video. Produced by Julia Letts, who trained and mentored our oral history volunteers, this document takes you through the salmon fishing season. Listen to Christabelle’s vivid recollections of the hard but often enjoyable work it involved, all beautifully illustrated by her photos. True time travel.