Riverside BLessiNG

On 1 February, the salmon fishing season on the River Tweed, in the Scottish Borders, begins. To mark the occasion, fishermen in the village of Norham, on the English bank of the river, attend a blessing ceremony. Once a long-standing tradition of the area’s net fishing industry, it ceased in 1987 when the Norham fishery closed. Reintroduced in 2012 at the request of a local fisherman, the ceremony is led by the Reverend Rob Kelsey at a former net fishing site, Pedwell Landing. It includes an updated version of the Pedwell Prayer, a traditional blessing on the fishery, crews, nets and catch. Today it reflects the replacement of nets with lines, and includes the river, local ecology and human activity.