David Pepper sat down with Ports, Past and Present to share the origin of the old nickname for the people of Fishguard in the once properous trade in herrings before the disappearance of the vast schoals in the eighteenth century.

Fishguard harbour's natural properties made it a uniquely safe and reliant harbour through the centuries. Not only did the town support its own fishing industry, specialising in herring trade, but it also offered reliable anchorage to international…

It is thought that Fishguard was named from the Old Norse Fiskigarðr,a ‘fish catching enclosure’. What remains here today is very unlikely to date back that far but we know the style of low-walled hook-shaped trap is an ancient one. Remains of…