Smokehouse

Mention Craster to most people and they immediately think of . . . kippers. The Smokehouse is very well known and visitors often come just to buy kippers and other smoked fish.

The house we stay in is only a couple of minutes walk from the Smokehouse and we are often there buying fish and cheese and other things. Gordon does like kippers, but I prefer the smoked salmon. We both enjoy the other fish they supply and the Northumberland cheeses they stock.

Smoking fish has been a long held tradition in Craster. At the turn of the century it was the main industry. Some twenty boats set out from the harbour and supplied herring for four kipper yards in the village. Craster, and Seahouses further up the coast, were once the kipper capitals of England, smoking over 25,000 fish a day. The fish were gutted by Scottish housewives who lived in ramshackle buildings called 'kip houses', which were only fit for sleeping in - hence the saying 'having a kip'.

Today only one smokehouse remains, but the fish are still smoked in the traditional way over fires of oak sawdust. We always know as soon as we set out along the road whether they are smoking or not!