A SUPERBLY preserved former salmon stopnet boat has arrived at the Dean Heritage Centre at Soudley and is to form the centrepiece of a new exhibition featuring Severn salmon fishing.

The stopper, once fished on the tidal reaches of the Wye, is similar to the boats used in Wellhouse Bay on the Severn near the hamlet of Gatcombe.

Since being renovated it has been in storage at the Environment Agency's offices in Tewkesbury. Offered to the Heritage Centre, it will now become part of a new exhibition on traditional methods of fishing planned to open to the public later this year.

"The stopper is in super order and we are very pleased to become its guardians," said Neil Parkhouse, chairman of the trustees.

"Volunteers have already come forward to help build a boathouse. We are hoping to acquire another type of craft which was also used locally so we require quite a big one, measuring 10 by 12 metres. We are hoping for a sponsor to pay for or to provide the timber," he said.

Mr Parkhouse said stopnetting had now ceased on the Severn and Wye.

"It was once one of six ways of catching salmon, most of which have died out or are under threat.

"We need to preserve what we can while we have the chance. The exhibition will give visitors yet another insight into a way of life we took for granted but which is fast disappearing."