Lamorna Ash

A captivating, lyrical and deeply discerning portrait of life in the Cornish town of Newlyn, the largest working fishing port in Britain, from a brilliant debut writer.

Life in a Cornish Fishing Town

Dark, Salt, Clear

Sarah Christine Gill

I find a horrifying kind of satisfaction in gutting. It is the most visceral experience. I make a gash with the knife in the shape of a thin smile and dig the knife deep inside. Being clumsy, it takes me several minutes to pull the glistening purple, pink and crimson guts out. They eventually come out in a single strand, like the magician's trick of bringing out a stream of coloured handkerchiefs from his sleeve in one flourish. The guts comprise intestines, the vesica piscis 'swim bladder', and a strawberry-yoghurt-coloured liver so soft it falls apart as soon as you touch it and has to be flicked out with the knife. 

I am especially fascinated by monks. They are the bulldogs of the sea: huge and globular, horribly ugly with rows of pointed teeth. When they come up in hauls, monks often have multiple partially chewed up fish dangling halfway out of their mouths. By the time they reach the fish room their bulbous heads have been hacked off with a machete-like knife and all that is left are their great meaty tails. 

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