The early bird

Photographer Chris Taylor is up before dawn to join Cromer fisherman and fishmonger Martin Newlands on his daily trip to catch crab and lobster off the Norfolk coast.

Fisherman Martin Newlands’ working day starts at 3am. It doesn’t end until 18 hours later, after he has closed up his Gangway Crab Shop, worked through the remaining orders and checked over his boat, Samara. Only then does he allow himself a few hours’ shut-eye, before starting all over again the following morning.

4am: Martin’s boat Samara, just before launching to sea.

“The life of a crab fisherman is hard,” says Chris Taylor, a Norfolk photographer, who is fascinated by the sea and has been an RNLI volunteer for a decade. “I have lots of friends who fish for lobster and crab, and I wanted to do a photo series which shows the enormous effort involved and also to celebrate Cromer’s seafaring heritage.” (For more on crab fishing in Cromer, see this previous post.)

5.05am: Martin begins to haul his first “shank” of pots.

So one early morning in July, Chris joined Martin on Samara to capture a typical trip. The result is a stunning photo diary that @GangwayCrabShop is running on Twitter, posting a picture each day for 40 days.

“It was a beautiful morning, with just a little bit of swell,” says Chris. “But Norfolk fishermen will go out in all weather.” There’s little option, when no trip means no catch and no income.

7:40am: Sorting the crabs as the pots are hauled aboard.

Indeed, Martin remembers some stickier expeditions. “I’ve had one or two close shaves,” he admits, notably during a storm back in the 1990s. “About 300 metres from the shore, the boat capsized on me, trapping me underneath. Luckily, there was enough of an air pocket to keep me going until I got washed to shore.”

7:50am: Freeing a twisted rope on a shank of pots.

Martin now sells his catch direct to customers through the Gangway Crab Shop, which he took over a year ago. Very much a part of the local scenery, this historic fishmonger has peddled fresh crab to locals from the top of Cromer’s Gangway for more than 80 years.

7:55am: All lobsters are measured. If they’re under-sized, they go back over the side.

When Martin gets back from his trip, he takes his morning haul to the shop, where the crab is boiled, dressed and sold. He shuts up at 6:30pm, does the accounts, prepares his bait for the next morning and takes it to Samara, before turning in around 9.30pm – quite a day.

Back on dry land: Now the boat needs to be hauled up the shore and the catch unloaded.

The Gangway Crab Shop: A Cromer institution, where Martin prepares and sells his catch.

Many thanks to Chris for agreeing to share his images: www.christaylorphoto.co.uk. To see more, follow @GangwayCrabShop. To see – or buy – Martin’s catch yourself, visit the Gangway Crab Shop, 1 The Gangway, Cromer, Norfolk NR27 9ET.