ABOVE: A small sample of the delicious seafood produced by the team at Cley Smokehouse (opposite), which was founded by artist Mike Rhodes over 40 years ago and is now run by local fisherman Glen Weston and his team
Enjoying a traditional taste of the sea at Cley From Norfolk bloaters and crabs to delicious chicken and duck, Cley Smokehouse offers local and visitors a range of distinct flavours thanks to the dedicated work of lifelong fisherman Glen Weston...
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ife in the Norfolk coastal village of Cley-next-the-Sea has always been about fishing. No surprise then to find Cley Smokehouse tucked away in a corner of the High Street. No surprise either to discover that Glen Weston, a fisherman all his life, owns these premises with their salty smell of the sea. Of course, the smokehouse – with its modern accoutrements of air conditioning, chiller cabinets, and cold counters – hasn’t always looked like this. In 1976, Mike Rhodes (an artist with a passion for fishing) started smoking herrings for a few of his friends and built his own small tin smoker in the back garden of his premises. He didn’t foresee that demand would force
expansion, and that was the beginning of Cley Smokehouse. Born into a north Norfolk fishing family going back three generations, Glen Weston regularly delivered crabs and lobsters to the smokehouse and talks with a great feeling of nostalgia of those days. “My life was more or less predetermined,” he says. “I’ve always loved fishing and was going to sea almost before I went to school. I wanted to join the Royal Navy but I had to play a role in the family business.” Still enjoying life at sea, Glen was the skipper of his own offshore fishing boat operating out of Wells-next-theSea, bringing home crabs and lobsters before the birth of his first daughter brought things into focus. “Much as I loved being at sea,it’s not
acceptable with a family to support,” he says. “It’s too precarious.” However, Glen was about to discover there are only small windows of opportunity in life. “I was delivering crabs to the smokehouse, and found Mike Rhodes in an unhappy mood,” he remembers. “Out of nowhere I suggested he sell the business to me. It was all very spur of the moment – I hadn’t even talked it over with Andrea, my wife! I just knew in my heart it was the right decision, and we raised the money from savings, family members and the bank.” What followed was a steep learning curve of three months training alongside Mike. “I knew nothing about smoking, but was passionate about seafood,” he says. “I felt I didn’t really have much choice.
KLmagazine March 2020
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