unique system of burning whole oak logs - a system which has been refined but hardly changed to this day.

In the mid 60s he decided to open a small restaurant for people to try these products and so the Butley Orford Oysterage began. In the 40 years since then it has involved successive generations of the Pinney family. The restaurant has moved to larger premises and a shop has been added which sells the full range of fresh and smoked fish. Many of the fish sold are caught with our own fishing boats. Daily landings include cod, bass, sole, skate, lobster and crabs, according to the season.

The smokehouses are still situated at Butley Creek next to the oyster beds. Trout, mackerel, cod roe, wild and farmed salmon, kippers and eels are among the products that are smoked every day, for the shop, restaurant and for our growing wholesale deliveries.

Butley Orford Oysterage began at the end of the second world war when Richard Pinney decided he had had enough of living in London and headed for the countryside. After an extensive search he found a derelict cottage near Butley Creek on the Suffolk coast and began looking for ways to make a living.

He then turned his attention to the river and set about restoring the derelict oyster beds in Butley Creek. Oysters had been cultivated here for centuries and had a fine reputation but the trade had died in the late 19th century. He started laying down oysters from Portugal, which grew and fattened very well.

At the same time, being a keen fisherman, he caught some large sea trout off Orford beach. Not knowing what to do with them, he began to experiment with smoking in a disused compartment at the end of his cottage. The results were so good that he decided to buy some salmon and the smoking business grew from there. He developed a