How oysters disappeared from Emsworth

“Emsworth caused the collapse of the British oyster industry,”

said the gentleman at the bar at The Coal Exchange, watching me photograph our new IOU Cards this afternoon.

He was right.

In 1902, oysters from Emsworth poisoned dozens - killing three, including the Dean of Winchester - after sewage leaked into the harbour.

The story made national headlines. Overnight, an entire coastal economy vanished — not because people stopped liking oysters, but because they stopped trusting them.

It took over fifty years to rebuild that trust.

Even now, oysters still divide people.

A reminder that trust takes generations to build — and only a moment to lose. Today, our food supply chains are so tangled it’s hard to know who really made what — or where it came from.

Which is why buying from a farmer, grower or maker you know remains one of the most reassuring purchases there is.

If it were me, I’d buy from Richard Haward’s Oysters in Essex or Pinney’s of Orford in Suffolk — families who’ve earned their reputation tide by tide.