Fish 'n Craft

• Victor Harbour Times (SA : 1932 - 1986) 

• Wed 28 Feb 1979

• By Michele Parsons

It is uncommon to find an art gallery that sells fish. Or a fish shop displaying paintings and crafts.

But this art and fish combination has been working extremely well for the Rumbelow family since they introduced it.

Situated on Franklin Parade, overlooking the sea, this art gallery cum fish shop is a new twist in the 130-year sea-faring history of the Rumbelows. The venture started when Mrs. Gwen Rumbelow and her son Malin, decided to rebuild their fish processing and selling area to cope with the growing demand for fish caught by Malin Rumbelow senior.

A very large shop area was built and it was then that Mrs. Rumbelow decided to pursue her love of art and establish a gallery. A tray-load of bright red crayfish is not an unusual sight in the Rumbelows' art gallery. 

'It's the funniest combination you could ever think of,' said Gwen Rumbelow.

'I had no idea that it would work so well. 'It has grown substantially in the past 12 months. Some people come into the gallery to buy a painting and leave with a crayfish and others come to buy fish and leave with a piece of pottery,' she said.

And a walk through the gallery shows a broad range of arts and crafts - enough to distract the most single-minded fish buyer.

'I think about 99 p.c. of what we have here would be made locally,' Gwen Rumbelow said.

Local potters, such as 'Flip' Hosking, Roly Ben nett and Joan Dyer, have a good cross-section of their work on display; anything from a candle holder to a piggy bank or fruit bowl.

Artists showing their work in the gallery include well-known South Coast names such as Peter Matthews, Alfred Engel, Maureen Woods, Tom Cross, Barbara Bartel and Prescott Sinclair.

Many local sea and landscapes are represented as well as pastels of Aborigine tribesmen, flower studies and several limited edition prints of Ainslie Roberts paintings.

Other crafts in the gallery range from macrame, copper enameling and leatherwork to hand made toys, candles and shell art. Malen junior makes most of the macrame with some pieces appearing both complicated and adventurous.

'With his background of sailing and sailors' knots he learnt macrame very quickly and now makes his own 'patterns and designs,' said Mrs.Rumbelow.

However, the family's talents do not stop there. Mrs. Rumbelow loves to paint and has several pieces of work in the gallery. As well as this she has a compact greenhouse in which she grows and propagates indoor plants to sell.

These include 25 varieties of ferns and a healthy looking batch of 120 African violets.

In all the Rumbelows are pleased with their twin venture. The combination of two of the South Coasts most well-known products - fish and crafts has proved an unlikely but winning duo.

The name 'Rumbelow' in Victor means 'fish'

• Victor Harbour Times (SA : 1932 - 1986) 

• Fri 5 Oct 1984 

Ask anyone in Victor Harbor to spell Rumbelow, and it's a wonder they dont say 'F-I-S-H'.

The Rumbelow family has been involved in fishing since coming to the area in the 1800's as one of the first pioneers of the district.

Malen Rumbelow  (Ween), now 79 years old, spent over 60 years as a fisherman, following the path of his father and grandfather before him, before finally becoming a landlubber within the last couple of years. And his wife Gwen has built up a fresh fish shop business at Encounter Bay to one of the best crayfish outlets in South Australia today. 

Rumbelow's Fish Shop moved into top gear on Monday for the opening of the crayfish season in the South East.

The operation, involving huge water tanks for keeping live crays, a massive refrigeration and filtering system, and a well organised kitchen for cooking, is probably the biggest in the State.

'It has come a long way from those first days when live crays were stored in crates offshore and when we cooked the crays in big copper pots,' said Gwen Rumbelow, who still looks after the shop and gallery on Franklin Parade.

35 years ago Gwen bought the shop which is now Yilki Store, and began selling a variety of goods. Her son Malen Rumbelow 5th now runs the business  alongside his wife Merrie.

'And to sell fish was inevitable,' said Gwen.

Gwen, who spent her childhood in the Riverland, met the Rumbelow family during regular holidays to Victor Harbor. At that time she was attending business college in Adelaide.

'And I saw that Rumbelow boy hanging about,' she laughed.

Gwen and Malin were married in 1928. The couple settled at Encounter Bay and Gwen learned about the Rumbelow family history.

'I believe the Rumbelows were listed on the ship's log as being farmers,' she explained 'but as far as I can find out, they were fishermen in England and they certainly took up fishing when they came here.'

Gwen has a photograph of Malen's father on his three-masted sailing ship off the Bluff.

'It was taken for granted that Malen would take up fishing when he left school at 14,' said Gwen.

'But fishing was completely different in those days.'

Malen would rise at about 4am the same as all the other fishermen in the area, get in his boat and go to his nets at the Bluff.

'During the mullet season, they would sit on the Bluff watching for the fish coming in. But you dont get them coming in today in their hundreds as you did then,' Gwen pointed out.

'I personally feel the drop is something to do with interfering with the river flows at the barrages.'

Gwen recalls that during the Depression years, a Mr Davis used to come to the Bluff on pushbike and buy the fish to take into Victor Harbor. Gwen began to use her business skills when she took on the general store.

'It was during the war years, and a lot of Air Force boys were staying at Mount Breckan,' said Gwen.

'Victor Harbor was thriving, and I thought there was a possibility the shop would be a success.'

Gwen sold cool drinks, sweets, groceries and fish. There was no ice cream sold in those days, before refrigeration.

'I was determined if I was going to sell fish, I would do it properly,' said Gwen.

'So I got hold of some ice boxes instead of the drip safes which had been used up to then.

Gwen later sold the store and bought the little cottage next door, where Rumbelows Fish Shop and Gallery now stands.

'I brought the fish business over here,' said Gwen, 'using the verandah on the front.'

"In those days, we used to keep the crayfish in crates anchored in the pools offshore.

"During the day, I would go down to the boat and go out to the crates to get crays to sell.

'Often the customers would come with me.'

Gwen commented "Imagine trying to do that today."

When Gwen started cooking crays, she used a big copper pot.

'I could see how popular the cooked crays were, especially with the Air Force boys and their wives,' said Gwen, once again using her astute business mind. This week there are no copper pots.

'We will go to the South East in refrigeration vans to collect crays," said Gwen.

'That is a great advancement to the old days.

'Malen's father used to store the fish in wet seaweed.

"And Malen used to store the fish in layers of ice.

"Now the refrigerated vans are here.'

The crayfish season begins in the Victor Harbor area in November. 

Rumbelows supplies many local hotels, and cooked crays go to Adelaide, where the Rumbelow's have opened another shop. This is a move taken by Gwen's son Malen, who joined the family business about six years ago, after 21 year in banking. He has also bought back the Yilki Store next door. 

Malen senior was never interested in the business aspect .

'He was a fisherman all his life,' said Gwen.

'Now he has sold his nets, his boat and his fishing licence.'

She commented : 'He and his brother Lionel used to supply me with some beautiful fish."

And Gwen still serves in the shop where she has installed a small gallery of the work of her 'painting cobbers'.