Maldon Little Ship Club

NEWSLETTER AUTUMN 2016

COMMODORE'S BITT COMMODORE'S BITT I am writing this having just spent an enjoyable day, along with Peter and Jan Collins at an RYA Conference at the Royal Hospital School, Holbrook, near Ipswich. A wonderful setting. The Royal Yachting Association has a somewhat 'stuffy' image, but it is a body that can represent 'yachties' at a National level, which can be important and can provide advice on legal matters and other boat related 'stuff' both to clubs and individuals. They are working very hard to make what they do more relevant to club members and it was a useful day. One topic mentioned was how to 'keep' new members, and how they are often the least satisfied with their club membership. New members, and how we can make them more welcome, is a subject we often discuss at Committee meetings. I will be sending out an invitation soon to newish members to visit the Club on the last Wednesday evening in November. So please put 30th November in your diary. It will be your opportunity to get to know some committee members and for you to let us know what you like, and don't like, about the Club. There will also be a weekend date arranged, for early next year, which may be more convenient for some of you. At the beginning of October we had some very happy visitors from the RCC Pilotage Foundation. There were nearly 50 authors of Pilot Books – serious yachtsmen, and they all seemed to think that our Clubhouse, the view and Maldon itself were wonderful! I found myself having a chat to Paul Heiney and showing him the pictures of the Buxey Ashes (cricket on the 'sands'). If you haven't been to the Club lately, then do come and enjoy the Bar, the river and the company. See you soon I hope. Best wishes Sue

Sue Woods

Commodore

Cruising Roundup

The second half of the summer has a few less events than the first half which allows time for the organised extended cruises to take place and boats to go their own way in the ‘summer’ break. A few planned events didn’t happen due to bad weather or lack of attendance but most did and below is a brief summary of the highlights: East Coast Cruise The ECC started on 25th July - immediately after the Buxey Ashes - and although initially planned to head south, ultimately headed north with Safir, Trumpeter, Quintade, Lyra, Renegade & Jellybean visiting their favourite ports and reaching as far as Woodbridge in the week. More details of this elsewhere in this newsletter. Mid-Week Over-nighter The first mid-week event back in July was abandoned due to bad weather, so the over-nighter in August was the only planned opportunity for a short mid-week outing on the river. Safir, Quintade, Suzanne and Barcarol were out on the water and after a pleasant sail the crews got together on Safir and later in The Green Man for dinner.

August Bank Holiday As usual the bank holiday weekend had every kind of weather and Saturday in particular was very windy. With no planned cruise as such, people did their own thing and quite by coincidence WideAwake & Testing Times both arrived in Chatham around the same time & enjoyed a visit to the fantastic Historic Dockyard there.

Safir, Renegade & Lyra in Woodbridge

Cruise to Suffolk Yacht Harbour with Tollesbury Cruising Club In addition to our annual cricket match with TCC on the Buxey Sands we coincided one of our cruise events so that both clubs ended up at the same place at the same time, so that we could enjoy more of a social gathering. And so on Saturday 1 October Scimitar, Quintade, Wideawake, Testing Times and Trumpeter made the trip to Suffolk Yacht Harbour and met with the crews of Piccolo and 9 TCC boats, who had held their annual pursuit race up the Wallet. A very busy social was enjoyed by all of the crews on-board Scimitar followed by a meal at the Haven Ports Yacht Club lightship. HPYC were very welcoming and provided a great meal and service which were enjoyed by all.

Clubhouse Rally & Pursuit Race With the Hythe Quay and Visitors pontoon back in service this year it was time to revive our Clubhouse Rally but even the offer of free beer couldn’t persuade more than four boats to come up to the Hythe on 15th October.

Safir & JellyBean battle for the lead in the Pursuit race Essex Melody leaving the Hythe

Essex Melody, JellyBean, Safir & Scimitar made the trip up to Maldon but as John & Di had other commitments just 3 boats started the pursuit race from Herring point. A steady breeze made for some enjoyable sailing and at the end of the 100 minute race Safir had overhauled JellyBean to take first place. Well earned refreshments were enjoyed on Safir before an evening meal in the Green Man. As it’s not possible to come by boat to the Christmas meal at the Old Ship at Heybridge, we’ve added a new sailing event on 10th/11th December. Depending on the weather and the wishes of those taking part, we’ll overnight at Osea/Pyfleet/Brightlingsea. It would be great to have as many boats taking part as possible so if your still in the water please come along. More details of this closer to the time. As we start to look towards next year it would be great to hear from any of you with suggestions for cruising events you’d like to see in the 2017 sailing programme. Suggestions for new destinations, events or combined events with other clubs are all welcome. Kev Knox Cruising Captain.

Alternative Cruising…..”Rambling with Lyra” and a lesson learned ! Cruising in a small boat along our un-crowded East Coast is surely one of the last freedoms we are privileged to experience in our populous world, for on several occasions this year we have appeared to be the only boat enjoying the broad expanse of the Blackwater or an uninterrupted view of the sunset in Pyefleet creek. However, in recent years we have included in our cruising inventory Ordnance Survey Explorer Maps and a good pair of hiking boots. These large-scale maps with their great detail and footpaths bring to life the countryside beyond the shoreline and during our East Coast cruise they were used almost as much as the chart. The prevailing wind direction sent the East Coast cruise north rather than south so we headed up to Walton Backwaters on the first day and picked up an old disused mooring In Landermere Creek around the back of Skippers Island. It is difficult to find a more peaceful spot, but as it was high spring tides we decided to circumnavigate Skippers Island at HW with the dinghy and outboard. Our plan was to go through the saltings, land in Kirby Creek to go for a walk, and then return to Lyra down Kirby Creek to complete the circuit! We used the OS map to try and find our way through the saltings, but it was certainly challenging as we came to frequent dead ends not helped by the sea level view from the dinghy making gaps in the saltings very hard to spot. Eventually after a few anxious moments of churning up mud as the tide peaked, we eventually reached the safe landing in Kirby Creek pondering our potential rescue had we really become stranded. Once ashore we took a short walk along the sea wall and were amazed at the huge expanse of water as we looked across Horsey Mere.

Early next morning we took the ebb down to Harwich then decided to punch the tide motoring up the Stour in hot and virtually windless conditions to Wrabness where we picked up a buoy. After leaving a note with our mobile number (in case the owner turned up) we went ashore and were amazed to find clean landing on shingle at the bottom of the spring tide. We carried the dinghy up the shore, estimating that we would be away for 3-4 hours, and after changing into our walking boots headed for Stour Wood one of the oldest ancient woodlands in the country and managed by Essex Wildlife Trust. On our return to Wrabness we took in the splendours of the unique Grayson Perry house of architectural fame and then ended up in the village community shop for a drink. Deciding to loop back along the beach we came to grief as the footpath we were following ended up closed due to a cliff fall, so we had to retrace our steps back the way we came arriving at the dinghy just as it was about to float. We had a late lunch and then set sail down the Stour to meet up with the remainder of the cruise who were in Shotley Marina. How the weather can change, for off Parkeston Quay the gentle sail downriver turned into a real blow from the SE causing us to surf into Shotley lock with a two foot following sea and needing full reverse to stop us hitting the far lock gate. Once berthed, we met up with the remainder of the MLSC crews and had an enjoyable meal together at the local pub. Next day saw us heading off for the Deben entrance and Woodbridge where those of us with shoal draught who arrived early at the Tide Mill Marina were requested to wait to almost high tide in order to allow the deep draft boats to berth first! Wooodbridge is always a great meeting point and we were pleased to catch up with Jack and Trevor who was very incapacitated from a recent knee operation. However we all managed to get to town to enjoy a Chinese meal before returning to our boats. The next day a unanimous decision was made to meet up for an afternoon tea at Sutton Hoo and Jack, Ben and Lyra’s crew walked the three miles each way noticing that Izambard was moored up at Wilford Bridge. Sue and Peter took Trevor in a taxi and an enjoyable afternoon was spent enjoying this superb National Trust property. The energy expended was rewarded with drinks on Lyra “once the Sun was over the yard arm” as Di would say.

However, this became a rather protracted affair as we waited and waited for the tide to rise sufficiently to allow Murray’s Renegade to pass over the sill as he had to leave that evening. Already a Dutch yacht had set his nerves jangling by making a loud crunch as she hit the sill and came to an abrupt halt to our cheers! However, at the prescribed 2.4 metres we cast Renegade off and gave another cheer as she gently bounced over the sill with Murray hastily rewriting the data for his boat’s draft!

With all the refills and jolliness of this delay we suddenly realised that we were in no physical or mental state to go into town for a meal so we all decided that a takeaway was the answer with free delivery to the marina! Di in her usual efficient manner went on the ipad and found a suitable Indian restaurant and we dictated a huge order for delivery, however they did not seem to know that Woodbridge had either a Tidemill or a Marina. No delivery would be made without a postcode! Back to the ipad we found the postcode so Jack and Ben went up to the Marina gate until it was delivered and a tasty Indian was enjoyed aboard Lyra. After Woodbridge as is often the case the cruise broke up and many boats went their own ways.

Lyra headed off to Orford making it easily on one tide but was very grateful for her powerful engine as we had to punch the strong ebb coming out of the Alde. We were given a good mooring at Orford and using the outboard to get ashore enjoyed walks to the castle and around Orford. The following morning we attempted to get to Snape but gave up at Iken amongst a confusion of withies and the turning tide.

Back at Orford we took the National Trust ferry to Orfordness where we had an incredible afternoon walking around, looking in the pagodas and other relics of the cold war laboratories. The information we gathered from the NT guides and the display boards left us stunned, as the scientific experiments which had taken place here really did influence the outcome of the two world wars and probably the history of world as we know it today. Also Di, once an ardent “ban the bomber” in her youth, had the opportunity to actually stand next to an atom bomb! A sad fact of the whole afternoon was the perilous fate we observed first hand of the once impressive Orfordness lighthouse. For thousands of years the Ness had been building up, but over the last few years it has been eroding fast as the shingle is being carried south and it will only be a year or two before the lighthouse disappears into the sea despite the desperate efforts of its trustees!

Lyra eventually headed south but entered the Deben once again to visit my brother Pete who keeps his barge at Martlesham Creek. This is a difficult place to get to but after an enjoyable stop over, walking around my old haunts at Waldringfield, we eventually arrived at Mikes Boatyard after negotiating the tortuous channel and moored up beside Pete for two days. The steep tree clad slopes of the creek are very attractive but made everything rather damp and gloomy giving the numerous neglected boats a covering of lichen. The wet weather did not help but we had some enjoyable walks through the woods to Martlesham Tesco and also a lovely walk along the Fynn valley which took us past some very exotic properties in the Bealings villages. Eventually it was time to leave and we headed off to Ramsholt where we had organised a mooring with the legendary George Clark who puts all the mooring fees to the RNLI. Going ashore we did a splendid circular walk taking in the round towered church and watched five fallow deer run out of a woodland and prance across a field of beet in front of us. Finally we rewarded ourselves with a drink at the Ramsholt Alms before heading back to Lyra for supper. Next day we crossed the bar two hours after LW and headed for Pyefleet where we anchored overnight before taking the flood up to Maldon the following day to complete a very enjoyable two-week cruise.

As for lessons learned this season I would like to add the following caption:

“Not to be used for Navigation” and a close encounter with the Swallowtail!

We also took part in a weekend cruise with Blackwater SC to North Fambridge and when passage planning I verified that they would be using the northern channel into the Crouch. This relatively new channel is marked by large conical yellow buoys which are kept to port to keep yachts clear of the ever changing Swallowtail sands. This presented me with a problem as this channel was not marked on my chart of the Crouch or on my Chart Plotter so I hurriedly downloaded a Crouch river chartlet which showed the new buoyage system. The day we went there was a strong F6 Easterly so it was a very bumpy ride getting out of the Blackwater but once in the Spitway the seas were less steep for a time. I looked at my chart (relating it as best I could to the internet chartlet) and set what I thought was a safe course for the yellow buoys and put up some sail. Di was on the helm, I was fighting with the sail, the breaking seas were getting steeper and there was no sign of the elusive yellow buoys. Suddenly Di said “There is only 1.4 metres” and wherever we looked there seemed to be yellow breaking water! We cannot see the chartplotter from Lyra’s steering position which is particularly stupid when you are in a difficult position so I went into the cabin and shouted to Di to turn hard to starboard as we were over the end of the Swallowtail sands! Fortunately we had the keel partially up and were soon in safe water but still found the experience alarming, particularly as we had such difficulty finding the yellow conical buoys in these conditions. On a calmer day this may have been much easier; however we eventually arrived safely at North Fambridge and had an enjoyable meal at the Ferryboat. Our return next day again in windy conditions was a lot less traumatic as we followed the southern route with the traditional P and S buoys each side of the channel. Lessons learnt: 1. Not to be used for navigation really does mean this! 2. Always ensure you have the updated paper or electronic chart of your passage, however local it is. 3. Have your chart plotter in a position where it can be viewed from the helm! Even with two on board precious time is lost if you have to dive into the cabin to view it in an emergency! 4. You are never too old to learn but we survived to tell the “Swallowtail” tale! John and Di Rogers

Come Sailing – the Experience. What a great idea; when I saw the e-mail I leapt at the chance of getting on the river, as our lovely classic yacht, Mirembe, is not in commission this year due to illness. I was instructed to meet Keven, the Cruiser Captain, on his Bavaria 44 at midday in Bradwell. I had replied to say that I would love to sail to Osea for a swim, one of my favourite pastimes. On boarding, Keven told me that ,Scimitar was not 44 foot but 46 foot, a mere 19 foot longer than Mirembe and the biggest yacht I had ever been on ! A pleasing touch was that in the cabin was a photograph of the Ladies race in 1988, which included Mirembe and the Wood’s Sadler, Sunrider. We were to sail with Jasmine, Keven’s daughter ; they had just returned from Burnham where they had won the cruiser class in their new little yacht Barcarol. We left Bradwell, hoisted the main and a few rolls of genoa and headed up river against the tide. Luckily I had sailed on a Bavaria 34 two weeks earlier and so knew the position of the levers and winches. What I was not used to was the length, size of everything and the twin

wheels. I had to get used to all this as Keven quickly handed the helm to me! In spite of usually having a thick wooden tiller in my hand, I slowly adapted and found she handled really easily; I enjoying practising “picking her up” after tacking. The wind increased quite rapidly causing a choppy sea; Mirembe would have been wet and bouncy but Scimitar hardly noticed the seas. On reaching Osea the idea of a swim evaporated as the clouds had built up releasing a few specks of rain. We dropped the main and had a leisurely downwind lunch.

Off Bradwell, Keven hoisted a reefed main and we had a quick reach around the barrage. In spite of the size of the mainsail Keven manoeuvred the sail in and out of the stack box with what seemed like very little effort! As the tide was ebbing and the Blackwater had taken on its North Sea look, muddy and brown, we headed in, just in time for a cup of tea with the commodore. Thank you Sue and Keven for having this idea and for making it happen. For anyone who is looking for some time on the river and for a chance to practise crewing and helming, I can thoroughly recommend this for the 2017 sailing season. Tish Woulds

Racing Roundup

Outside of our MLSC events, a number of our members are involved in racing at other clubs, series and regattas. Below is a brief summary of some of the summer’s racing:

Mersea Week

Our Vice Commodore, Iain Stubbs and crew of Jo Quy and Felix Stubbs sailed their ECOD No7 Wizard during Mersea week 2016 in the Classic Yachts & gaffers Class B. The week was near windless so no real opportunity to pull away from the rest of the fleet of like sized 13 boats including 4 Stellas.

After 5 days racing and 3 2nd places and one 3rd across the line (and one discard) this gave (having to give time on handicap to all the rest of the fleet) Wizard an overall 3rd place for the week. Gold medal winning Rio Olympian Saskia Clark was there to give out prizes on the Saturday night. A week of great fun- try it next year if you can!

BJRC

The Blackwater Joint Racing Committee races are a series running through the season for

trophies belonging to the various clubs on the river. There are two passage races for MLSC

trophies in the series and both were won by MLSC boats this year with Malcolm Holland’s

‘Behave’ taking the Freeman Cup and

Tommy Mills’

‘Geronimo’

winning the

Success Cup.

‘Geronimo’ also

picked up the

Krohn Cup a few

weeks later.

Wizard

Malcolm Holland and Crew Geronimo

Burnham Week With insufficient time to take Scimitar across the Channel this year, Lauren

and I decided to revisit Burnham Week (some 20+ years since we were

last there) with ‘Barcarol’ our newly acquired Beneteau First Class 8. We

could only get to Burnham for the

start of the mid-week series, but

managed to get off to a good start in

Class 5 with a win followed by a

second place and two more wins.

Although we had to discard a first

place (due to a slight spinnaker rule

infringement) and sit through the

excitement of a protest hearing 30

minutes before the prize giving, we

came away with the ‘Croker Bowl’ for

first place.

Kev Knox

GOLDEN OLDIES.... The MLSC 1970 Summer Log included one of John Barber’s member cartoons of Rod and Malcolm Holland when they raced their own 18ft ‘Sarah 11’ and John Gozzett’s beautiful ‘Shaker,’ designed and built at Tucker Browns for legendry Kim Holman. A copy still hangs in the bar and they are the only sailors characterised who are still alive, competing and winning! 46 Years later in the Racing Roundup you can still see Rod and Malcolm together this time at Woolvestone, in the middle of the Olympics, with Gold Medals having won The Freeman Cup in Malcolm’s First 27.7 ‘Behave’. As Malcolm says “there’s just no substitute for experience.” (An enthusiastic younger crew also helps.) Malcolm’s not getting a motor boat just yet.

Barcarol

Charity Soup Lunch Supports Steam Tug Brent’s Restoration An icon of Maldon Prom for the last 25 years and previously the lifeblood of London Docklands, steam tug Brent is one of the last surviving TID class tugs originally built for the Admiralty in the final stages of the war. The twenty five years she spent in the London Docks took their toll, the dents on her superstructure bearing witness to this and eventually in 1970 the port of London Authority deemed their last steam tug redundant and sent Brent to the breaker’s yard. Luckily for the Brent, Ron Hall was ordered to skipper a large yacht which had been impounded for drug smuggling, from Maldon to the very same ship breakers on the Thames where Brent awaited the blow torches. Ron’s foresight recognised the need for Brent to be preserved as a superb example of a steam tug at a time when little consideration was given to any form of conservation.

Membership Update We have had a number of new members since our last newsletter and a warm welcome is extended to the following: We have had a number of new members since our last newsletter and a warm welcome is extended to the following: Michael & Lesley Sharland…………...Maldon Paul & Sonia Margerum…………..…..Maldon…………..Boat name ‘Hector’ Michael Evans & Ruby Goodland…....Maldon ………… Boat name ‘Scary Mary’ Maurice & Sheila Herbert………..……Danbury…………Boat name ‘Vigilant’ George Woollin……………………..….Maylandsea ……Boat name ‘Sultry Mermaid’ Andrew Coulson & Caroline Porter.....Maldon ………… Boat Name ‘Charlotte’ Michael Asker……………………….....Maldon Derek Fox & Jill Doubtfire………….....Maldon …………’Extra Old’ Jenny Bale & Peter Hase…………..…Maylandsea ……’Instant Karma’ We look forward to seeing you in the Club (Wednesday & Friday evenings, Saturday and Sunday lunchtimes) and on the water. Lauren Knox Hon Membership Secretary October 2016 We look forward to seeing you in the Club (Wednesday & Friday evenings, Saturday and Sunday lunchtimes) and on the water. Lauren Knox Hon Membership Secretary July 2016

After some negotiation, Brent became the live-aboard “Tug Yacht” home of Ron and Janet Hall for the next 25 years and was often seen steaming along the Essex coast and helping out the engineless barges particularly on Barge Match days. Ron’s serious illness, from which he unfortunately did not recover, gave the responsibility of maintaining Brent to Janet who has stoically kept Brent afloat by having her bottom repaired in 2002 and then she was moved to her current berth at Cooks Yard.

Janet Hall’s determination to preserve Steam Tug Brent is beginning to pay off; she set up the Steam Boat Brent Trust in 2010 and since 2011 a growing team of enthusiastic and dedicated volunteers have been working to make her safe and improve her appearance whilst the stern cabin is being developed as an educational space. But the enormity of the task is fully realised particularly as the boiler, an integral part of any steam vessel, has safety concerns and needs reconditioning although the steam engine itself is still running free and in good condition. The National Historic Ships Register places Brent at no. 3 making her a compelling case for a full restoration to get her steaming again as an icon of the steam age and as an educational resource for future generations. To this end the Steam Tug Brent Trust has been restructured with prominent trustees negotiating with various funding agencies including the Heritage Lottery fund.

MLSC member Andrea Raiker has become the secretary of the restructured trust and has given Janet Hall a tremendous amount of support in bringing about the changes to raise its profile. Janet Hall has also applied for membership of the club and we wish these energetic ladies and their team our support in their bid to secure sufficient lottery funding to rescue Brent. (See www.steamtugbrent.org) Di Rogers was very pleased with the turnout at October’s soup lunch held at Maldon Little Ship Club and says that this year she is dividing up the money raised to help as many local charities as possible. She said she felt the support for Brent was particularly appropriate at this time as the Brent Trust had recently been restructured and she is such an icon of Maldon’s waterfront. For soup lunch information phone 01621 853841 or email diana.rogers2@btinternet. Everyone is welcome to enjoy the friendly atmosphere and the delicious homemade soup, rolls and cakes.

Diana Rogers Presents Janet Hall with £300 towards the Steam Tug Brent Trust Fund

The 40th Sponsored Row and Gig Race Saturday 31st December

The next Sponsored Row will soon be upon us and it is always a very important opportunity for the MLSC to raise its profile and public awareness particularly with respect to its Charity fundraising.

It is very encouraging to have so many club members who willingly carry out the numerous vital roles to make this event possible and I can assure you that all the competitors rate the row as one of their highlights of the year. They love the atmosphere of the clubhouse, the camaraderie between the teams and above all the support given by the thousands of people who watch them from the Prom.

As organiser I find the team work shown by club members and the many additional helpers very pleasing combined effort but we are all rewarded by having a fantastic and worthwhile day which is good for the MLSC, the Maldon Community and of course the RNLI, the traditional beneficiaries.

Thank you to everyone who has offered to help again this year and if there are other members who would like to become involved please let me know for we would welcome any additional help. I would particularly like to thank Kev Knox who has offered to be OOD and take full responsibility for the event on the water, a role Trevor Holder has held for many years.

This year is the 40th occasion of the row and I am grateful to Peter Woods who has researched the MLSC archives to find out how it all started. I have therefore included a piece on the background of the row which I hope members find interesting.

Finally I will be keeping an eye on things from the water as I row for the 35th year in succession and if you would like to sponsor me I would be very grateful!

John Rogers

Row organiser

Things have changed a lot from the first Sponsored Row in 1977 to celebrate

the Maldon Little Ship Club’s 50th anniversary when the crews went along the canal from Heybridge Basin, over (or around) Beeleigh weir to return to the club line along the tidal Chelmer and Blackwater. Then there was the beer swilling “Le Mans” type start where everyone had to down a pint and make a dash for their boat and drink more beer en route at Maldon YC and the Welcome Sailor. With many crews becoming stuck under Fullbridge at H.W. and the odd capsize, Health and Safety finally kicked in and a water based start from the club line with no alcohol involved was the order for many years.

With the resurgence of the coastal rowing clubs, the appearance of more and more gigs was a welcome attraction. However, their size and the competitive nature of their rowing meant that health and safety considerations dictated the need for two separate courses to keep the gigs as far away as possible from the other rowers and this is the situation as it stands today. The Row Race, as it is affectionately called, has always been a fun event where fancy dress and an element of competition is encouraged making the row a popular Christmastime family event often watched by thousands who turn out to Maldon’s Prom and Hythe quay for the spectacle. The enthusiastic sponsorship from the rowers and the generosity of the watching public raised £11500 last year making a total of £189,862 raised by the event to date to help fund the lifeboat service and we also contributed directly to the shortfall in the funding of the new West Mersea lifeboat. I cannot thank you enough for all your help and support to make this happen and we should all feel a great sense of achievement. Peter Woods

Congratulations!

He really is quite famous

Jottings On a freezing Saturday night in January 1922, having just acquired sole ownership of a 17ft clinker built sloop called ‘Dabchick’, Maurice Griffiths with his friend Derek were on their way to take her from Woodbridge to a mooring at Ipswich.

This passage from his book ‘The Magic of the Swatchways’ and their next days’ voyage in the wind and snow and wading in to push ‘Dabchick’ off the shingle in the wild water at the Deben entrance is a cold reminder that winter is on its way:

“A blustery north wind was blowing little scurries of snow round the corners of the deserted streets and moaning through the telegraph wires above the local post office with a mournful wail that rose, every now and then, to an unearthly shriek. The electric arc-light that was suspended over the centre of the square where the the main thoroughfare crossed the station road was swinging about in the wind, casting its cold rays up and down the fronts of the houses as it rocked, while the sign over the door of the 'Boat's Head' squealed harshly as it swung to and fro.

Two figures were making their way in the shadows down the narrow street leading to the footbridge over the railway, and as they passed, a couple of locals paused before turning into the taproom of the 'Boar's Head' and stared after them.

To explain why two somewhat determined-looking young men should be leaving behind them the cheerful lights-of the little country town on this wild night and resolutely making their way towards the pitchy darkness of the river, clad in old clothes and encumbered with two suit-cases, a coil of rope, a hurricane lamp, some brown-paper parcels that cried for tender support, and a fry-pan briefly clad in a negligee of local news, needs but 3 words:

They were ‘yachting’”

To post a notice, contact: Linda Allen on 07771 595902 newsletter@mlsc.org.uk

or

Barry Fix on 07742 630142 olliehouse@talk21.com

NOTICE BOARD

FOR SALE

Unused Plastimo Neptune 2000 stainless steel two burner hob and grill £150 Phone Barry Fix on 07742 630142