General Chat

:-)))) What a bunch of water babies we are! I went to Poole once, when a friend was housesitting for someone away sailing. Lovely little old pub down a curved street. I have been swimming in Pagham near Bognor, Littlehampton is close too but no waterfalls I am aware of! xx Jen

Twizz I just love the sea as well, especially when it is choppy. Basically I love being near water, sea, rivers, lakes, and especially waterfalls, but we are short of them round this way Jen, they sound so cute, glad you were able to get them back to the water though I laugh when I see lovely hunky lorry drivers shepherding the ducks and swans off of the road near the lakes not far from here. They are big softies at heart ;-))

Hi Jen and Dee well for me its the sea not the river :-))) , going down to Poole Quay and sitting and watching the kids crabbing , the fishermen ( the few that are left ) doing there nets and the gulls buzzing around your head whilst enjoying the ozone and a cold pint ( had to get the pint in ) :-)))) yeah I love Poole and the sea :-)))))))))

:-)))) sounds right up my stream! A few weeks ago I noticed some children staring into my front 'garden' and smiling. After about 6 had done it I got up - to see a mother duck and some babies huddled in the corner about a foot away from the house! Got a photo! They ran into neighbour's drive and she got 'em towards the stream in the end (about 800 yds away). We get dragonflies in the garden too - there's a sort of park behind this row of houses. xx Jen

Jen that sounds rather nice I have been watching the baby moorhens and dragonflies at Ightham Mote this afternoon, the little chicks were so cute ;-))

Maybe ;-))))))))))))))))

:-))) hello Dee & Twizz Does drinking at a pub next to the Arun while gazing at Arundel Castle count? Haven't got round to hiring a little boat to go up and down in yet! xx Jen

Sounds very interesting Twizzle, you will have to tell me it sometime ;-)))))

I know a story about three woman and a bloke on a boat ;-))) I know shut up Twizzle

Hi AL, that's the one, I drove int it once, literally, took the turning into the car park at the wrong angle and hit the edge of the pub. Didn't do the car much good but hardly dented the pub at all. I think the one near the station was next to a coach hire company, but I am going back a good few years. ;-)))

Dee Was it the Red Lion on the corner of the High St & Capel Lane? It's still there and still has discos! AL

I love spending time by the river, it is so relaxing, and your idea of laying back and enjoying some wine while someone else does all the hard work, sounds brilliant Ann ;-))

I have to admit I like to walk (used to cycle) and sit by rivers and lakes, love to look at water but a holiday in a boat is not my scene. The nearest I have got is a trip on the canal at kidlington near Oxford on a friends narrow boat, where they did all the work and we sat and drank the wine on a lovely sunny day a couple of years ago. Or the steamer across Windemere. I enjoy walking along the tow path of the Gloucester Sharpness canal and looking at all the narrow boats as they chug along. And yesterday I enjoyed sitting by the River Severn for a couple of hours (while in a pub garden having lunch). (Mind you the river Severn is not a river to be messed about 'in') I have been round the Broads but mostly all I can remember is the smell of the fuel in the boats, so strong it made me feel quite ill. and now Dee I have that song buzzing around in my head and can't get rid of it Lol!!! Ann Glos

Dee - my Trelawney Fletcher was a lighterman's apprentice. I wrote about him in my have you trod in their footsteps thread. I visited the Waterman's Hall not long ago. Oops, must go or I'll be late for work.... :-)

AL I used to go to a dance at a pub not far from that station when I was a teenager, and then when I was slightly older to a pub at the corner of Caple?? Lane in Stanstead Abbots Think if I remember rightly Steve Marriot (Small Faces) lived round there at some point Dee ;-)) Vonny, can I come with you on that trip??? John, people are too scared to let their children play out like that these days aren't they? Keep the stories coming folks, I will be back later ;-)))

Hi Dee Yes go to them both - especially like the Fish and Eels in Summer (although it does get crowded). Live the next stop along on the train (St Margarets). AL

Dee it would have been a lovely holiday on the Norfolk Broads if we had followed the rules, but we were only about 21 and full of mischief.........I'll only say that it's a wonder Potters Heigham Bridge is still standing !!.....

Oooo Dee, it's the ONE thing I have always wanted to do if I ever got to England - go on the narrow boats along the canals and waterways. Hubby's hobby is restoring wooden clinker boats - putt putts! He is doing a 16 footer at the moment. Next year on his long service leave we plan to boat down the Murray River. Since starting FH, I have found out that my ancestors built boats - Pellatt and Brindley and that a Brindley built a lot of the canals. Sent chills down my spine when I discovered that! Vonny

AL, I used to live near the River Lee. Rye House and The Fish 'N Eels pub ring any bells with you?? ;-)))

Sally, that sounds more like the holiday from hell than an idyllic meander along the river ;-)) Joy, I already knew a reasonable amount about the Thames in Kent and London so the course was interesting as I found out more about the bits the other side of London to me. Back in the 1800's the ancestors of my Dad's adopted family were lighterman and waterman, so I wanted to find out more about what their lives would have been like ;-)))