Monday, March 19, 2012
Newhaven - then and now.
Yesterday is but a memory - but a good memory for sure.
Today in the shop is also no more than a memory now - quite a pleasing day.
But for now I want to look back to yesterday.
Another word for looking back to yesterday is "nostalgia" - and there was plenty of nostalgia as I looked back to a time very long gone. It is almost 60 years since I first walked on the beach at Newhaven.
It is a town that has grown around the Ouse estuary, a small harbour.
River estuaries are work places - fishing boats in and out and in this place big ferry boats take vehicles and passengers to France.
That's my brother, Robin leaning over the rail, which is visible also in yesterday's picture, watching the boat go out.
The boats are bigger now.
And, bother, we had parked the car and turned to see that the ship was already well down the estuary. No time for us to get there to take a picture like my Dad's photograph.
This contraption had arrived earlier last week.
It is a prototype of what will be needed to construct a large wind farm out in the channel.
It is a jack-up barge.
This work is underway long before all the consultations about the plans are completed.
Do we think it is a "done deal" before the plans are passed? Probably!
The jack-up barge is just out of picture on the right hand side.
This is the Harbour Beach - always sandy at low tide.
This views seems to have changed little since the 1950s.
We hardly ever used it as children - though I yearned to get with the other children down there on the sand.
No happy families on the beach yesterday. The step way down is completely sealed off with fences and spikes.
Bill's interesting view of spikes and Seaford Head.
This looks like a 1950s postcard and it certainly shows why Mum and Dad would have steered us away from this beach.
Very little else has changed, except the numbers of people about.
The long breakwater is a major feature of the harbour area.
It was a popular place for fishermen and for brisk walks out to sea.This is a 1904 postcard. The writer comments that it is very cold! The breakwater hadn't changed a bit by the 1950s.
It felt daring to walk up on the high deck - unfenced of course. If it was windy the waves would crash over the top.
Well, it is fenced now.
Nobody can get out on the breakwater to walk or to catch fish.
Maybe the structure is dangerous now. Maybe Health and Safety laws mean that The Harbour Board cannot risk anybody going out there and falling.
I would like to think that the words "Until Further Notice" means that it will open again.
They are large safety warnings under the cliffs. Yes, there can be cliff falls.
The 1950s postcard shows that the West Beach was popular too. It also shows that car owners could drive along under the cliffs to park their cars.
I learned to swim on this beach.
When I was more experienced it was great to be in the water when a big ferry boat went out of the harbour. A large swell swept round the breakwater creating big waves.
Mum and Dad would take us as far as possible away from the crowds.
Low tide was best. There was a large expanse of rock pools to explore and it was possible to walk round the headland to see what was there.....more cliffs.
Sorry - poor picture.
But here we are with some picnic things on one of the rocks of chalk.
It looks quite windy - Mum has got her cardigan on.
And just what has Dad got on?
It really does appear to be a white jacket and shirt over his swimming trunks and grey socks and sandals.
He has probably been swimming - his hair is all flattened down.
Nearly 60 years later - and here I am on the beach again.
And yes it was quite chilly - more than just a cardigan for me.
But it is still March and despite the lovely sunshine the wind can blow quite chilly on a beach.
We have loads more photographs of course, but these few tell my story very well, I think.
Tomorrow we will pause in Piddinghoe, just as we did yesterday and also as we did (on our bikes) all those years ago.
One place that remains from my childhood is the fish and chip shop in Newhaven.
Sometimes Mum and Dad would buy some and we dine by the river at Piddinghoe.
Today in the shop is also no more than a memory now - quite a pleasing day.
But for now I want to look back to yesterday.
Another word for looking back to yesterday is "nostalgia" - and there was plenty of nostalgia as I looked back to a time very long gone. It is almost 60 years since I first walked on the beach at Newhaven.
It is a town that has grown around the Ouse estuary, a small harbour.
River estuaries are work places - fishing boats in and out and in this place big ferry boats take vehicles and passengers to France.
The boats are bigger now.
And, bother, we had parked the car and turned to see that the ship was already well down the estuary. No time for us to get there to take a picture like my Dad's photograph.
It is a prototype of what will be needed to construct a large wind farm out in the channel.
It is a jack-up barge.
This work is underway long before all the consultations about the plans are completed.
Do we think it is a "done deal" before the plans are passed? Probably!
This is the Harbour Beach - always sandy at low tide.
This views seems to have changed little since the 1950s.
We hardly ever used it as children - though I yearned to get with the other children down there on the sand.
No happy families on the beach yesterday. The step way down is completely sealed off with fences and spikes.
Bill's interesting view of spikes and Seaford Head.
Very little else has changed, except the numbers of people about.
The long breakwater is a major feature of the harbour area.
It was a popular place for fishermen and for brisk walks out to sea.This is a 1904 postcard. The writer comments that it is very cold! The breakwater hadn't changed a bit by the 1950s.
It felt daring to walk up on the high deck - unfenced of course. If it was windy the waves would crash over the top.
Well, it is fenced now.
Nobody can get out on the breakwater to walk or to catch fish.
Maybe the structure is dangerous now. Maybe Health and Safety laws mean that The Harbour Board cannot risk anybody going out there and falling.
I would like to think that the words "Until Further Notice" means that it will open again.
They are large safety warnings under the cliffs. Yes, there can be cliff falls.
I learned to swim on this beach.
When I was more experienced it was great to be in the water when a big ferry boat went out of the harbour. A large swell swept round the breakwater creating big waves.
Low tide was best. There was a large expanse of rock pools to explore and it was possible to walk round the headland to see what was there.....more cliffs.
Sorry - poor picture.
But here we are with some picnic things on one of the rocks of chalk.
It looks quite windy - Mum has got her cardigan on.
And just what has Dad got on?
It really does appear to be a white jacket and shirt over his swimming trunks and grey socks and sandals.
He has probably been swimming - his hair is all flattened down.
Nearly 60 years later - and here I am on the beach again.
And yes it was quite chilly - more than just a cardigan for me.
But it is still March and despite the lovely sunshine the wind can blow quite chilly on a beach.
We have loads more photographs of course, but these few tell my story very well, I think.
Tomorrow we will pause in Piddinghoe, just as we did yesterday and also as we did (on our bikes) all those years ago.
One place that remains from my childhood is the fish and chip shop in Newhaven.
Sometimes Mum and Dad would buy some and we dine by the river at Piddinghoe.
