Web Page 1100
29th November 2012
Top Picture : Portscreek looking towards Hilsea road bridge with Tudor Crescent on the right.
Second Picture: Jack Hargreaves
Fishing
Whilst driving into Portsmouth today I looked across the mud flats and
down by the waters edge, it was a very low tide, were a couple of chaps in
thigh waders, with a fork and bucket, bait digging. This took me back to the
days when I was 14 years old or so and everyone went fishing. I had bought a
rod, my one and only rod ever, in a shop on Guernsey when we were on holiday
and so I could not wait to use it. Together with a couple of mates one morning
we made our way down to Portscreek on our bikes and picked a spot between the
railway bridge and the Eastern Road bridge and armed with the correct equipment
proceeded to dig for ragworms and lugworms and this is really where my success
as a fisherman comes to an abrupt end because throughout the whole of my
teenage years I cannot remember ever catching a single fish, lots of crabs and
sea weed yes, but no fish. My usual fishing venues were either in Steve, or
Adrian, or Mervyns boats launched into Portsmouth Harbour, even though I do not
remember ever catching a fish, I cannot remember anyone else catching one
either. The other main location was off the road bridge on the Eastern Road and
it was here that two or three of us had the biggest haul of our lives but that was
nothing to do with fish.
One afternoon we were bait digging as usual just below the bridge when
one of us found a new looking flick knife sticking in the mud, this was
followed by several flick knives, several sheath knives, a couple of bicycle
chains and several sets of knuckle dusters. A very strange haul you may think
but easily explained. The previous night there was a stand off between two
rival gangs on the bridge and before the fight really got going the police
arrived. Naturally no one wanted to be caught with an offensive weapon on their
person and so over the parapet all the ironmongery went and so when the tide
ebbed the following day there they all were waiting to be found. I kept a
couple of knives at home for years but somewhere they must have been lost, as I
do not have them now. But I do know that there was quite an illegal trade going
on around the school selling these spoils off.
For us lads the required viewing on a Friday at 7.00pm was Out of Town
with Jack Hargreaves after all we might learn some useful fishing hints that
would help us, we did not realise that he was not the simple countryman we all
thought he was.
He was born, like his
brothers, in north London
and in his youth, was placed by his mother with old family
friends at Burston Hill Farm north of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire where
he was influenced by the farmer Victor Pargeter. Over half a century later he
would acknowledge Pargeter as part of a composite of father, grandfathers,
uncles and old farming friends in the formative character of 'The Old Man' at
the start of his book Out of
Town (1987). Over the years
Jack Hargreaves was to live at a variety of addresses in central London between
Soho, Chelsea and Hampstead. In the late 40s
he was moving between a London home and a caravan in a field on the bank of the River Kennet at Midgham, then a cottage in Bagnor in Berkshire by the
Winterbourne running into the River Lambourn,
then at Lower Pennington and Walhampton near Lymington as well as at Minstead and East Boldre in The New Forest,
and, he spent his final years at Raven Cottage, near Belchalwell in Dorset which he - an
inveterate commuter to and from the places from where he worked.
His enduring
interest was to comment without nostalgia or sentimentality on accelerating
distortions in relations between the city and the countryside. He is remembered
for appearing on How but was
better known as the gentle-voiced presenter of the weekly magazine programme Out of Town, first broadcast in
1963, following the success of his 1959 television debut with the B&W
series Gone Fishing. His
country TV programmes continued in the 1980s with Old Country. Other programmes
he created for local viewers were Farm
Progress and a live afternoon
series Houseparty. Most of
his viewers were probably unaware that he took an active part in the setting up
of ITV and was a member of Southern's board of directors. From early in his
life he acquired a sophisticated grasp of city life and for the last 30 years
of his life was employed by the National Farmers Union.
He died in 1994 at the
Winterbourne Hospital in Dorchester,
and was cremated at Salisbury, his ashes
spread on Bulbarrow Hill above
Raven Cottage.
Stay in Touch
Peter
You Write:
Keith Writes:- Liked your bit about
discipline at school. Could have included me getting clouted round the head by
Ray Dopson. How times have changed.
Melvyn
Writes:- As Peter mentioned Solent Rd in his last piece by coincidence
I was in the process of having a grand sort out of my storage cupboard and came
across my school reports from that far off time of the early to middle
50's. One teacher Peter didn't mention was my form teacher Mr
Reginald Wing know as "Pop" Wing to us all in the classroom. Why that
should be I have no idea because he couldn't have been that old! Looking
at the report I had it was pretty good ( for me! ) actually but I did
notice that there were 48 pupils in the class. Other teacher's I have
on old school reports from Solent Rd. were Miss. E. R Geoffrey
and Miss (?) Leslie White. I too ended up in Mr. King's class for
the final year at Solent Rd. and I still remember it was not the best
of times for me. Teaching by fear! lol Can't remember who else was
in the Mr. King's class with me other than Steve Carter and Roger Dawkins.
News and Views:
A British court has ruled that
Gerry Rafferty’s girlfriend of two years before his death was not entitled to
keep three valuable guitars, a Steinway piano, 13 Matisse lithographs and 22
Russian icons that she said had been promised to her. The court pointed to
Gerry’s will, which excluded her. The possessions will now be given to his
granddaughter and the girlfriend is left with the legal bill.
On
this day 29th November 1960-1965
On 29/11/1960 the number one single was It's Now Or Never
- Elvis Presley and the number one album was South Pacific
Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Labour Party Political
Broadcast (all channels) and the box office smash was Psycho.
A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way
to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.
On 29/11/1961 the number one single was
Little Sister/His
Latest Flame - Elvis Presley and the number one album was Ipswich
Town. The top rated TV show was "Coronation Street
(Granada) and the box office smash was One Hundred and
One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £not very
interesting and 13.25 were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1
champions. The big news story of the day was Sunday Night at the London
Palladium (ATV)".
On 29/11/1962 the number one single was
Lovesick Blues - Frank Ifield and the number one album was Out of the Shadows -
Shadows. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street
(Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia.
A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Everton were on the way to
becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.
On 29/11/1963 the number one single was
She Loves You -
The Beatles and the number one album was Please Please Me - The
Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street
(Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of
today's money was worth £12.64 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the
Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Cape Canaveral
renamed Cape Kennedy.
On 29/11/1964 the number one single was
Baby Love - Supremes and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night
- Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street
(Granada) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove.
A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Manchester United were on the way
to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.
On 29/11/1965 the number one single was
The Carnival is
Over - Seekers and the number one album was The Sound of Music
Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Take Your Pick (AR) and the box office
smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and
Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.
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