Hello Friends!
THE SHIPPING FORECAST
The Shipping Forecast . Always there, ever since my childhood days, steadfast and reliable. This year, it celebrates its 100th birthday. 100 years of being there for those in peril on the sea and hopefully guiding them into safer, calmer waters when maritime weather turns bad.
Although I don't think of it this way, I do actually live on an island. I am an islander. for no one can deny that the United Kingdom is completely surrounded by water and therefore by definition is an island. And when you live on an island, your life is very often governed by the sea. Certainly more so in days gone by than it is today when the sea was a main way of transporting goods and travelling.. As the crow flies my cottage is about half a mile at the nearest point from the sea. I can see the sea from my garden. Although a carpenter by trade my father always owned a small boat and we ate a constant diet of fresh fish and shellfish. Nothing better than fish freshly caught!. And in later years, he came off the tools and went into boating full time when we ran a successful day trip boating business during the tourist season. During the winter he fished, .and for anyone who plies the waters, the shipping forecast is required listening.
The music of the Shipping Forecast is instantly recognisable. It will be the last music I hear as I leave this mortal coil.
Music Maestro please!
Contrary to popular belief, it is not a singularly British thing! You can read more about the British Shipping Forecast HERE but there are shipping forecasts and regions across the globe. You might even have one where you live so please. share in the comments.
Met Office Map this link will show you the British map.
The distant headland on the right side of this phot. is the point where sea areas Lundy and Irish Sea meet. It is St David's Head. Oftentimes I have bobbed about off St David's Head in our boat with one foot in the Irish Sea and the other foot in Lundy. Many a delicious supper caught there. Fresh line caught mackerel. From sea to plate in under two hours. filleted and dusted in seasoned flour. Pan fried. Wedge of lemon. Slice of brown bread and butter. Food for the gods.
The following link may not be available in your area. However, do click on it and see if it is. Because on January the first, BBC Radio 4. Did a day long special interspersed with lots of information on the shipping forecast. Well worth a listen to. BBC Radio 4. Radio 4 is a very good station to listen to during the day.
I hope this nasty cold snap isn't affecting you too badly. It's a bit of a struggle to keep warm. I think that's for most of us. I don't think it is snowed here for at 6:00 AM when I did stick my nose out, there wasn't any sign of anything. It's just blinking cold. I'm afraid I've got my heating on all day now and night with Parkinson's I can't afford to let myself get cold. I'm cwtched up in my chair under a quilt and a blanket. And I've got the oil filled radiator on next to me.
Until next time.
Stay safe and stay warm.
Debbie. xx
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