Good Old Days.

[jack]

In the mid sixties,My wife and I towed our "Strikeliner" to Scotland.We were launching into Gareloch,near Glasgow,when a smartly dressed little chap asked if we needed any assistance.I was surprised because he was wearing a suit;collar and tie,and I had suspected,when I saw him watching us that he would hit me with a launching and parking ticket.We declined his offer but he hung around and held ropes and pushed a bit here and there.When we were in,he said "I am a fisherman too,if you like I will show you where to fish". I pointed out that we were a bit pushed for room,what with all our kit and a dog."Oh no,he said,I have my own boat ,it's already in the water,just follow behind me.He appeared moments later in a smallish dinghy,and we followed him about and had a good few hours,catching smallish Cod and some Herring.When we returned to the slip,he jumped out and helped us to recover,and we offered to hep him,but in seconds he had pulled his boat [on its bottom ] up the slip and tied it to a ring.We offered to share our tea and sandwiches,but he declined,saying he had to catch the bus in order to arrive home where his wife would be waiting for him.He then explained that he had retired over a year before,but had not told his wife.Setting off in his suit etc,every morning Mon-Fri.and returning home on the same bus at 5,30.After he left we had a look at his boat.It was an old mirror sailing dinghy,stripped out.Its only seat was a canvas garden chair.He had a coil of anchor rope,tied to the head and rollers of a small portable mangle at one end and fixed to the prow of the boat by a table top fixing Mincer,with a screw tight foot.His engine was a miniscule Anzani.and he had left his rod and everything else in the boat.Here was a man,who had everything he needed to be happy,at minimum expense.A lesson for us all.jack

[Manic Moore]

 

 

Ther wer a 150 of us livin int shoe box int middle of road

[plaicemat]

Shoe Box!......................................

 

Terry.

[Manic Moore]

 

A classic Monty Python sketch, "The 4 Yorkshiremen" all trying to out do each other on how poor they were. You had to be there

[Paul J]

....................................Luxury

[BigMac]

 

 

I used to dream of living in a shoe box....................

[Afishionado]

I 'ad to gerup so bloody early in't mornin' I'd meet mesen comin' home from the night before!

 

Any road up don't knock Jack and me We have happy memories of the days of long ago. In some ways I think there was a better quality in the sport we had then. In Cornwall in the 50's I used to fish with a then very modern solid glass 9ft spinning rod fitted with a centerpin reel. The only drag to control a fish was the pressure of your thumb on the rim. I still have a vivid memory of landing a 14lb bass after a good 20 min' of fight. This was on a day that my father and I caught several 10lb bass and many around 5lb to 8lb. As was the custom in the West Country all the fish were kept by the boat and went to the local fishmonger.

 

Mad Mike