Sleep Deprivation

On our recent adventure into Essex and Suffolk, we loved this village sign for Tollesbury depicting the horse-powered ploughman (2 horses.... deux cheveaux?) but also, top right, a "stackie" barge. Stackies were Thames sailing barges employed in the agricultural sector, bringing hay for horses up to London (all horse-drawn transport in those days, of course) and bringing back the horses' waste products for spreading on the fields.

Most farms near the sea or near to the many creeks and inlets of Essex and Suffolk would have had wharves or "hards" (hard standing at low tide) from which to load barges and unload the horse muck from London. London bound the hold of the barge would be loaded with something heavy like mangolds, but then an entire haystack would be built on the decks, stacked half way up the main mast. The Mate would then have to sit on top and shout instructions to the skipper down at the back about where to steer, as he couldn't see round the hay stack.

For Dad another weekend of weekend cover at work, and another dose of sleep deprivation, not only covering the emergencies across both days, but also in from 0100 to 0800 to nurse-maid a computer outage while some electrical work goes on. Just have to catch up on sleep afterwards, Dad.

Deefski

The Butt and Oyster

Dad has a day off in lieu of having to work through last weekend, so on a whim he loads us into the car and we drive off in search of barge-related locations in Essex. This seems like voluntarily using the very Thames-crossing which caused him so much grief on the weekend (Lorry fire, Friday night on the Dartford Bridge southbound) but we risk it for a biscuit.

Our mission is to string together a few places we've not been, and at each one we get a nice walk while Dad explores on foot. The first is Tollesbury, near Maldon, where traditional sail making firm "North Sea Sails" are making the "suit" of sails for the Sailing Barge Cambria. From there we head on another 50 miles or so to the village of Pin Mill, near Ipswich, which is where (old) Cambria's last skipper, Bob Roberts lived with his wife and 2 daughters, and also the home of the famous barging pub "The Butt and Oyster" where BR used to drink. The Butt is still there and thriving, now as a touristy waterside pub for the "yotties" from the various marinas round those parts. At Pin Mill we got to paddle on the almost horizontal slip-way as the tide was sweeping in.

All good clean fun.

Deefer