COMMENT Welcome to our December issue. I would like to wish all our members and readers A Very Happy and Peaceful Christmas to be followed by a very good year in 2004.

It seemed rather strange to me last night to be attending a meeting about sailing matters because I had a retrospective afternoon, I went to a matinee at the cinema to see Master and Commander. It is a spectacular film and you don't need to be a fan of Patrick O'Brien to enjoy it. There is plenty of action and a great deal of blood, guts and thunder. The enormous seas encountered were very interesting as they had been experienced and filmed by the crew of Endeavour, the replica of Captain Cooke's ship to be used in the film.

Does anyone iron when on board his or her boat? A new sport has been established called The Extreme Ironing Club. Its members do their ironing in all extreme situations e.g. rock climbing, white water rafting, mountaineering and any other activity. They are very competitive, carry their ironing boards with them and claim to use irons made in Germany containing crystals which, when water is put on them heat up. Whatever will they think of next?

There was a General Committee meeting held last night 9th Dec and the Annual General Meeting will follow this next Sunday morning the 14th Dec at 10.30am. Here are some notes from last night.

THE COMMODORE attended the Service of Remembrance and laid a wreath on behalf of the club members.
Mike had a letter from Lorna thanking him and all members for the invitation to prize giving and for all the cards, flowers and gifts she received. (Lorna will work in the bar during the Christmas party)

The saga of the yacht Cathy is now at an end. The Commodore went to see the ex owner last Sunday, he is quite ill and the boat now has a new owner Mr T Arch who is a prospective new member. Cathy will be removed from the yard.

THE VICE COMMODORE did not hold a Sailing Committee meeting this month but the General Committee learned that there are still some MASTS up in the laying up yard, which must be taken down as soon as possible.

The laying up yard is also full of JUNK AND RUBBISH. Members are expected to take their rubbish home to dispose of it and they are failing to do so. PLEASE clear it up and remove it at the earliest opportunity and spread the word that this MUST be done.

The sea wall needs more groynes where the sea is encroaching at the north of the wall; we may be an island soon! At the North end of the Alt the bank is coming away. David Willcox has this in hand with the Water Board and English Nature.

Thanks were expressed to John Newton and his helpers for the splendid work they did on the gate, which is now easier to open and close.

THE REAR COMMODORE reported that a new pay phone will be provided behind the bar and there will be an emergency telephone which will only accept 999 calls and receive incoming calls some where near the door, not yet decided as we may have a new doorway later.

Andrew no longer works behind the bar on Sunday, his place is temporarily filled by Emma. The club still needs a new steward but this is being taken care of. There is a need for a new heater in the Ladies cloakroom and also a need for a glass washing machine behind the bar, to comply with the new Health and Safety regulations. The shutters have new locks and George Williams will sort out the outside lighting next week.

THE HON SECRETARY has sent correspondence to various clubs thanking them for their hospitality. Six of our members went to the Fund raising night at West Cheshire. Three and a half thousand pounds were raised towards a replacement clubhouse. They will also have drinks and prize giving on Friday 13th February.

The winners of the 200 club this month were;

1st prize to Mr Cyril Porter
2nd prize to Mr D Griffiths
And 3rd prize to Mr I Lloyd.

Mark has done the accounts for the 200 club, which he and Colette run very successfully. The Commodore thanked him for all his efforts; it is a valuable addition to club funds. Have you joined yet? Nothing venture, nothing gain. Mark has also sent out notices for the Annual General Meeting on Sunday.

THE HON TREASURER. David reports the club finances are in a very healthy state considering that we have paid for the new slipway. The auditors have passed the accounts and David will prepare his report for Sunday. The Bar has had an excellent year.

THE HON MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY has applied for a grant from Sefton Sports Council towards the new building.

After some setbacks Stan has settled with a caterer for the Fitting Out Dinner on the 7th February. There will also be a Comedian and a guest speaker, name to be announced later.

SOCIAL NOTES Maggie says that there are just a few tickets left for the Christmas Party. There will be a buffet and the music will be from the Matthew Street Jazz Band with a guest singer. A glass of wine will be offered on arrival and the tickets cost £12.00

OTHER BUSINESS. Special thanks were offered to Rita Gilbury, Bill Woods and Alan Tosh for the magnificent decorations in the clubhouse, making it look very festive. This team spend many hours putting up and pulling down the decorations each year and they make an enormous difference to the ambiance of the clubhouse.

Dave Willcox and Bill Woods visited David Rowles in Broadgreen Hospital at the weekend. Dave had a replacement heart valve and is reported to be looking much better than of late. He will be out of hospital by the time you read this letter and will stay with his daughter. I have no address at present.

We have also learned that Arthur Mount is home again from hospital and we wish them both well and much better health for next year.

The Commodore spoke about the fund raising for the proposed roof, which is going reasonably well. The sub committee have also clarified what exactly will be done to the roof. The whole roof will be involved, some of it for repair and some for replacement. The amount pledged so far is in the region of £11.000 but more is needed. Mike will make a full statement about all of this at the A.G.M. on Sunday.

The meeting was closed after The Commodore had thanked all the committee members for their work during his first year of office.

MORE HISTORY OF THE ALT
From Mark Miller

In the September 2001 Newsletter I mentioned an oil painting of the Alt dated 1856 in the collection at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool.
This picture includes a small fleet of fishing boats and a Lighthouse. Further research has proved that was the Crosby Lighthouse and not Formby as stated in the gallery catalogue. The Crosby light was built in 1839 and showed a fixed red light. Keeping this in line with the Formby Lightship, SE by E half E, lead through the Victoria Channel in 11feet at LW Springs and 18 feet at quarter flood.
This line can be seen on the part of the 1842 chart illustrated below.

This 1842 chart also shows that what is now the Altcar Rifle Range was then a tidal lagoon with a very narrow entrance. It is unfortunate that the excerpt from the 1895 chart below does not delineate the course of the River Alt. It does however show the measured mile beacons on Crosby foreshore. The 1842 chartlet shows that the mouth of the Alt was about 2 ¼ miles from the Crosby Light. Measuring this distance on the 1895 drawing indicates that the mouth of the river was much further South than it is today, somewhere between the measured mile beacons

.

The course of The Alt parallel to the beach caused considerable erosion at Hall Road. Over a period of years a complete row of large houses were undermined and collapsed on to the shore. In an attempt to combat this erosion tons of iron ore slag were dumped along the shore at Hall Road. During and after, the war this was augmented by rubble from bombed buildings.
The excerpt below, from a Mersey Docks and Harbour Board chart dated 1939, shows the complex series of groynes that were built about 1938/9, to turn the Alt seaward well before Hall Road.
In the mid 1940's the entrance was slightly to the north of that charted but by around 1951 the northern groyne was breached at what is now the "Goalposts". Today the approach runs between the two walls. I have no recollection of the groyne shown running seaward from the bottom of the road leading from Hall Road Station. Maybe this was an earlier, unsuccessful attempt to divert the Alt.

Many thanks to Mark Miller for all this information. Those involved with building new groynes soon may find it of interest

.

THE SILLY SEASON IS UPON US.

Hymns for Special People

In a recent church service the vicar tried to conduct his service to suit as many member s of the congregation as possible with the result that the following hymns were sung:

The Dentist......Crown him with many crowns.
The Weatherman..... Hail the day that sees him rise.
The Accountant.....Count your blessings
The Lawyer.....Pleasant are thy courts above
The Editor.....Thy words to me are life and health
The Estate Agent.....How lovely is thy dwelling place.
The Drunkard.....Round me falls the night.

I'm sure that most of you can think of many more.

LAST MONTH'S QUIZ QUESTION.

What is next in the sequence? 0048..0535..1201. The answer was very quickly supplied by Charlie Plant
It was 1754, they are time of Shipping Forecasts.

This month's question is "What type of vessel sounds a bell for 5 seconds and then a gong for 5 seconds?

THE FOLLOWING POEM WAS GIVEN TO ME BY HARRY HARRISON.

I know a lass called Brenda Cox
Who bought a pair of "Fenda Sox"
In error being unaware
That they were not for human wear.
Her husband Eric said," My dear
Those sturdy knitted Sox, I fear,
Although unquestionably natty,
Will make you look like Norah Batty".
But Eric's wife went right ahead,
And bought a pair of dazzling red.
Those giant Fenda Sox, she found,
Were made cylindrical or round.
And thinking that they'd be much warmer,
Luckily she chose the former.
It would have been a sight hysterical.
To see her trying on the spherical

Thank you Harry.

Q. What do you get when you cross an agnostic, dyslexic and an insomniac?
A. A person who stays up all night, wondering if there really is a dog.

Q. What happened to the dyslexic Satan worshipper?
A. He sold his soul to SANTA.

Thank you all for your encouragement and help with the newsletter during the past year. I promise you I do not have a "down" on dyslexics. May I wish you all an enjoyable Christmas, don't eat too much, remember Thou shalt not weigh more your fridge and if you must choose between two evils…. pick the one you've never tried before.

Pat.

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