Graham Hall on Rivers and Harbours
Audio Player
Bembridge Harbour is really a port of refuge. It’s the last port on the way to France for all the Solent traffic more or less, and the first port when they’re coming across The Channel and they get a pasting, it’s virtually one of the first ports they can get into.
So, we used to get quite a lot of people like that in there. We used to have regular customers that used to come across from France.
There was, I remember, a very nice Police Inspector from somewhere on the Cherbourg peninsular. I never quite worked it out because I couldn’t speak much French and he could speak no English, but he used to come across for a fortnight every year and bring his boat into Bembridge and have a high old time. He was a nice chap.
