Just a little background...
I was born and raised on the edge of the Irish Sea. I could smell the sea from my home. My family were descended from the folks who founded the first lifeboat station in the UK, maybe the world. It is believed to have been established as early as 1776 by William Hutchinson, the Dock Master for the Liverpool Common Council. Although no exact record has been found, the boat used is believed to have been a 'Mersey Gig'. The foundations of the last of the lifeboat station buildings remain on the beach to this day. When I was young, they were a little more than a foundation.
My family can be traced in the village to the Doomsday Book, a survey taken in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror.
When I see my little siggie on the beach, it is not really the beach, it is a raw and wild Irish Sea. The ripples on the sand were hard on the feet and we could dig for winkles and cockles if we wanted to. There was an amazing shipwreck that we could walk out to when the tide was out, but was almost covered when the tide was in. it was the PEGU, which sank in 1939. Rumour has it, it carried a large cargo of whiskey, which was 'liberated' the locals before the customs officers tracked it down. They say my great uncle carried off a bit and buried it on the family farm and never had another sober day in his life.'
So when you see my siggie, I am secretly on the shore, re-living my childhood.