14th November 2006 - Roy Underdown Pavilion

Katie Bewes gave a very interesting illustrated talk on ‘Living on the Hamble River in the 1950s’. As well as society members, many of her friends came along to hear Katie talk about her childhood living aboard a variety of boats on the Hamble River and to see many fascinating pictures of that time.

Living aboard a boat presented a number of problems, such as where was the dinghy? Very often if you were ashore it was tied alongside the boat (home), or vice a versa, one of the family was using it when you wanted to get ashore. Going to the Royal Southern Yacht Club to see if there was a dinghy that could be borrowed or shouting from the ferry hard was a regular occurrence. Everyday tasks such as getting ashore to go to school in uniform on a cold wet winter’s day presented problems. Katie told us about getting supplies from the ‘Ditty Box’,
a floating store and fuel barge.

Life living aboard a boat was enjoyable for children, as well as trips to other harbours at weekends or holidays. Not only did Katie tell the society about her childhood living aboard a boat but also gave an insight of life in Hamble in the 1950s. Katie still lives in Hamble but not on a boat, although she has continued sailing throughout her life.


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