Three of us as twelve year olds set out on the bus at 7am with all the equipment we needed, several sacks to collect our catch and that was it, no food or drink just our bravado for company.
The tide had just fallen enough for us to round the point at St Margaret's Bay
We knew we had at least 8 hours to get back before the tide cut us off, so with that in mind we could venture further along the coast to gain access to the more prolific winkle beds.
Jimmy Younes was the one to spot some washed up oranges on the tide line, Barry King wasn't too keen to eat one but Jimmy and I persuaded him that there wasn't anything wrong with them and we all tucked in with relish.
We found the winkle beds and they were as plentiful as we had imagined, boy did we fill our boots.
Someone asked the time and that's when we discovered that no one owned a watch. Priceless!
I'd picked enough to feed the whole street and by this time the tide had turned and with a 2 mile walk over various cliff falls I was concerned about being cut off. With a few disparaging remarks from the other two about being 'Chicken' I set off. I had an Auntie drown less than three miles from here and I wasn't about to become a second family member to do die in the same circumstances.
When the point was in sight I quickened my pace as the tide was right on it. I got past with wet feet and legs. I waited on the beach until the tide made it impossible to get through the place I'd just past.....I thought then that Jimmy and Barry were in for a long uncomfortable night.
I raised the alarm at 'The Green Man ' and someone made a phone call and told me to be on my way. I caught the bus home and by the time I got there the whole street was out on their doorsteps. Apparently the local Bobby told them about the incident at St Margaret's Bay where three boys had been cut off by the tide.
I got a severe reprimand for being stupid enough to go there in the first place and was immediately sent to bed.............................I'd still got the Winkles though.
When I saw my friends the next day they said that just before the tide had come in they had managed to reach a safe haven where there had been a cliff fall, an area the size of a small car park.
So safe in the knowledge that they weren't going to get wet, they decided out of boredom to count their catch. That's when the lifeboat turned up with a less than pleased Coxswain and crew.
My reprimand was mild by comparison, their nose to nose confrontation with the crew of the lifeboat was something they didn't want repeated and as a punishment their haul was confiscated. I bet the crew and their families had a feast.
At the very least it was a safe ending to an eventful day.
This small incident dented my faith in the integrity of the press at an early age and I've been sceptical ever since.
The tiny article in The Dover Express that weekend stated that two boys had been rescued by the Dover Lifeboat Crew in rough weather and were found clinging to rocks with the sea swirling around them.The fact was that the sea was dead calm and their refuge was the size of a village hall.
Memories.
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