I got into terrible trouble when I recently said sweetly that speeding down the creek was a particular issue on summer evening high tides at the weekends. A reader \u02bephoned to say that I was ignoring the serious speeding which took place at other times. Heaven forbid. This season no fewer than 48 written warnings for speeding have been issued by the Harbour Master, and there has also been one successful prosecution for anti-social behaviour. Sadly, speeding still goes on whenever people think they can get away with it, although I stand by the fact that summer evenings in South Pool creek are a particular risk.<\/p>\n
The fact that the Harbour Master has considered 48 speeding cases so serious as to justify a written warning will doubtless be taken a number of different ways: some will say this underlines the seriousness and extent of speeding; others that it\u2019s good to have improved enforcement and this should make a difference in time. But the reality may be that speeding \u2013 whether by motor car or motor boat \u2013 is so deeply in our culture that it is a long-term educational task to bring about significant change in Salcombe Harbour. The crazy part is that most people value the harbour because of its beauty, its setting, its gin-clear water, its lack of industry, its wildlife and its peace. It does seem odd, then, to race through it in a motorboat, churning up a lot of wash and noise.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the time of year for presents and this year South Pool may well get a present \u2013 probably not in time for Christmas but perhaps in time for the season. This is the long-awaited extension to the village pontoon. This is all part of increasing access within the harbour \u2013 to Kingsbridge by dredging the basin (in February 2011) and providing the visitors\u2019 pontoon; to Frogmore, by providing a new pontoon; and to South Pool by extending our own small, but heavily-used, pontoon.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, we must hope that the lovely Devon County Council keeps the creek road available and in use. It wouldn\u2019t be good to have the pontoon the wrong side of a crevasse so that nobody could get from South Pool to the pontoon, except at low water when the boats couldn\u2019t go anywhere anyway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I got into terrible trouble when I recently said sweetly that speeding down the creek was a particular issue on summer evening high tides at the weekends. A reader \u02bephoned to say that I was ignoring the serious speeding which took place at other times. Heaven forbid. This season no fewer than 48 written warnings for speeding have been issued by the Harbour Master, and there has also been one successful prosecution for anti-social behaviour. Sadly, speeding still goes on…<\/p>\n