WEST QUAY - 1982

This was my playground when I was young. We lived directly opposite the gate, and my mum used to clean the ATC hut every week. I was captivated by all the model planes they had inside. I always though Huggets was the piece of land further upriver behind Fort Road and Chapel Street. We used to ride our bikes up and down the little paths and in amongst the mud pools. With regard to the picture of the horse, my father Len Patten, (the coxswain of the lifeboat) was approached on one occasion by a member of the public and asked to not fire the maroons when calling out the lifeboat as it upset the horse....you can imagine his response. The collection of buildings on the quay to the rear also housed my Uncle George's rigging workshop at one time, and there was a small garage where my Aunt Cherry Patten (who had been a teacher at Meeching Valley School and also worked in Cantell's office) used to park her little 3 wheeled bubble car, much to the fascination of the fishermen.