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  • 04/04/2019 Fishing Report by Malcolm Collins on Just Mary (Christchurch, Dorset)

    4 Apr 2019 by Malcolm Collins

    Report on-board Just Mary

    As I sit at my desk in the Office looking out on a cold, wet and windy day here on the South Coast my thoughts turn to the coming season. 'Just Mary' is currently moored in the River Stour at Tuckton, birthplace of my paternal Grandfather and a man who unfortunately passed away before I was born. He had fought, as a very young man, in the First World War in Salonika against the 'Slavs' and in the Middle East against the 'Turks' whilst in the Royal Horse Artillery, he sent postcards back home from Jerusalem as a Sergeant in a truly local Regiment based in Christchurch. When the Second World War erupted in 1939 he tried desperately to enlist again but his age (43) and an injury from the Great War prevented him from doing so. Determined to 'do his bit' and get involved he joined the Volunteer Force which became the Home Guard known later as 'Dads Army'. At this time he lived with my Nan and his five children, with my Dad being the youngest at only 5 years old, in the Coastguard Cottages in Wick Lane at Christchurch. As he lived on the River Stour he was given the job of organising the defence of the Harbour, the Rivers and local beaches as the local Sergeant. On Tuckton Island, where I keep my dinghy to access 'Just Mary' there is a hidden pill box which my Grandfather used to man with his squad of mates, there is another one in Elkins Boatyard. The family named the Island at Tuckton as 'Ted's Island', the pill box was there to overlook the River and prevent German Commandos from coming up the River and blowing up Tuckton Bridge close nearby. Every time I use the dinghy on 'Ted's Island' to access 'Just Mary' I walk in the footsteps of my Grandfather, a man who I sadly never got to meet, but a great man nonetheless. We will be running trips from Christchurch this year, 2019, eighty years on from the outbreak of the Second World War, in honour of my Grandfather, Edwin 'Ted' George Collins, of the Royal Horse Artillery, Barrack Road, Christchurch. Ta Malc.....

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