The Old Man and his Boat
Watching life go by…..
Two years ago I drove to a town close to my childhood home. It stands at the edge of an estuary, a once proud and prosperous town now, sadly on the decline. Two years ago I came here alone to try and find the place where my father would take me as a boy to watch the ships come into dock. I loved those days, I remember standing on the harbour wall looking at the huge merchant ships carrying cargo from far away places and wishing I could go to sea with them. These huge ships on huge oceans represented freedom and adventure to my young mind and that feeling has stayed with me ever since.
Two years ago I took this photo because it summed up how I felt about what this town had become. The boat, full of rust and wedged in the mudflats symbolised much of what so many of England’s coastal towns are fighting against; a changing world in which time waits for no fishing vessel or its fleet. This town, like so many others has seen its once prosperous economy ebb away threatening its very infrastructure from the inside out.
Two years later and I went back with my brother. The boat was still there, the harbour views I had enjoyed as a boy have given way to port security gates where container ships offload brand new luxury cars ready to be transported to neighbouring towns and cities. Here was a town clinging on to its past, shops selling hardware under a family name, fish and chips shops struggling for their very existence against the ubiquitos kebab and pizza joints, and old working men’s clubs sheltering the long term unemployed and long since retired fishermen. There is real history to be seen in and around the town but that history is all that is left, it felt sad to be driving through here as a means to an end, which is what it has become. A road’s end before the sea.
Rusty Fishing Boat
Alongside this boat sits another, much smaller one and in it sits a man quite alone. He sits and repairs the engine motor on a boat to nowhere. My brother and I stood and watched him and looked at the near derelict repair yard next to it. We talked about the town and what it had become and how that man might well wonder what has become of his life and his town. We talked about our lives and those days watching the ships go by, where we had come from and what we had become and where it would lead. As we said our goodbyes and I drove home I thought about that man and why I presumed he would be unhappy and then I thought about my life and returning to the chaos of work the next day. Maybe he’s got it right after all, he’s done his share and all that’s left is to go fishing….
The Old Sea Dog
A sad contemplation indeed.
I’ve wondered why you have seemd so distant lately - unmoored with no shore in sight.
If you had spoken to the old one - you might have forged a new connection to replace what has vanished.
Laura
P.S. love the U-tubes, might nick the idea from time to time.
September 25, 2009 @ 3:58 am
Miles,
great write up and shots. It’s the nature of things to slip away into the past and the new to slide in I suppose but change is not always for the better.
We’d do well to take the best from modern society and thought whilst retaining what’s best from previous generations - that way, perhaps, towns, skills and generations of people need not be lost.
The old man may be pottering about still in a time gone by but I’d bet he’s not going to bed at night wondering how he’s going to cover £500 a month car payments, juggle his credit cards and keep up with that second mortage he took out for a conservatory.
It’s great to stop and look around at life - a great day !
Cheers
Rod
September 25, 2009 @ 8:04 am
Laura,
These things come and go I suppose.
Glad you like the music tie-in, I was going to suggest one for your last post..”Georgia on my mind”…Sorry!!!
Miles
September 25, 2009 @ 10:02 pm
Rod,
Very true, what’s he worried about? Time for a glass of wine methinks
Miles
September 25, 2009 @ 10:03 pm
I’m sorting through the posts I missed this past week (crazy busy lately) and it’s like sitting down with a lovely book of fine photography. I’m too tired to think, so this wonderful “picture album” is perfect. Thank you!
Melissa
September 26, 2009 @ 3:03 am
Melissa,
Glad you like it, this is the perfect website for “switching off”, most do after the first sentence!!!
Miles
September 26, 2009 @ 10:43 pm