I was lucky enough to go out lobstering on Sunday. The weather was wonderful, the sea was calm and it was fascinating to be up close and personal with one of the few remaining traditional industries. Whilst the local crustacea did a great job of evading most of the pots, we did manage to bring back some magnificent lobster and crab, as well as whelks, bream and even a conger eel!
(Check out the photos at
http://twitpic.com/1wv3lf, http://twitpic.com/1wv4lx and
http://twitpic.com/1x1euk)
The experience got me thinking:
why doesn't Littlehampton make more of its natural resources? We have a small (and sadly declining) fleet of commercial fishermen who fish right off our coast. It seems that much of their haul (whelks for example) is consumed overseas, which is a shame, but at least Riverside Fish buy locally caught fish and make a big deal of its provenance.
As well as the fishermen, we have quite a few sport fishing boats, which always seem to be busy. We also have a growing number of restaurants (East Beach Cafe, Fish Factory, Fred's etc) where you can enjoy fresh fish (hopefully some of which was swimming off our coast earlier that day!)
You see quite a few anglers fishing the river and on the beach and of course, loads of kids love to go crabbing.
Add to that an abundance of watersports, from sailing, boating and diving and, yes, even surfing (something I witnessed for the first time last week on West Beach).
We also have an award-winning beach, an award-winning beach cafe, a great river and a popular marina and some of the most attractive beach huts you'll find anywhere in England. And, soon we'll have something unusual to sit on and look out at the sea (that'll be the bench!)
So, why oh why, aren't we making a big splash about it? As a seaside resort, what happens on, in and next to the water should be at the very core of what Littlehampton is about. But how many people know of the town's attractions beyond 'sun, sea and sand'? That's why we needed a stonkingly good regatta, rather than an Armed Forces Day which has no relevance whatsoever and is, in my opinion at least, unlikely to draw much of crowd.
It's a travesty that there isn't a summer season of water-based events (apart from a day or two of dragon boat racing, I'm not aware there's anything at all)
It's also why we need shops selling nautical gear and nautical inspired gifts, and it's why we need more seafood restaurants. Surely, this is something the Town Council should be actively encouraging.
And we should turn the miserable (and always empty) Look & Sea Centre into an art gallery specialising in nautically and seaside-inspired paintings and photographs.
Let's face it, apart from the natural resources we have on our doorstep, there's no other reason to come to Littlehampton. The town needs to start championing our nautical assets, because what we've got is something other places would give their eye teeth for.
Sadly, all we can come up with is 'Littlehampton. Much more than just a store' , a bunch of embarrassingly bad leaflets and a couple of London taxi cabs plastered in the same horrible artwork!
