JAWS 2015 - The Lesleyville Horror

The west beach of Selsey was unusually void of bathers this week-end.

On Wednesday a shoal of over 50 sharks came into the RSPB Medmerry Nature Reserve with the high tide for a feast of crabs before escaping out to sea as the tide ebbed.

One unfortunate chap missed the outgoing tide!

Nature wardens say they were "astonished" to come across a group of up to 50 sharks swimming in rising tidal waters in West Sussex.

Video footage shows dozens of fins circling in the knee-deep water at RSPB's Medmerry wildlife site near Selsey.

The society says it was an "unprecedented" group and identified them as smooth-hounds, a type of shark usually found offshore in coastal waters.

RSPB warden Peter Hughes captured the footage.

He said: "It was astonishing. There were just these huge fish everywhere in knee-deep water.

"We assume they were coming in to feed on the crabs and other marine life that have made their home at Medmerry.

"We knew in time that (this) was going to be a great place for wildlife, but I don’t think anyone expected this!"

A smooth-hound can grow up to 159 cm (5 ft 3 ins) long and weigh more than 13 kg (29 lb).

They are a shallow water shark species and regularly come close enough to land to be targeted by the shore angler.

This report courtesy of Sky News

Many people were concerned that the sharks were swimming in the same shallow waters as bathers but smooth-hound sharks. also known as gummy sharks, don’t have razor sharp teeth like other larger species of sharks. Instead their teeth are flattened plates which they use to crunch up crabs along the bottom of the seabed.

They are commonly known as dogfish, and are what is served as Huss, Rock Eel or Rock Salmon at your local fish and chippie and regularly caught by anglers of the beaches of the South of England.

Here’s a selection of dogfish that the family have caught over the last 2 years.

So why not pop down to your local chippie for good old fish and chips – you never know who you might meet!

Hey Ho!

A Pub is a Pub is a Beerhouse – Part One

Whether you call them pubs, taverns, inns or alehouses they are renowned all over the world. The great British pub is not just a place to drink beer, wine, cider or even something a little bit stronger, it is a unique social centre and the focus of community life in villages, towns and cities throughout the length and breadth of the country.

The Beerhouse Act 1830 made it easy for anyone to obtain a licence to brew and sell beer on payment a licence fee of two guineas. The intention was to increase competition between brewers and to encourage the drinking of beer and cider instead of gin which was still the cheapest and most common drink of the working classes. In addition, the industrial revolution could only function if the workforce was sober. Beer was not only viewed as the lesser evil in terms of controlling labour and production but in many areas still safer to drink than water. This resulted in the opening of hundreds of new beer houses, public houses and breweries throughout the country. Many of these beer houses eventually evolved into fully licensed public houses including my local, The Fox, which remained a beer house until the early 1930’s.

But sadly great British pubs are becoming harder to find as they are closed down and replaced by large characterless, uninteresting restaurants that also serve beer. 

Not so Oxford, however, which still has more than its fair share of traditional watering holes and it was Oxford, three weeks ago, that was once again the scene of the quarterly OAP’s Behaving Badly outing.

We arrived early and loitered on the river tow path until midday when The Punter flung open its doors to the thirsty "Punterites".

With all the toilets out of action at Oxford railway station I proceeded straight to the men's room and was confronted with this "work of art" hanging on the wall in the cubicle.

Talk about getting the day off to a start with a bang!

I won’t say that this was the highlight of our day out but, predictably, it has been the subject of several odes. 

I will use this one, not because it’s the best but because it is a rare excursion into the world of rhyme by yours truly.

There was a young man from Bombay

Who couldn’t stop having his way.

He went on the hunt

In Oxford, the runt,

And stopped for “the one” in the Punt.

He ordered a pint and a pie

While giving the barmaid the eye

With a twist and a shunt

And a groan and a grunt

Staged a daring and royal cunning stunt.

So in Oxford when taking the throne

Make sure that you take in your phone

To record the events

However intense

That the natives perform in the gents!

The Werewolf of Hampshire

Oxford is a remarkable city, not just for its interesting mix of ancient and modern architecture but also for the sheer number of pubs within walking distance of the railway station. This is borne out by the fact that on this, our 13th visit, we were able to grace four public houses with our presence for the first time - The Punter, The Kite, The Crown and The Wheatsheaf, taking the tally of pubs visited since we started our quest in December 2011 to 34 – and there are still more to tick off!

OAP's Behaving Badly Tour of Oxford Pubs

All this talk of beer has given me a thirst so I'll leave you with this before I set off to Selsey Bill for a pint of Brakspeares at The Lifeboat:

Cheers!