off next week around the east coast

[Snowgoose-1]

I have fond memories of Clacton in the summer holidays as a youngster 6 to 10 years old. Haven't been back for over 50 years though so it might have changed. Is the boating pool still there?

Were you a Mod or a Rocker ?

 

[ex-Gladys]

Far too high-class for Clacton. On the last occasion I was there a young family walked past on the front in the opposite direction. As they passed me I thought I heard the say “ Kick that gull”. Not quite believing what I heard, I turned round to see the 5 yr old boy attempting to chase and dispatch a harmless herring-gull standing nearby, and of course failing, something that will no doubt characterise him throughout his life.

There's no such thing as a harmless herring gull!!! Aggressive winged rats, not helped by idiots eating chips etc feeding them, and then complaining that they nick kids ice creams etc. As a teenager I was dive bombed regularly by a local pair (who were raising chicks three storeys up) when I walked past on the road!

 

[AntarcticPilot]

There's no such thing as a harmless herring gull!!! Aggressive winged rats, not helped by idiots eating chips etc feeding them, and then complaining that they nick kids ice creams etc. As a teenager I was dive bombed regularly by a local pair (who were raising chicks three storeys up) when I walked past on the road!

Herring gulls aren't so bad - try skuas! Eat anything that can't fight back, not fussy whether it is still alive! And EXTREMELY aggressive. I've encountered them at both poles, and they are my least favourite bird.

 

[johnalison]

Herring gulls aren't so bad - try skuas! Eat anything that can't fight back, not fussy whether it is still alive! And EXTREMELY aggressive. I've encountered them at both poles, and they are my least favourite bird.

I've not had any encounters with skuas, though I have seen one in the Channel on two occasions while sailing there, when I thought they looked rather handsome. I also have a soft spot for herring gulls even though I know they don't interface with humans very well. They always remind me of when I used to see them flying over the cliffs in Cornwall when I was a child, when they appeared to be flying just for the joy of it and relishing their freedom from our constraints.

My Clacton bloke's behaviour constituted a criminal act, but he was a lot bigger than me.