Whilst researching the local legends that appear
on this site we have come across a few mysteries that we cannot find
answers to. None of the people we have asked can help us ...
so ... if you can supply the answers to these local mysteries then
please contact us.
We can then put up a web page with the solved mystery and, if you wish,
attribute it to you.
The Old Hulk at Levington
Whilst walking
along the banks of the River Orwell we turned and followed Levington
Creek inland for a little way. There, beached firmly on the land and
only partly in the deep water, was an old boat.
The boat's back is almost broken and soon, maybe
in the next bad storm, the rear part will break off and slide back into
the water to be lost forever. Most of the wood is quite sound despite
its appearance but there is a lot of structural damage to the hull.
Midships there are 2 or 3 planks missing from both sides just below the
bulwarks. The hull is damaged and holed at the very rear of the stern
and there is no trace of the rudder. The storms and tides have broken
her back (not obvious from the picture).
Exploring
inside showed us that she once had 2 permanent sleeping bunks built
around the stern and an engine amidships. All the portholes had
internal storm shutters fitted, so we believe it had once been coastal
or sea going. Just for'd of the engine is a socket where a short mast
was once fitted, but looking at the internal structure it seems to have
ended its days as a motor cruiser and not as a sailing boat. There is
no trace of the boat's name nor of any other identification. All the
brass fittings and the engine have been removed, as have the wheel and
instruments.
Soon this wreck will disappear. Before it does, it
would be nice to know a little of her history, and what terrible things
happened to her to cause all that damage. Any why did she end up as a
wreck in an isolated creek? The rest of the creek is shallow this close
to the bank, but where she has gone aground is unusually deep right up
to the bank.
Ancient Rhyme
in a Public House
The
following 'verse' is said to be old English from this part of England.
These words used to reside on a sign in a pub which has now been
demolished. Everyone says that it is an old rhyming sign, but no one
could tell me what the rhyme meant...............until Roger Knight of Cornwall
sent in his translation. Reading Roger's translation makes it seem so
obvious! To think that this little rhyme has had us puzzled for so
long! Here is the original mystery rhyme and Roger's translation:
Original
Rhyme:
THEM ILL ERSLEA VET-HEMI!
LLT HEW HER RYME NLOW ERTH EIRS-AILTH;
EMA! LTS TER SLE AVET-HE
KI? LN,
FORAD-ROPO;
FTH
EWHI. TESW ANA-LE-
Roger
Knight's Translation:
THE MILLERS LEAVE THE MILL,
THE
WHERRYMEN LOWER THEIR SAIL,
THE MALTSTERS LEAVE THE KILN,
FOR
A DROP OF THE WHITE SWAN ALE.
(Once again, thank you to Roger Knight
of Cornwall for the solution - now can anyone help us explain the Old
Hulk?).
