The River at Hoo

The River c1955
Enlarge photo |  More about this photo

In the late 1950s my parents had a small boat on the river here. My dad built it in the side garden of our house on the outskirts of the village. He painted it blue and named it 'Jeannie', after my mother. It had a small outboard motor, and our family of four spent many happy days both 'messing about in boats' down at the marina, and actually boating on the river, taking picnics on the river islands and admiring the Napoleonic fort. Funny how the sun always seemed to be shining in those days. Well, not always - one memorable trip to the Isle of Sheppy, undertaken in the face of small craft warnings, is particularly etched into my memory! I've often thought of those days on the river, partly because with the perspective of age I've realised that all the young men like my father who were so interested in making happy memories with their families had so recently fought in a terrible war and had other memories they wanted to forget. Our family name is Cox. My father was Eric, my mother was Jean, and my sister was Penny.