The Watermeadows Of Warblington

A Memory of Warblington.

Just to the southeast of St Thomas a Becket church there are some lovely watermeadows reaching almost to the sea shore. A small beck, or stream, runs N-S down one side. One summer's day in 1942 or 43, I went on a picnic there with the Shoesmith family of North Streey, Havant. The sun shone, the larks sang high in the cloudless sky. It was one of those unforgettable magic days of childhood, when everything was fresh and perfect, and the war was half forgotten. With my companions, John, Stuart and Angela Shoesmith, I played in the stream while Mr Jack and Evelyne Shoesmith made our picnic tea, seated on rugs on the lush grass. Somehow, one of us found a baby animal, which we assumed was an otter. It seemed quite friendly, and we took it into the water, thinking it would be in its element. But it didn't seem very keen, and Jack Shoesmith gently took it from us and released it back into the wild whence it came. Thinking back, the poor creature was probably a weasel or stoat, and couldn't stand the water, but in our innocence we thought we were doing it a kindness.

I went back to Warblington about ten years ago, walked around the church, marvelled at the ancient yew tree and with my wife trudged across the watermeadows to the stream. Gazing at it, I recalled that wonderful, carefree summer's day when we played with our 'otter'. I only hope that magic piece of Hampshire countryside is still unspoiled by the developers' sprawl and enjoyed by today's children.

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