Friday 4 September 2015

Cricket on the Bramble Bank

In the middle of the Solent, the sound which separates the Isle of Wight from mainland England is the Bramble Bank, a sandy shoal. At low water during the extreme equinoctial tides the sand bank breaks surface for about 90 minutes.

In a demonstration of English eccentricity each year two local yacht clubs the Royal Southern and the Island Sailing Club have  held a cricket match on the briefly exposed sand.


We took the opportunity to go over as spectators on one of the  Hamble River Sailing Club ribs on what was an overcast, but hugely fun, Bank Holiday Monday evening.


These couple of panoramic shots hopefully convey the spirit of the event and the location of the pitch.



After all these year of living here it was great to actually see things first hand.

4 comments:

  1. What fun! I have heard about this before - and once sailed over the bank in a Laser - but never actually seen the cricket match in person.

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  2. Awesome British eccentricity at its very best
    Good'un Max
    Great family photo too

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  3. Which proves that not only do mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the mid day sun, they also play cricket, complete with scoreboard in the middle of the Solent - How wonderfully and eccentrically English - I wouldn't have been surprised at all to have seen a photo of someone running around offering a plate of cucumber sandwiches.

    There was once a similiar tradition here on a large expanse of tidal sand in Whangarei harbour. The Onerahi Yacht Club used to organise the annual 'Snake Bank Picnic' - which was some party!

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  4. One of Uffa Fox's favorite activities.

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