During Cowes Week the families of the lifeboat crew used to have a wonderful treat.
On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday during Cowes Week the Yarmouth lifeboat went to Cowes to take people out to see all the liners and naval boats visiting Cowes, anchored offshore, and all the grand yachts like the ‘Victoria and Albert’. The Bembridge boat did the other days. It raised money for the RNLI.
The families of the crew were allowed to travel in the lifeboat to Cowes, leaving Yarmouth at 9.30 and returning at 3.30. We used to have the first trip out to see all the grand boats. Then we children would paddle a bit and eat our sandwiches whilst sitting on the Green watching all the boats. Sometimes the sea was a bit choppy, but we didn’t mind. We loved our special week. Eileen Smith nee Lansdowne b 1921
Tag Archives: Eileen Lansdowne
Eileen Smith: Free Time at Love Shore 1950s
The only problem you had on the beach was the guns going off above you from the sailing. The West Wight Scows were anchored off Love Shore and Dr Drummond’s, his was white with a red band round it, and was called Pillbox. They used to race every Wednesday and Saturday afternoon and they had their gun in their little shed at the bottom of the Deacons’ garden. Sometimes they’d never fire the gun, they’d say: Bang!
They didn’t like us down there because we were shouting and laughing and goodness knows what. They couldn’t stop us because the lane going down to the shore was a public right of way. We used to walk right through to the next lane, along the stones from Fryer’s Lane right up to the Common. Eileen Smith nee Lansdowne b 1921
Eileen Smith: Free Time at Love Shore 1940s
Joy Cotton, Cynthia Lansdowne and Barbara Hayden at Love Shore
In the summer holidays there’d be maybe half a dozen mums with families, my mum, and Mrs Eames, she was the police constable’s wife at Yarmouth, and the Robinsons, down Love Shore, just down the road. We’d pack up picnics and spend all day there. The mums would be down there with their knitting and we’d be down there all the afternoon. It was a safe beach because you had the jetties there. If you got swept down you went against the jetties. Eileen Smith nee Lansdowne b 1921
Eileen Smith: Loveshore in summer
In the summer holidays there would be maybe 6 mums with families down at Loveshore. We’d pack up picnics and spend all day there.
Eileen Smith nee Lansdowne
swimming at Love Shore
Eileen Smith: Free Time: swimming
Yarmouth School Mile Swimming Medal, other side engraved with name Eileen Lansdowne 1932
All of us children learnt to swim at Love Shore or Pier Shore, down the lane opposite Basketts Lane. The boys swam off Love Shore; the girls swam nearer the pier.
We went swimming twice a week in the summer, from the end of May, supervised by Mr. Stanway and Miss White ( who was later Mrs. H Hayles). According to tides, we went swimming at 11.30 in the morning or 3.30 in the afternoon. We used to nip back home to change and run down to Love Shore with a towel round us. No one taught us proper strokes, we just learnt to swim. In September we swam for our certificates – 20 yards, 40 yards, and 100 yards. In 1933 some of us swam a mile from Eastmore to the pier for which we received a medal – I’ve still got mine.
I only swam once in the competition against other schools. I hated it. The private schools had all been taught proper strokes – crawl – and we’d just learnt to swim along.
Eileen Smith nee Lansdowne b 1921
Swimming Medal awarded for One Mile
Eileen Smith: School dentist 1920s
We always knew when the school dentist had arrived – you saw his head bobbing up and down at the windows as he walked along, because he had a wooden leg.
You had a yellow form to take home. It cost 6d for treatment, no matter what you had done. I’ll never forget Mr Cartwright pumping away on his treadle, working the drill.
Eileen Smith nee Lansdowne b 1921