In our neighbourhood : Beautiful Bosham

I'm sure I'm not the only one who despaired at the weather forecast this weekend. We normally try and get out somewhere on at least one of the days, but this week the relentless rain defeated us. There was light at the end of the tunnel though (literally!) with sunshine forecast for today, so Theo and I decided to make the most of it by heading out to a little village near us, I also needed to get some photos for a university project I am working on at the moment which is centered around this spot.

Bosham was my home for 5 years and it's somewhere I love to go back to. It's full of history and character. It's famous (among other things) for being the place where King Canute tried to hold back the tide and these days it's daytrippers that get caught when the road around the creek floods twice a day.




One quirky little spot in the village are these two tiny cottages. There's a great story about a nervous young man on a train from London in the 1950s confiding in a passenger that he was going to meet his future in-laws and he didn't know what to wear for dinner "because they live in Bosham Castle" - I wish I'd seen his face when he arrived!

There are all sorts of lovely house names as you walk round including this one which is the house next door to the famous Anchor Bleu pub.



And the proportions of this front door always baffles people. It's a normal size opening, but with a raised step in front to protect the house from high tides. As you step in the door you step down to the house floor which is lower.

As I walked round taking photos, Theo had a great time burning off all the energy he bottled up over the weekend. There's a raised footpath round the creek called the Trippet which is particularly fun to scoot along at speed. His balance bike really has been the best thing we have ever bought him. He'll go for miles on it without moaning.

This wooden building which stands on stilts in the creek is the old oyster shed. Bosham used to be a big centre for oyster farming until (legend has it) the Bishop of Chichester got food-poisoning from one and the already dwindling industry was killed off by bad publicity! These days the sailing club use it to store kit and run races.

Bosham is also famous for its swans. The birds here defy most logic. Swans don't live in salt water and they are fiercely territorial. In Bosham however there are at least 50 swans living in a tidal creek. Apparently the sea has enough fresh water mixed in it at this point to keep them happy and they also cease to be territorial when there are too many rival birds to fight off!

After the weekend cooped up in the house it was great to get out in the fresh air for a couple of hours, although I do find the sun starts dipping in the sky all too soon at this time of year... Only another month till the shortest day!



Linking up with Country Kids and...