Massey Shaw

Sea legs in the genes

Let’s face it we’re a seafaring nation. The greatest part of Britain’s history has been spent dominating the seas and protecting our island from unwelcome visitors and whether we like to admit it or not, most Britons fancy themselves as natural seafarers – it’s in the genes, isn’t it?

Still happily afloat after 300 columns and 7 years

After a short interlude, Mort Smith sails back into our lives with thank-yous to some of the people who have provided inspiration for some many stories during the past seven years.

Testing times in floods of 1947

As I sit to write this column, it’s pouring with rain – but don’t let that detract from the fact that we’ve just come through one of the driest winters on record – and hosepipe bans are now in force across most of the southern United Kingdom.