The Ice Prince

It's a good title, isn't it? But, sadly, not mine. It is, instead, the name of a cargo vessel that sank off Portland Bill a week ago. I knew nothing about it until we trouped down to Worthing prom this afternoon, for the small boy to ride his bike, and found 5,000-tonnes of timber lying on the beach.

The sun was shining and, in true British fashion, half the population of Sussex had turned out, accompanied by several ice-cream vans. This 31-second offering shows the wash-up still in action.



According to himself, who has lived in the area since...[insert date from long ago], Worthing was always the channel's dumping ground. It used to be seaweed, he said, torn up during summer storms, and washed up four-feet thick on the beaches just in time for the holiday season. It would then rot, attracting swarms of flies and giving off a smell that he can only describe as "pungent", thus rendering the beach "completely unapproachable". See this article on the Worthing Herald's website, from where I, er, borrowed this picture.