Weekly Meeting - Our Glorious Coastline (Amy Woolacott)

Our Glorious Coastline - Amy Woolacott

Amy Woolacott started her career at the Atomic Energy Authority in 1955 before moving to Gloucestershire in 1961 and joining the staff at GCHQ, where she remained until her retirement in 1994.  Since then she has been able to indulge her passions for history as a member of the Leckhampton Local History Society and also for the English coastline; the latter being the subject of tonight’s talk.

We enjoyed an interesting presentation accompanied by a selection of Amy’s slides.  Amongst other things we learnt a lot about the history of Trinity House and lighthouses – I for one was surprised to learn that these were only fully automated as late as the 1990s.  

As we toured the coastal towns and villages Amy told us anecdotes relating to our maritime history including trade, piracy, social and religious history as well as the geology of the areas.
We started with slides from the East Coast Wash, Kings Lynn area and gradually worked our way along the Essex, South and Jurassic Coasts, around Land’s End, along the North Cornish and Devon Coasts and up through Wales, Merseyside, the Solway Firth, Garelochead and Oban. 

Then, just before the slide projector packed up, we caught a glimpse of the WW II Commando monument near Spean Bridge.
Our tour of the coast of Great Britain was then lamentably cut short!

Phil Witcomb