Vibrant

Just been visiting one of my favourite spots on Southampton Water, the MDL marina village at Hythe, which opened a floodgate of memories.
It’s as vibrant as ever, just as I remember it 30 years ago when I was privileged to be at the formal opening ceremony for the lock gates which control entrance to the marina, and which was celebrated at the time with an accompanying parade of sail.
This signified the completion of first of all the marina villages in the country, which they say was inspired by Port Grimaud, near St Tropez in the south of France, another of my favourite destinations.
Development of the marina at Hythe, back in the 1980s included 225 waterside homes each with its own mooring, along with 200 marina berths designed around marina basins and islands. The lock gate ceremony was performed by Sir Chay Blyth, and I recall training ship Royalist and racing yacht Virgin Atlantic Challenger leading a parade of 150 yachts through the lock.