Heritage

The waterside at Eling Creek in the northern reaches of Southampton Water take is one of those picturesque places you can’t miss . . . providing it is high water.

If not, you are treated to an expanse of mud flats and many of these craft moored by the Eling Sailing Club left marooned on the mud.

I caught it at just the right time today with the tide in, and a number of folk enjoying sunshine by the water’s edge and maybe just the chance of a picnic.

In the background is Eling Tide mill which the historians can trace back more than 900 years. The present mill is somewhat younger, built around 1785 but is still a listed building, and has just been re-opened to the public after a conservation project by the local authorities with the help of Heritage Lottery funding.