Bell Wharf, muddy bottom, 2018

Stood on Victoria Wharf at about 2.45, the unnamed blue vessel alongside Bell Wharf was running its engine, so I thought I’d better make a recording while I could. It didn’t actually go anywhere though and I did notice that it was stirring up the mud on the berth, this is an issue here, the fishing trade want to dredge but it’s an SSSI [Site of Special Scientific Interest] now and they’re not allowed to. I know that the North Thames Fisheries Local Action Group are mixed up with all that kind of thing.

The engine kept running long enough to go onto Bell Wharf which is what you hear. There are boys swimming off the wharf, there’s a fixed ladder so you can get back easily enough. After the vessel throttles back you might hear one shout, “Cannonball!” We used to call them bombs as well. And it starts up again, disturbing silt.

When vessels come and go into Leigh they can be quite noisy. They run almost parallel to the shore for a fair bit , there’s an s-bend below the cliffs and the channel eventually emerges out by the pier head, but they can put out quite a loud drone which you can hear for ages all along the seafront.