"Pill, Pill, I love
thee still
Even tho' I'm Leaving.
Oh when the rain down
pours,
The thunder roars
And the lightning
flashes by
You'd he better by
far
In the Duke or the
star
Than on the old Pill
Ferry Tonight".
(Adge Cutler/The
Wurzels)
Situated near the village
of Pill
at a place called Ham Green. Pill was
originally called Crockham pill and the
spelling was changed variously; the most common choice now is
Crockerne Pill the full title being
reserved for the creek itself. Whilst it seems that extensive
mooring space was only available since the 17th century the word
"pill" is Ancient Briton for creek or inlet so the settlement may
have existed from that time. The ferry dates at least from the time
of Domesday and was a well-established
route for the Lords of Berkeley to visit their lands at
Portbury.
Apart from the pilots
who made the village famous there were two other important sorts of
boatmen, westernmen and hobblers.
Before the pilots amalgamated early this century the only certain
way to ensure work was to "seek" as far west as Lundy or further,
there are reports of pilot cutters waiting off Liverpool to
intercept ships bound for Bristol. The westernman would board the pilot onto the ship and
then sail back with the help of a boy. The Bristol Channel Pilot
cutters are reknown the world over for
their sea keeping ability and turn of speed. On one
occassion after a pilot boarded a
steamer off Land's End the 'Man and boy' on the cutter
arrived back at Pill before the Steamer.
The hobblers had two
jobs, to row the fleets of boats that towed the sailing boats up
from king Road, beyond the mouth of the river and then to secure
the mooring ropes in port. There is precious little rowing done
nowadays but there are two of the boats left in the creek.
--------------------------------------------
This is a fairly easy
cache, that takes in views across the creek towards the
Avonmouth Bridge and further on
over to South Wales. This small Cache consists of a
camouflaged tobacco tin and when released contained the usual
goodies such as Logbook, pencil and one or two other goodies
to keep the children amused.
Best in conjunction
with ‘Ade’s Nasty Niche 2’ which is a
micro cache that takes you right down to the creek!