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[Humour] The Shipping Forecast.



The Large One

Who's Next?
Jul 7, 2003
52,343
97.2FM
The shipping forecast and Test match commentary the radio are two of my favourite things blimey I came over all Von Trap for a moment then

Classic from Jim Maxwell a couple of yeas ago when Stuart Broad was ripping through the Australians at Trent Bridge (I'm paraphrasing) - and do read this with a Jim Maxwell voice in your head...

"Listeners on 5-Live Sports Extra, online and on DAB stay with us, but listeners on Radio 4 Long Wave, we take a short break for the... Shipping Fooorecaaast!" [short pause]... and Australia are all at sea here as well..."
 






Harry Wilson's tackle

Harry Wilson's Tackle
NSC Patron
Oct 8, 2003
49,963
Faversham
I know them all except comma but Leek,brook,gull, seems to fit, that' one,

Come on, around Brighton and Hove from the eary 60s, possibly earlier. Humber, Singer, Commer, Dodge.

edited - Commer
 


Albion in the north

Well-known member
Jul 13, 2012
1,509
Ooop North
I did read a while back that it's essentially obsolete now, as most boats have the technology to obtain their own weather forecasts, but the BBC don't dare to bin it off because it's such an institution.

Im not one to argue but it still fulfils a vital safety role. Yes, you can download grib files etc whereever you are but its always better to have more than source of information. But it is a great institution nonetheless.
A couple of useless bits of trivia. Its never more than 380 words long and the name for an area of the sea was changed to commemorate the guy who started it all, Robert Fitzroy, who was also the captain of Darwins ship HMS Beagle.
 






wakeytom

New member
Apr 14, 2011
2,718
The Hacienda
I listen to this on night shift and have listened to it for years. My Dad always listened to the night time edition, being a sea-fairing man and he listened to it religiously before turning in for the night. The night he died in a hospice, and this seems fantastical but I swear it's true, at 00:45 the shipping forecast came on, we sat and listened to it and by the time the closing Sailing By finished he had passed.
It has a large place in my heart.

As an aside, Attention All Shipping: A journey round the shipping forecast by Charlie Connelly is a brilliant read.

Now, it's been a while since i have read it but it contains the immortal sentence (I cannot remember the exact location he is writing about but let's just say it's the Orkney's, someone on here is bound to recall though)...

"The residents of Orkney are a collection of some of the ugliest people I have ever seen, and I've been to Selhurst Park when Palace are at home". Fantastic!

Just purchased this thank you
 


vegster

Sanity Clause
May 5, 2008
27,892
I did read a while back that it's essentially obsolete now, as most boats have the technology to obtain their own weather forecasts, but the BBC don't dare to bin it off because it's such an institution.

Doubt it will be binned Edna, if you lose your engine and electrics you can at least hear the forecast on the radio.
 


The Brighton Bear

Come on Kylie, get a grip
May 3, 2010
13,954
Rottingdean
It was always on the radio at teatime when I was a child. It does conjure up an image of an old bearded fisherman in his fairisle jumper smoking his pipe listening to the forecast deciding whether to head out to the Hebrides to dredge some whelks.
 




Harry Wilson's tackle

Harry Wilson's Tackle
NSC Patron
Oct 8, 2003
49,963
Faversham
It was always on the radio at teatime when I was a child. It does conjure up an image of an old bearded fisherman in his fairisle jumper smoking his pipe listening to the forecast deciding whether to head out to the Hebrides to dredge some whelks.

Wasn't that Jack Hargreaves on Out of Town?

Incidentlly, that and what other programme were the only two original programmes made by Southern TV that were networked on ITV?????
 


Harry Wilson's tackle

Harry Wilson's Tackle
NSC Patron
Oct 8, 2003
49,963
Faversham


vegster

Sanity Clause
May 5, 2008
27,892
Wasn't that Jack Hargreaves on Out of Town?

Incidentlly, that and what other programme were the only two original programmes made by Southern TV that were networked on ITV?????

How ?
 




Harry Wilson's tackle

Harry Wilson's Tackle
NSC Patron
Oct 8, 2003
49,963
Faversham
worz.jpg
 


The Oldman

I like the Hat
NSC Patron
Jul 12, 2003
7,106
In the shadow of Seaford Head
Maybe it’s a sign of old age but I go to sleep at 1 am having listened to the shipping forecast and wake at 5.20 am to listen to the updated shipping forecast. Much better than all the awful news we have to put up with theses days
 


Bry Nylon

Test your smoke alarm
Helpful Moderator
Jul 21, 2003
19,844
Playing snooker
Doubt it will be binned Edna, if you lose your engine and electrics you can at least hear the forecast on the radio.

If I'd lost my engine and electrics I think overall I'd prefer not to hear the forecast!

But on a serious note, I love listening to the Shipping Forecast and it's timeless, lyrical sing-song rhythm. Of course, I barely understand a word of it's unfathomable secret langauge but that is also alot of the appeal, it a strange way. And as I listen, I get an image of countless trawler crews, out there somewhere, listening too and it seems oddly comforting?
 




skipper734

Registered ruffian
Aug 9, 2008
9,189
Curdridge
When you are halfway to the Rock and every other wave is sweeping the deck and the only lights are the red and green reflected in the breaking wave at the bow. A look behind shows the white and the turbulent breaking water that the Yacht has just smashed through a glance at your watch gives you the good news, it's time for the Shipping Forecast.
Hand over hand work you way past the driver and cast a glance at the rail meat perched on the side their bodies wedged between the upper and lower lifelines, some are asleep others quietly chatting. Down through the hatch and into the red light of the navigators little fiefdom, it's warm down here and the radio is on, long gone are the days of guesswork and dead reckoning, there are now machines that tell you within a foot of where you are, but there is only one Shipping Forecast.
 


AmexRuislip

Trainee Spy 🕵️‍♂️
Feb 2, 2014
33,801
Ruislip
I always find the shipping forecast quite useful, for when I'm driving home from work off nights at 'O' my god in the morning.
Better than listening to the usual drivel on the radio, featuring the M25 becoming a car park.
 












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