LAST week's Chinese cockle picking tragedy brought back long forgotten memories for an old colleague, former Journal reporter Clive Cook.
Back in the late 20s he witnessed the power of the tide at Morecambe Bay when as secretary of Atherton Swimming Club he took long distance swimmer, Jackie Houghton, to compete in the Mersey Mile from Grange- over-Sands to Morecambe.
He said the party had three pilot boats and a speedboat to negotiate the dangerous bay but it was amazing to watch a sand bank rise high out of the water within seconds.
Clive says he can understand why the party drowned having witnessed the speed of the changes. He said their party would not have dreamed of crossing the bay without the necessary guides even so long ago.
I have a fear of the sea at the best of times and there's no way I would ever walk in that bay, even with a genned up escort.
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