Paul becomes a Winkler

Winkle Island, with Winkle sculpture by local resident Leigh Dyer

On the other side of the street from the new Jerwood Gallery there is a paved area known as "Winkle Island", with a somewhat baroque sculpture in what appears to be stainless steel, of a giant winkle with a base of mackerel and rock.  The metal winkle serves as a collecting box for donations to the Winkle Club, formed in 1900 by the Hastings fishermen as a charitable vehicle for donations to the poor.

Membership of the Winkle Club is by invitation, and Paul was flattered recently to be asked to join, by our neighbour, the composer Polo Piatti.   He was admitted to membership at a ceremony in the Fishermen's Club, in the course of a social evening attended by other Winklers (as members are known) and presented with the small winkle shell that he now has to keep with him at all times - failure making him liable to a fine if he is unable to produce the shell on being challenged by another member with the formula "Winkle up".  

Good-humoured bonhomie was the characteristic of the evening, with music from the Goodall Brothers (a duo not in the first flush of youth but no less accomplished performers for that) singing a selection of golden oldies from the fifties and sixties.  As in all local events, you recognise faces, and it's like pieces of a jigsaw slotting into place - Keith Goodall works in our fishmonger's, and another Winkler present was Arthur Read, whom I pass regularly at his fish-stall behind the Jerwood.  

Famous Winklers include Winston Churchill in the past and the Duke of Kent and the Queen in the present.  Paul is now added to their number, and has the task of raising funds for the Club coffers.  Hastings people being fond of dressing up in costume, this may involve him donning some strange outfits.  Pictures will follow!

Antony Mair