An Autobiography of an Ancient Athlete & Antiquarian

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 77 However, as we could not find the money to take the case to the House of Lords, and as we had won on the most important point, viz., that the public had access all over the Broad, the matter was allowed to drop, but no further aggressions by any so-called " Broad owner " took place until Sir C. Rich tried to stop the fishing on Rockland Broad, and met a well deserved defeat, the judgment by a strange irouy of fate being delivered by one of the very Justices of Appeal, which was good enough to call our appeal the most hopeless one he had heard for a long while, but who then used the argumE:nts we used in snch appeal! For years after, Lord Lindley in his capacity of Chairman of the Magistrates at Stratton, decided a precisely similar case (the Rockland Broad Case) in accordance with my arguments, and practically against his former decision in the Court of Appeal. Those who take the view that a tide is not a tide unless it is salt should live, as I had done by the side of the river at Putney, and seen a rise and fall of many feet of fresh water twice a day. The absurdity of saying that the tide is caused by a pushing up and down of fresh water by salt is colossal. On the 22nd June my son R. C. R~ 1 e went to Manitoba by the S.S. Mongolian, and early in July M. M. Rye had a sHgbt attack of typhoid. Having almost accidentally become the owner of a motor launch, we used it for a few trips but did not care for it. On 25th July J.B. Rye got a first class in modern history and took his B.A. soon after. I was still tricycling, the 21st August got up Brockley bill, which used to be a test hill for bicyclists. Our autumn cruise was with the family and one or two visitors, including J. Beloe, taking a day or two off to attend the Norfolk and Norwich Arcbreological Society's excursion at Lynn and the Marshland Churches, when T printed and presented to the members Tom Martin's notes on them. Our yearly voyage up the Broads was from 26th August to 9th September, Stephen Wright and a friend were over and the boys and Macfarlane part of the time. My old schoolfellow Heriot, and Blyth came down for a week, and with the help of'' Professor Day" we showed them some grand bream fishing off South Walsham Dyke. I fear that they did not know the pitch had been heavily