Until only a few years ago there seemed to be a no-man’s-land between sea and shore which was of no material use to anyone. This was the paradise of the dinghy cruiser, the muddy world of the estuaries. While subtopia and factories found more lucrative uses for land than to leave it green and pleasant, and while commercial shipping lanes made the sea a good place to avoid, there was no money to be made out of estuaries. That day may now be nearing its end. While the Maplin Sands appear in the public eye as the base of a new industrial complex, the schemes for building barrages across the Wash, Morecambe Bay and the Dee progress on the drawing boards. These schemes, we are told, would not only save Windermere and Ullswater from becoming reservoirs, but would create new pleasure areas: vast concrete-lined tanks where those who joined the appropriate club and paid the appropriate large fee could water-ski or race dinghies. The lone voice of those who like tidal waters, muddy shores, and prefer to avoid modern facilities, competitive spirit and noise scarcely gets a hearing. Of course we want to save Windermere and Ullswater from a fate almost as bad — but is this really the only way?

An argument which may appeal to the materialist interests better than my selfish plea to ‘leave my mud alone’ is that the barrages seem likely to change radically the remaining part of the estuaries affected. The Dee, the estuary I know best, has been silting up gradually for centuries. A barrage would rob it of the marshy hinterland onto which the tides can now flow, giving at least a vestige of a tidal scour. To block the way to the tides at this point would mean the growth of a delta outside the river mouth, where the Hoyle Banks now are. How does Prestatyn like the thought of becoming successor to Parkgate-on-marsh? So does this mean that our sailing grounds will only move farther away? Since deep water facilities for the port of Flint have been cited among the scheme’s advantages, the chance might not appeal to the business interests involved.