New Calshot Harbour

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31316, 11 March 1967, Page 5

New Calshot Harbour

(By KENNETH ANTHONY) the inhabitants of Tristan da Cunha returned to their lonely island in the Atlantic in 1963, two years after the volcanic eruption that drove them from their homes, they found that lava had destroyed the only safe landing beach for their boats. Since the Islanders depended mainly on fishing for their livelihood, this was a serious problem. Somehow a harbour had to be provided. A suitable site was located on a reef, and the islanders set to work. Construction was not an easy task, for equipment was limited to such as could be landed from rafts. For the harbour walls, gabions were used—large wire baskets filled with carefully

packed stones. These give the weight and stability of stone blocks, but have the added advantage of helping to dissipate the energy of the waves. When the breakwaters were finished, the enclosed area was excavated from the actual reef by explosives. Special Stamps Now the harbour is in use,, with a new entrance channel giving a depth of Bft at low water, and the skilled boatmen of Tristan have better facilities than they have ever enjoyed before. The opening of the harbour was an event of such importance to Tristan that it was featured on a set of four special stamps. They were issued this January. The islanders decided on the name of Calshot Harbour in recognition of the kindness which they were shown in England. More than 200 of them spent their two-year exile at Calshot in Hampshire, on the shore of the Solent.

Calshot was at one time a famous Royal Air Force base, and the Tristan refugees were housed in former R.A.F. married quarters. In their honour the road where this accommodation is situated Is known as Tristan Close.