52
THE ESSEX NATURALIST
been allowed to borrow Mr. Sampson's book and extract much
of it for publication, and I am grateful to them for this kindness as
well as for their permisssion to publish his notes.
In editing his notes I have intentionally kept my own con-
tribution to a minimum, and apart from some omissions and a
certain amount of re-arrangement Mr. Sampson's notes are
printed essentially as he wrote them. This means that the paper
retains its style as a log, added to with time, and mainly written
in the present tense, but this, I feel, rather enhances its interest.
Also, I would remind readers that he wrote it mainly for his own,
and his family's, interest and not for publication, else he may well
have expressed his thoughts differently. Similarly his conclusion
to the historical section of his paper shows the tentative nature of
his findings, but his researches seemed to me to have such value
as to be well worth printing as they stood. No doubt, in time,
further enquiries will add to Mr. Sampson's discoveries of the
past of the island, but this contribution will represent a foundation
on which future investigators can build.
This contribution by Mr. Sampson (who died in March 1961)
to the Club's study of Skippers Island will preserve for all time
some of the pleasure that he derived from his interest in its
history and its wild-life.
Buying the Island
The purpose of this Log is to tell the stories of the houseboat
Alpha and of Skippers Island, to set down the work I have done
for the improvement of the wildfowling and of the amenities of
the Island, as well as to keep a record of the game bags and of the
visitors and of my sailing in my yacht Secret Waters. I hope
gradually to accumulate data about the history of the Island
which I shall include.
I bought Skippers Island in August 1945 from Captain Leigh
Pemberton, then of High Hall Norton in West Suffolk, who was
forced to sell it because of his health. It was a great grief to him
to part with it, a grief I can measure by my own happiness when
I am there. I took over from him all the contents of the house
as well as the boats and in fact everything as a going concern.
During the war (1939-45) it had been in effect out of bounds as
there was an anti-aircraft camp on the mainland which cut off
all access except of course to the soldier of sporting inclinations,
so there was much to be done. I was fortunate in being able to
take over the part-time services of P. Pratt of Marsh Farm who
looks after things for me.
The chief problems were connected with the crossing from the
mainland, a tiring job except at high-water. I have by no means
finished that but I have had tracks made across the saltings and
arranged a trot so that a dinghy can be laid off in the channel and
kept afloat. This has cut out the muddiest part of the walk and
avoids the need for pushing the dinghy about.