Severn Islands,Canada

[happy daze john in oz]

When I was a kid we had a place called Seven Islands on Mitcham Common (Surrey) you could paddle out to them in summer and catch tadpoles and in winter in your wellies,after you broke the ice, hunt for hedgehogs. Dont suppose thats any help there goes the old nostalgia thingy again.

Not really mate but it brings back memeories of the ponds on Blackheath not far from National Maratime Museum. Did you know the gypsies used to eat hedgehogs, roasted them in a mud covereing.

[Louis the Amigo]

hi shipmates i was on the dukesgarth on that trip 1971{ john,} also on pennyworth and knightsgarth how long ago was that? Mortnj in school my best mate was a romany we use to eat hedgehogs cooked in mud , after hunting them in hedges make them unroll with a stick on their back put into some mud roll or cover them by hand and cook on the embers of our campfire pull apart and eat them, also had many rabbits roasted some with herbs, Sorrel i remember? but pheasent were the best like chicken only better The teachers in our school or farmers never knew what we did after we were in for first lesson had to do regerstration before we escaped to the fields and woods.{ Happy times }

[Neil Morton]

Well now because Mitcham was well known for the lavender fields ( did your gran use the lavender water?), and also the huge annual horse fair,quite naturaly we had a large diddycoy population that lived in caravans and council houses in a part we called "Redskin Village". However we did not eat the hedgehogs just upset the little buggers whilst they were trying to sleep.My best mate claimed to be a gypsy and he enjoyed the rabbits caught out on the common granted to the village by the Royal Charter of Elizabeth 1st 450 years ago.Nothing to do with Canada of course but it's nice to chat.

[happy daze john in oz]

On our recent cruise we got talking with a Pom and his Scottish wife, very nice couple from Perth. He was born a Romany but at an early age was sent to Borstal for bad behaviour. Must have done him good though as they allowed him into Oz back in the late 60's.

[Louis the Amigo]

Hi Shipmates ,Hi Happy john in oz, hi Mortnj Thinking about my time in school can still remember a few words my mate billy fury a proper romany { not the pop singer} taught me excuse my spelling, the sea, boro-doriav, non romany me ??gorgio, some words we used at sea were scarper[ run away] grafter[ worker] romany words at sea in days gone by many romany were at sea then to escape the law or other reasons' I know a few more words but I need a few beers to remember them, all the best enjoy your fresh hedgehog sandwich or day caught rabbit{ Wire trap or ferret}

[Neil Morton]

Was schoofty,to take a schoofty or take a look, a Romany word? Possibly Yiddish; also to MOOCH around?

[Jim Brady]

I don't know if I read this or heard it,how Seven Islands became an ore port.The story is a pilot of a light aircraft was flying over the area and his magnetic compass went bananas and this is how the ore deposits were found.Anybody any ideas.
Regards.
Jim.B.