20. The Raft

In about 1969, myself and a couple of friends decided that we wanted to make a raft. Before the marshes were drained there was only one stream that was wide and deep enough on which you could float and manoeuvre a raft. This was the main stream that runs from Docker Hill Farm down towards the railway and on towards the Abbots Wall. In 1969, before the marshes were drained, where this stream starts you could see spring water bubbling up from dark holes in the bottom of the stream and water flowed out from the small wood all year round.

We knew where we could get most of the materials to make our raft. Three 40 gallon (200 litre) tin oil barrels, with the bungs in them, and an old three by six foot metal bed frame. They were in Monkton Court chalk pit. We rolled the barrels all the way across the marshes, (which were then all in grass), about three quarters of a mile, to where we would build our raft, then went back and carried the old bed frame over the same route. To tie everything together we used string. The string came from the farmyard, where it hung in big unwanted bundles after being cut from bales of straw.

With the three barrels tied one behind the other side ways on under the bed frame, we managed to slide the raft into the stream. We could see straight away that it could tip over sideways. To solve this, we went down to the railway where old and damaged wooden sleepers, when replaced, were left to rot along the side of the track. Two of these were dragged along to the stream and floated to the raft then lashed to the sides. This made the raft very stable. We got various bits of wood from the chalk pit to punt the raft along. I think it carried four kids at a squeeze but three was best.

The stream was, at the most, only about four feet deep, thoughts of drowning never entered our heads, and falling in was more of a problem, explaining to parents, being ridiculed by friends, having to dry out our wellington boots would take several days.

The raft survived for two years. We could not find a trace of it on the third year which puzzled us for a while. We later found out that a couple of older boys, whilst out pigeon shooting one day, shot the barrels full of holes.

Terry Marsh

Originally published in the Monkton News (April 2024).