Mersea Island: Car stranded on Strood (From Gazette)
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Mersea Island: Car stranded on Strood
3:31pm Saturday 17th November 2012 in News By Andrea Collitt
A VEHICLE became stranded on a notorious stretch of causeway for the second time in as many days.
The Mersea Coastguard team was on a routine patrol when it came across a Ford Fiesta partly submerged on the Strood on Friday.
The previous day a 4x4 and Toyota van were stuck on the causeway that links Colchester to Mersea Island and the police towed both vehicles to safety.
A Thames Coastguard spokesman said: “The chap was sitting in the car. As the tide became lower, our guy helped him to push it to the side of the road and the RAC were called.”
The call out at 1.40pm was at high tide.
Last month eight vehicles got stuck there at high tide.
The spokesman urged motorists not to even try crossing the waterway at high tide.
Comments(33)
itsawedge
says...
5:09pm Sat 17 Nov 12
hughie-s
says...
5:17pm Sat 17 Nov 12
Joker50 wrote:Sorry, not of interest, they need to be a single mum living in a council flat with poorly fitting windows, a duff boiler and a grotty kitchen and it stopped them going to sign on which meant their Jobseekers was stopped and as a result they couldn't pay for the (slow) broadband and gas which were cut off preventing them looking for a job, the flat getting damp and the debt collectors calling round.
WHEN IS ANYONE GOING TO TAKE NOTICE THAT MY NEIGHBOURS CAR DIDN'T START 3 DAYS AGO AND HE WAS LATE FOR WORK.
Grabber
says...
7:44pm Sat 17 Nov 12
hughie-s wrote:A* for this post !
Joker50 wrote:Sorry, not of interest, they need to be a single mum living in a council flat with poorly fitting windows, a duff boiler and a grotty kitchen and it stopped them going to sign on which meant their Jobseekers was stopped and as a result they couldn't pay for the (slow) broadband and gas which were cut off preventing them looking for a job, the flat getting damp and the debt collectors calling round.
WHEN IS ANYONE GOING TO TAKE NOTICE THAT MY NEIGHBOURS CAR DIDN'T START 3 DAYS AGO AND HE WAS LATE FOR WORK.
greenbroker
says...
11:09pm Sat 17 Nov 12
hughie-s wrote:Lovely stuff!
Joker50 wrote:Sorry, not of interest, they need to be a single mum living in a council flat with poorly fitting windows, a duff boiler and a grotty kitchen and it stopped them going to sign on which meant their Jobseekers was stopped and as a result they couldn't pay for the (slow) broadband and gas which were cut off preventing them looking for a job, the flat getting damp and the debt collectors calling round.
WHEN IS ANYONE GOING TO TAKE NOTICE THAT MY NEIGHBOURS CAR DIDN'T START 3 DAYS AGO AND HE WAS LATE FOR WORK.
Sdapeze
says...
12:59am Sun 18 Nov 12
Boris
says...
2:04am Sun 18 Nov 12
Sdapeze wrote:Sdapeze, once was funny, twice is boring. Why do you insist on winding up the Mersea islanders, who all know the tide tables and never get stuck? Have you ever been there? Can't you get it into your head that those idiots who get stuck are people who don't know the Strood?
Lovely stuff indeed. As if anybody is interested in those thickos in Mersea who cannot figure out the tides that affect their lives. I cannot figure out though who is more stupid, those that live in Mersea or those that go out to 'rescue' these 'stranded' idiots in 6 inches of water. Mersea. Where idiots excel!
Did some Mersea islander once do something to offend you? Did you once get stuck?
Just stop being so infantile.
Field Marshal Sprocket
says...
10:34am Sun 18 Nov 12
Absolutely disgusting and infuriating that there is no bridge in this day and age. If a bridge is too much dig a bloody tunnel. They managed to put a tunnel from England to France years ago. Why is there no tunnel from Colchester to Mersea? I demand to know!
Why oh why do I pay all those taxes. Why oh why can they not just find some way of linking Mersea to the mainland.
Disgusting
Sdapeze
says...
1:29pm Sun 18 Nov 12
itsawedge
says...
2:58pm Sun 18 Nov 12
PROOFREADER
says...
6:15pm Sun 18 Nov 12
PROOFREADER
says...
6:18pm Sun 18 Nov 12
Honk
says...
7:24pm Sun 18 Nov 12
I agree that there should be a solution, not just for those coming on and off of the island, but for those who have had an accident and need the emergency services. When I was pregnant not too long ago, that was my worst nightmare, being standed on this island whilst in labour. The amount of money that is spent on calling out the coastguard, would it not be better to raise the road by a few feet, or build a bridge?
Boris
says...
11:14pm Sun 18 Nov 12
Sdapeze wrote:OK Sdapeze, I know you like winding people up, and I appreciate it. You are certainly one of the most interesting people on this site so I enjoy most of your posts.
Sorry Boris. It is my idea of humour. But curious as to how you know that those who get 'stranded' don't live on the island. And yes, still peeved my the small minded there, ever since I used to have my boat there. Note, 'used to'. Clannish lot!
I'm sorry the Mersea islanders seem to have given you the cold shoulder. Did you misbehave with your boat?
I have no family connections there but as a child I used to go a lot with my parents. I joined the Dabchicks and sailed there (in my friend's boat). I still know lots of people on the island and they have always been good to me. They have a normal range of intelligence. But one thing that unites them all is that they keep the current tide table to hand, so they are never caught out by the tides.
Boris
says...
11:29pm Sun 18 Nov 12
Honk wrote:Honk, thanks for confirming to Sdapeze that Mersea islanders do not get "stranded" on the Strood. But are you a recent immigrant to the island? Why else would you call the Strood "silly" and "old fashioned"?
I very much doubt that it's Mersea Islanders getting stranded on the Strood. We check the timetables but on the rare occasion we have been caught out, it's often that we see that there's usually one that gets stranded. I would expect that it's a chancer who is not used to such an silly, old fashioned stretch of road.
I agree that there should be a solution, not just for those coming on and off of the island, but for those who have had an accident and need the emergency services. When I was pregnant not too long ago, that was my worst nightmare, being standed on this island whilst in labour. The amount of money that is spent on calling out the coastguard, would it not be better to raise the road by a few feet, or build a bridge?
For genuine emergencies like accidents there is the air ambulance. This could surely also be used in cases of women going into labour when it is high tide. But Mersea is a large community and maybe it should have a resident midwife who could deliver a baby at the mother's home.
As for raising the height of the roads, or building a bridge, this is obviously not going to happen with a county council highways department which can't even repair normal potholes. How much extra council tax do you want to pay?
ColchesterBelgian
says...
8:49am Mon 19 Nov 12
romantic
says...
9:38am Mon 19 Nov 12
There is no need for millions to be spent on making the Strood into a bridge, and no need for the coastguard to be called out every time. In the past, if somebody was stupid enough to effectively drive into the sea, they were left there until the tide had gone back and then towed off.
Despite sdapeze´s assertions, it is non-locals who generally get stranded, often ignoring the fact that others are already queueing.
The solution is clearer signs, and a sign which shows the depth of the water and the time until it will be safe to cross.
The Strood does not flood every day, there is no need to spend millions on raising the road.
Sdapeze
says...
5:46pm Mon 19 Nov 12
Boris
says...
2:42am Tue 20 Nov 12
Sdapeze wrote:Sdapeze, I'm pleased for you. You must agree though that our county os festooned with potholes, and if there were 50 potholes in your lane, it must have been waiting a long time for action. But credit where it's due, well done ECC for fixing that lane in Fordham.
I have a workshop on the island so am well used to the tides. But I also have a Transit truck that can handle reasonable inundation levels or I simply have a coffee with the lads and wait it out. But as to Boris' knocking of the highways department, they spent all day yesterday on my lane in Fordham, mending over 50 potholes down to another of my premises - and probably several more beyond. A splendid job ECC contractors! It will make my cycle ride home in the dark all the easier, not having to dodge the holes any more.
Boris
says...
2:42am Tue 20 Nov 12
Boris
says...
2:45am Tue 20 Nov 12
ColchesterBelgian wrote:Many times. Yet every time it happens, the Gazette reports it as a new story.
I feel like we have been over this subject before hey Boris?
.
Blame it on mobile phones. Before they were invented, people just waited for the tide to go down, and nobody ever died.
Justice79
says...
8:39am Tue 20 Nov 12
PROOFREADER wrote:You do have a choice my friend you can buy and maintain your own house out of your own pocket like many others of us do. Or you can take what you're given and be thankful.
Those of us who live in sub standard housing povided by Colchester Council / Colchester borough homes do not have a choice. The idiots visiting Mersea Island do have a choice as to whether or not they drive along the Strrod at high tide!
Justice79
says...
8:40am Tue 20 Nov 12
Boris wrote:You're talking to a man that spends his weekends playing "dressing up" infantile is in his nature.
Sdapeze wrote:Sdapeze, once was funny, twice is boring. Why do you insist on winding up the Mersea islanders, who all know the tide tables and never get stuck? Have you ever been there? Can't you get it into your head that those idiots who get stuck are people who don't know the Strood?
Lovely stuff indeed. As if anybody is interested in those thickos in Mersea who cannot figure out the tides that affect their lives. I cannot figure out though who is more stupid, those that live in Mersea or those that go out to 'rescue' these 'stranded' idiots in 6 inches of water. Mersea. Where idiots excel!
Did some Mersea islander once do something to offend you? Did you once get stuck?
Just stop being so infantile.
Sdapeze
says...
9:31am Tue 20 Nov 12
Boris
says...
12:22pm Tue 20 Nov 12
Sdapeze wrote:Sdapeze, you may be infantile, and I may disagree with you on various topics, but you do a fine job with your conducted tours of Colchester's history. Lots of other people enjoy history too, but you are more histrionic than most. You are one of Colchester's institutions. If this were Korea, you would qualify to be named as a Living National Treasure.
Guilty as charged Justice. History is my passion. What's yours?
Sdapeze
says...
1:52pm Tue 20 Nov 12
jut1972
says...
8:01pm Tue 20 Nov 12
Joker50 wrote:Best post EVER.
WHEN IS ANYONE GOING TO TAKE NOTICE THAT MY NEIGHBOURS CAR DIDN'T START 3 DAYS AGO AND HE WAS LATE FOR WORK.
toadytoad
says...
10:47pm Tue 20 Nov 12
Boris
says...
11:08pm Tue 20 Nov 12
So, what is now needed is a device in the middle of the Strood which will jam all mobile phone signals within a limited range. We would then be back to the happy situation of 20 years ago when nobody bothered the emergency services with their silly calls.
Boris
says...
11:13pm Tue 20 Nov 12
Sdapeze wrote:That's OK Sdapeze, just wind me up with one of your posts saying how terrible the old bus station was, or how wonderful the VAF is, and I shall go back to exposing your crass ignorance and lack of civilised values as usual.
That borders on being nice to me Boris. Please desist. It is unbecoming of you and very disconcerting. My aim is to stir. You should respond accordingly - please.
Sdapeze
says...
9:27am Wed 21 Nov 12
Boris
says...
12:44am Thu 22 Nov 12
Sdapeze wrote:Always happy to oblige, old friend.
That's more like it Boris.
jag99
says...
6:48am Fri 23 Nov 12
ot)co(dot)uk"...
Ok maybe not so good at night...
Joker50 says...
3:38pm Sat 17 Nov 12