Island Life Magazine Ltd February/March 2013 | Page 114

FOOD
to operate from the Lady of the
Manor, Mrs Walton-White, (Anne
Springman’s great-great grandmother)
– the Island’s first tourist attraction.
William Colenutt’s son-in-law, James
Sampson, provided visitors with hot
brine baths. The sea water was piped
to a large tank and then heated in a
copper boiler. The bath was moved
in 1970 to inside the lower entrance
of the Chine and is the only listed
seawater bath in the UK.
The Colenutt family occupied
Fisherman’s Cottage until 1960,
earning their living by fishing,
smuggling (prevalent throughout
the island), and tourism. Shanklin
became a Spa for a short period.
The whole of the Island suffered
terrible damage in the great flood
of 1960, when the water thundered
down the Chine into Fisherman’s
Cottage. Miss Colenutt, aged 80,
was trapped with her five-year-old
retriever Laddy. She rang her bell
in her backyard, heard by Charlie
Spencer at the Chine Inn.
Meanwhile, Squadron Leader Martin
was trying to batter down the front

door to free her. Charlie Spencer then
arrived to help. They succeeded but
in doing so, all three were washed
down the beach with Miss Colenutt’s
belongings (Laddy still trapped under
water) and then back again. By this
time there were many helping hands
and Miss Colenutt at last agreed to go
to hospital - Laddy was OK!
Fisherman’s Cottage was more or
less derelict until the late 1960s when
it became a popular sports club,
frequented by the likes of pop stars
Ringo Starr, David Essex and Billy
Fury.
What is interesting is that the
Government paid for the flood
damage – legislation hadn’t been
repealed since the great East Anglian
floods of the fifties. Anne Springman
found a ledger entry for £1,500,
relating to the structure at the head
of the Chine. Fisherman’s Cottage
remained a Club with a rather
dubious reputation in the late 1970s,
early 1980s until Anne Springman
succeeded in buying the lease. Today
it is a Free House featured several
times in the Good Pub Guide.

Shanklin Chine

Overlooking the Fisherman's Cottage

The Fisherman's Cottage with bathing machines on the nearby beach

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