This is OUR New England!
Island forms in Solent and locals claim fresh territory with a flag
IT was a mini- ceremony famously carried out by US astronauts to mark the first Moon landing in 1969.
Now two Britons have followed suit and planted a flag on a new island which has emerged from the sea – to ‘claim’ it for their yacht club.
Sailors Chris Fox and Nick Ryley set out from the Royal Lymington club in Hampshire to reach the 300ft by 60ft shingle bank in The Solent five miles away. They planted the flag and called the new territory Lentune Island after the original name for the port of Lymington.
The isle, which is fully visible at low tide, has gradually built up over recent months near Hurst Castle. It is thought to have formed as a result of work to protect the castle from coastal erosion. Thousands of tons of shingle have been dug up from the sea bed to bolster Hurst Spit.
Mr Fox said: ‘We had been monitoring the island for a while. It started as a strange lump in the sea and just kept growing. We took a flag for a bit of fun but in all seriousness I think it is dangerous for any visiting sailors who don’t know the area very well.’
Alistair Mackay, of Lymington Lifeboat Station, said: ‘The UK Hydrographic Office are adding a warning on to their charts.’