24 November 2014 

There are all sorts of arrangements by which stations occupy their lookouts, but not many of them have to pay an annual rent of one crab! The St Albans Head station occupies a former coastguard lookout that is now owned by the Encombe Estate. When Mr James Gaggero, who bought the estate five years ago, renewed the lease in 2012, he said that he would be content with rent of one crab a year.

Dirk Aldous, the Station Manager, said that because the weather had been so bad lately crabs had been hard to come by, and presented Mr Gaggero with a soft toy in the form of a crab.

However, he went on, a local bistro that specialises in local produce had come to the rescue at the last moment and had acquired two crabs, which he handed over to Mr Gaggero.

There was another surprise for Mr Gaggero when Mr Aldous gave him a framed photograph of the Crab nebula, taken from the Hubble telescope. It was, he said, a token of gratitude for Mr Gaggero’s interest in the station as its Patron and for his generosity towards it as landlord.

In accepting the rent and gifts, Mr Gaggero praised the work of the station in helping to protect local fishermen and recreational users of the inshore waters around St Albans Head. He emphasised that it depends on members of the public both for financial support and for volunteers to man the station.