The Shipping Forecast

When I was a young boy, I remember lying in bed in the mornings listening to the Shipping Forecast on the radio, and hearing the melliflous tones of the BBC announcer intoning those evocative names: Dogger Bank, Cromarty, Forties, Fisher, Rockall, German Bight and the rest.

 

And now, in these modern times, my brother has drawn my attention to something equally good: a web site that displays the real-time movements of shipping in the Irish Sea. My uncle (still alive at 101!) would love this. He used to spend many happy days aboard the boats of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company crossing from Douglas to Liverpool and Fleetwood. Now he can watch the Ben-My-Chree as it crosses the Irish Sea.