I’ve only ever heard the Fog Bell once. By rights, I should never have heard it at all: all the books say that the Marshside Fog Bell hasn’t rung since 1945, when a shrimper called Old Bett went missing out on the sands for twelve hours. The bell-cable has long since been disconnected—perhaps we don’t get as much fog as the Victorians used to do—but the bell-ringer’s little brick hut is still there, opposite the school field where the curlews gather in the winter, and the silent bell still hangs on its tall wooden pole.
Issue 9
SHORT HAUL
Julia Clayton lives in the Victorian seaside resort of Southport. After teaching Classics for many years she is now doing a PhD in Creative Writing at Edge Hill University. Her short stories and travel pieces have been published in various outlets, including Fairlight Shorts and The Telegraph.