Posted by Laurence Monkhouse on November 11, 2005 at 18:16:02 from 80.3.128.6 user Laurence_.
In Reply to: Re: Coots in the North: continuing the canon posted by alan truelove on November 11, 2005 at 16:36:19:
"servile realization of D'n'G's obligation to Visitors and boat-renters"
I don't think it was servility. To this day those of us who boat on the Broads will help visitors if they are in a mess. Often it is the best way of making sure that your own boat doesn't get damaged.
Also it has to be said that helping others is quite a satisfying thing to do. Mountain Rescue Teams rarely lack volunteers. And expertise was - and perhaps still is - a way of turning class distinctions on their heads, as in 'The Admirable Crighton' The D + G's become the first in the pecking order when they are the only ones who can save the Hullabaloos.