THIS WEEK IN 1988: Alex wades ashore in bid to bag cat
If anyone could find Hayling Island's elusive big cat, it was this man.
Alexander McKee, who discovered Henry VIII’s warship, the Mary Rose, got on the track of the furtive feline which was seen crossing Ferry Road.
Equipped with binoculars and a plate of cat food, the Hayling author and underwater archaeologist came ashore to stake out the beach near the sighting.
But the wildcat was probably taking a cat-nap and not even a mundane moggie paused in its tracks to sniff at the bait.
Since a rare African swamp cat was killed by a car in Hayling’s West Lane there had been several sightings of big cats on the island.