Emsworth
Template:Infobox England parished place with auto map
Emsworth is a small town in England, situated on the south coast on the Hampshire side of the border between Hampshire and West Sussex. The town lies at the north end of Chichester Harbour, a large but shallow inlet from the Solent. This is now used almost exclusively for recreational sailing, but in the past was the setting for Emsworth's oyster farming industry. In some places the old oyster-beds can still be seen at low tide. The town has a basin for small yachts and a few fishing boats opposite the millpond, an artificial lake which fills at high tide can be emptied through a sluice at low tide. The River Ems, which is named after the town (not, as often believed, the town named after the river) also flows into the millpond, and although the mill is no longer in use it now houses one of the town's two sailing clubs.
Emsworth has a population of approximately 10,000 people, and at one time benefitted from as many as 16 public houses,although some would argue that the number of public houses has more to do with the fact that Emsworth was a fishing village. Today, only nine remain, and this number may have decreased due to the Emsworth fishing and oyster trade dying down, or to the consolidation of the pub trade in the 1990s and 2000s.
Many residents find it a splendid place to live. Mainly elderly people live there and some argue that it has few youth-friendly activities.
Since 2001 Emsworth ha held an annual Emsworth Food Festival in September. Run entirely by unpaid volunteers this is now the largest event of its type in the UK with over 55,000 visitors in 2006. The Emsworth Food Festival is a community event involving local dchools businesses and comunity organisations which has put this normally quiet village on the map.
Adjacent Thorney Island in West Sussex was for many years including World War Two, a Royal Air Force station which has now become a Royal Artillery base.