Charles Moore's column "No offence to sailors . . .", Daily Telegraph 26th November. Was this article fake or a mistake?

I often read Charles Moore’s column on the Daily Telegraph’s website and usually agree with his opinions.  Be that as it may, on Sunday the 26 November I was startled and amused at his reference to Penny Mordaunt, a Royal Navy reservist, as the Defence Secretary!  In fact she is the Secretary of State for International Development. Was this article fake or a mistake?

The article “No offence to sailors, but they are only guarding Buckingham Palace because there aren’t enough soldiers” bemoaned the “parlous state of our Armed Forces” and doubted that using personnel from the Royal Navy to change the guard at Buckingham Palace was an efficient use of resources.  Mentioning Penny Mordaunt, and giving her the wrong title, rather detracted from the thrust of the argument.

The mistake was corrected the next morning with Ms Mordaunt back at the DfID!  Nevertheless, it still seemed not really relevant for Mr Moore to mention her.
 

When all is said and done, I cannot see much wrong with the Navy, or the RAF for that matter, performing guard duties at Buckingham Palace.  They, and the Army, are part of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces - whether in a parlous state or not!

The statue of Admiral Robert Blake in Bridgwater, Somerset. Oliver Cromwell's "General at Sea".

I have tried several times to take a decent photo of Admiral Robert Blake’s statue in Bridgwater, but it has always been in the shade.  My latest attempt, below, is my best to date as it is silhouetted against a pleasing clear blue sky. 

The statue of Robert Blake, Cromwell's "General at Sea", in Bridgwater, Somerset.  Erected in the town centre, it was unveiled 1900. 

Robert Blake was born in Bridgwater in 1598, one of 13 children.  A graduate of Oxford University he is said to have become a merchant and travelled the continent.   He became Bridgwater’s MP in 1640.

Blake played a prominent role in the English Civil War, early on being a key figure in the siege of Lyme Regis in Dorsetshire where Royalist forces, although outnumbering the Parliamentarian defenders by six to one, were held at bay until the town was relieved.
 

As Colonel Robert Blake he commanded Parliamentary forces successfully defending Taunton which was besieged by Royalist forces from July 1644 to July 1645.  Blake famously declared he “had four pairs of boots and would eat three pairs before he would surrender”.

Appointed as Oliver Cromwell’s “General at Sea” in 1649, he set in train the expansion of the fleet to become the largest England had possessed up until that time. 

The Commonwealth built 210 new warships by 1660.  He produced the Navy’s first ever ‘Rules and Regulations’ and reorganised tactics which would become the foundation of English Naval Tactics in the age of sail.  Little wonder he was known as the “Father of the Royal Navy".

During the English Civil War he blockaded and eventually defeated the Royalist Fleet of Prince Rupert of the Rhine.  He won victories against the Portuguese, Dutch (First Anglo Dutch War, 1652-1654) and Spanish (Anglo-Spanish War, 1654-1660).

He died at sea off Plymouth in 1657.

Haven Cliff, Axmouth Harbour near Seaton in the neighbouring county of Devonshire. The southern end of the Taunton Stop Line fortifications of World War Two.

Since moving to Somerset I have come upon many remains of the World War Two era Taunton Stop Line, a line of over 400 fortifications stretching around 50 miles from Burnham-on-Sea across Somerset to Haven Cliff which overlooks Axmouth Harbour in Devonshire.  Completed in only 5 weeks during the dangerous summer of 1940, its purpose was to impede any German advance from the south west should they have made a landing in Devonshire or Cornwall.  The Stop Line makes use of canals and railways, as well as rivers and other natural obstacles including, of course, the Somerset Levels.

I have often travelled along the B3172 to Axmouth and Seaton, passing the pillboxes dotted along the banks of the River Axe as it makes its way to the sea, but it was not until I purchased a copy of Andrew Powell-Thomas’ The West Country’s Last Line of Defence (Amberley Publishing, 2017) that I learned that the most southerly fortification on the Taunton Stop Line was an artillery position beneath Haven Cliff at the entrance to Axmouth harbour.  I thought I would go and have a look!

Parking is free on Seaton seafront at this time of year so I left the car there and walked back to the B3172 and Axmouth Old Bridge.  A blue plaque on the parapet states that the bridge is a scheduled ancient monument in use from 1877 until closed to road traffic in1990 and is the oldest standing concrete bridge in England.  The bridge was defended by pill boxes on the hillside east of the River Axe; one is visible beside the private drive leading to Haven House.

Axmouth Old Bridge in Devonshire.

I crossed the bridge and went on along the road and track between the harbour wall and a row of buildings.  It was pleasantly busy with people working on their boats, happy dogs taking their owners for an early afternoon walk as well as people, like me, just enjoying a peaceful stroll in the autumn sunshine.

Below Haven Cliff, overlooking the harbour entrance was the fortification I was looking for.  What remains of the brick and concrete structure has been used as the foundation for an elevated seating and picnic area known as The Prow.  The artillery piece emplaced there would have had a field of fire out into Seaton Bay and along Seaton’s pebble beach.  From Seaton seafront, on a clear day, it is possible to distinguish Portland Bill to the east, so the emplacement at Haven Cliff could have observed enemy activity in Lyme Bay and possibly engaged any targets if equipped with a gun of suitable range.

The remains of the most southerly fortification on the Taunton Stop Line situated below Haven Cliff at the entrance to Axmouth Harbour in Devonshire.

The Prow (on the left of the photo) atop the artillery emplacement below Haven Cliff overlooks the entrance to Axmouth Harbour.

The view west from beneath Haven Cliff.  Seaton seafront is to the left, Axmouth Harbour to the right.

It was an interesting afternoon and I will no doubt do the walk again – and check out the small café tucked away in one of the harbour-side buildings!   

Mitchells Hill near Ilminster in South Somerset. A view soon to disappear?

The Council’s South Somerset District Local Plan Review for Ilminster suggests that up to 400 houses will be built on open agricultural land south of Canal Way between the Meadow’s Surgery and Coldharbour Farm.

While enjoying a recent stroll around Ilminster I took some photos from the cycle path (NCN Cycle Route 33) behind Adams Meadow.  I believe this pleasant view of Mitchells Hill will soon be obscured by housing.

So, it seems yet another corner of this green and pleasant land will disappear under bricks, mortar and tarmac in order to accommodate England’s burgeoning population.  

A view towards Mitchells Hill from the cycle path near Adams Meadow, Ilminster in South Somerset.  Soon to be obscured by housing?

 

Bristol City fans banned from displaying the English flag. Stephen Morris of the Workers of England Union reports the ban as an Anti-English hate incident.

As a former Bristolian of 60 years, and someone who followed City at home and away during the 1960s, 70s and 80s, I was astounded to read a report in the Daily Mail that Bristol City fans were banned from displaying a Cross of St.George during the recent game at Ashton Gate against Cardiff City so as not to cause upset among visiting Welsh supporters. 

Here is a link to the article:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5055255/Bristol-City-fans-banned-displaying-England-flag.html

I have always admired the Welsh sense of Nationhood and the thought of banning the Welsh flag anywhere in England, or elsewhere for that matter, has never entered my mind.

It seems that the management at Bristol City has succumbed to the present politically correct attitude of going to extreme lengths to avoid even the possibility of causing offence. 

Be that is it may, Stephen Morris, General Secretary of the Workers of England Union, has reported Bristol City Football Club to the Police for perpetrating an Anti-English hate incident by banning the English flag yet allowing the Welsh flag to be flown.

Here is part of a statement from Stephen Morris:

“I read in disbelief that Bristol City, an English football club and a member of the ‘English Football League’ banned the flying of the English flag.

It appears that they were quite content to have the placards being displayed until they found out it was the English flag that was going to be shown. They were however prepared to allow the Welsh flag to be flown. Taken together, this is clearly an Anti-English hate incident. I have reported this to the Avon and Somerset police and it is now registered with them.”

A local English football team, Bristol City Football Club is ideally placed to bring the communities of Bristol, England, and Cardiff, Wales together in the name of community cohesion. Instead, they just divisively denied English people their right to express their national identity in England. If this is true, which we are waiting for the police investigation to verify, then the English Football League should apply sanctions against the individuals and Bristol City Football Club who would be guilty of an anti-English race hate incident."

If the Welsh can fly their flag, so should the English be allowed to fly their flag as well, especially in England.”

Incidentally, Bristol City won the game 2-1!

Staple Hill, the highest point on the Blackdown Hills in Somerset.

Staple Hill in Somerset is, at 1,033 feet, the highest point on the Blackdown Hills.  It is also the site of a Forestry Commission Plantation through which passes the Staple Fitzpaine herepath, a part of the Anglo-Saxon military road network initiated in the ninth century.

The Forestry Commission has provided a spacious car park, footpaths and seating which allows visitors to enjoy some impressive views across Somerset.

There are fine views over the Vale of Taunton Deane to the Quantock Hills and, on a clear day, one can see north over Bridgwater Bay to Brean Down, Weston-super-Mare and Kewstoke with the Welsh coast and mountains visible on the far side of the Bristol Channel.

The view north from Staple Hill on the Blackdown Hills in Somerset.  At the top of the picture the Welsh coast, 45 miles distant, can be seen through the gap between Brean Down and Kewstoke.

The views to the north-east, along the foothills of the Blackdowns, encompass the Somerset Levels with Glastonbury Tor, Burrow Mump and the Burton Pynsent Monument clearly visible.  The low ridge of the Polden Hills can be seen and the Mendip Hills are on the horizon.  A pair of binoculars and a good map add to the pleasure of spotting these and other landmarks. 

Looking north-east from Staple Hill on the Blackdown Hills.  Spot the Burton Pynsent Monument near Curry Rivel. 

The view to the north-east from Staple Hill on the Blackdown Hills across the Somerset Levels to the Mendips.