The destroyer HMS BROKE at the Battle of Jutland. A crewman is remembered on the Ham Hill war memorial in South Somerset.

Ham Hill war memorial in South Somerset.

Of the servicemen commemorated on the Ham Hill war memorial in South Somerset only one is a member of the Royal Navy.  He is Alfred George Palmer an Able Seaman who lost his life just before midnight on 31st May 1916 while serving on the destroyer HMS BROKE during the Battle of Jutland.

HMS BROKE, with crew of 205, was a Faulkner Class destroyer of 1,700 tons with a speed of 32 knots, an armament of six 4 inch guns and four 21 inch torpedo tubes.  Although originally ordered for the Chilean Navy, on the outbreak of the First World War the ship, having only just been completed, was instead purchased by the Admiralty.

At the Battle of Jutland BROKE was one of the twelve ships making up the 4th destroyer flotilla.  Just after 11pm on 31st May the flotilla came into contact with four German light cruisers and two battleships WESTFALEN and NASSAU.  During a confused engagement the British destroyers launched torpedoes while the German ships responded with heavy gunfire.  The German light cruiser ELBING may have been hit by a torpedo, but while taking avoiding action she was rammed by the German battleship POSEN and had to be abandoned early next day.  Meanwhile several of the British destroyers had been hit by gunfire; the worst hit was the flotilla leader HMS TIPPERARY which caught fire and sank around two hours later.

BROKE had assumed leadership of the 4th flotilla when, at 11.40pm, the British destroyers came under devastating fire from the WESTFALEN.  BROKE was badly damaged; 30 men were wounded and 50 killed including her helmsman who died at the wheel.  Now out of control, BROKE veered away and rammed the destroyer HMS SPARROWHAWK.  Moments later the unfortunate SPARROWHAWK was rammed by another ship of the 4th flotilla, HMS CONTEST, and sank later that night.  BROKE and CONTEST were able withdraw from the battle and struggle back to England the next day.   

Remarkably, less than a year later, BROKE rammed another ship - this time a German torpedo boat - in the Second Battle of Dover Strait on 20th April 1917.  Twelve German torpedo boats had ventured forth from Zeebrugge to bombard the ports of Dover and Calais.  Just before midnight they were engaged by HMS BROKE and HMS SWIFT.  The two British destroyers managed to beat off the attack; SWIFT torpedoed and sank the G45 while BROKE rammed the G42, the two ships becoming locked together.  The Germans then tried to board BROKE and a hand-to-hand fight ensued until BROKE managed to break free.  G42 eventually sank while the ten remaining German torpedo boats withdrew.  BROKE was badly damaged and had to be towed into Dover with 21 of her crew dead and 36 wounded.

HMS BROKE survived the First World War and was eventually purchased by Chile in May 1920, serving as the ALMIRANTE URIBE until being scrapped in 1933.

According to the Commonwealth War Grave Commission website, Able Seaman Alfred George Palmer was the grandson of George Palmer of High Street, Stoke-under-Ham in Somerset.  Born in Peckham, he was aged 21 when killed in action at Jutland and he is commemorated at the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.

Anne Marie Waters' "For Britain Movement" looks good value at 6/4 in Ladbrokes' Lewisham East by-election match bet.

The Lewisham East by-election on 14 June is almost certainly going to return a Labour MP – Ladbrokes are offering 1/50!  However, they are offering some interesting match bets with the one between UKIP and For Britain looking very interesting indeed.  Ladbrokes are offering 6/4 against Anne Marie Waters’ For Britain Movement beating UKIP. 

I think that is a pretty good value bet for the following reasons.  The UKIP vote is collapsing as there is not much of a reason to vote for it since the 2016 referendum was won by the Brexiteers.  Anne Marie Waters received just over 9% of the vote in Lewisham East when standing for UKIP in the 2015 General Election, she will no doubt have a personal following of UKIP supporters.  Now she is standing for her own party, which was registered with the Electoral Commission only just in time for Mays’s local elections.  In those local elections the For Britain Movement achieved some respectable results considering the very short time it had to find candidates and organise campaigns.  There is no other patriotic or nationalist party standing, so Ladbrokes’ match bet will be on a straight contest between a rapidly declining UKIP and the For Britain Movement with its spirited campaigning leader.

I reckon its worth betting against UKIP!

Update 16th June. 
Just to prove I am the worst tipster in Somerset, UKIP managed to beat Anne Marie Waters’ For Britain Movement in the Lewisham East by-election on June 14th.

UKIP had 1.7% of the vote, the same as previously, whereas the For Britain Movement received only 1.2%.  However, the real loser was democracy itself as only 33.3% of the electorate bothered to vote even though they had 14 candidates to choose from!  

At first sight it was a disappointing outcome for “For Britain”, but the Party was only registered in March so it could be considered a respectable result to come 7th with 1.2% of the vote – far from humiliating!  

UKIP has been around for almost 25 years, but what does it stand for now?  Having achieved their goal of Brexit what was the point of putting up a candidate?  However, if the vote for Brexit is overturned by the Europhile British Establishment  I would not be surprised to see UKIP, along with other anti-EU parties, undergo a resurgence in popularity.     

King Alfred's Tower on the Stourhead Estate. Commemorating the gathering of the Anglo-Saxons before the defeat of the Danes at Edington.

This month saw the anniversary of the Battle of Edington when King Alfred the Great’s Anglo-Saxons decisively defeated the Danish army of King Guthrum between the 6th and 12th July in 878, so I decided to visit King Alfred’s Tower on the National Trust’s Stourhead Estate.  

Stourhead is well signposted from the A303.  On reaching the main entrance, signs for Alfred’s Tower direct you to carry straight on then guide you west along narrow and potholed country lanes.  Eventually you will see the spacious National Trust car park just over the hedge in the woods on the northern side of the lane, but be advised to drive slowly or you may not spot it.  From the car park cross the road and you will see an information board with Alfred’s Tower standing an easy walk to the west.

King Alfred’s Tower, a 160ft high brick built folly, stands at the summit of Kingsettle Hill just inside the county of Somerset and is said to be near the spot where Alfred rallied the Anglo-Saxons before the Battle of Edington.  It was designed in 1765 by Henry Flitcroft for the banker Henry Hoare II and completed in 1772.  Hoare conceived the tower as a commemoration of the end of the Seven Years War and the accession to the throne of King George III, as well as a tribute to Alfred the Great.

King Alfred's Tower on the National Trust's Stourhead Estate, viewed from the east.

Approaching the tower from the east, along a wide straight and level grassed area between the trees, you will see the carved figure of King Alfred above a commemorative stone tablet.  I could not read the words on the tablet with the naked eye as they have become weatherworn over time, but they read:

ALFRED THE GREAT

AD879 on this Summit

Erected his Standard

Against Danish Invaders

To him We owe The Origin of Juries

The Establishment of a Militia

The Creation of a Naval Force

ALFRED The Light of a Benighted Age

Was a Philosopher and a Christian

The Father of his People

The Founder of the English

MONARCHY and LIBERTY

Presumably Hoare or his stonemason got the date of the Battle of Edington wrong, but the words are inspiring none the less.

King Alfred's Tower on the National Trust's Stourhead Estate, viewed from the west.

War in a more modern age intruded upon the tranquillity of the tower when on the 10th July 1944 a USAAF Noordyun UC64A Norseman single-engine light transport aircraft hit the top of the tower in thick fog.  The pilot had intended to land at the nearby wartime airfield of Zeals, but was unable to do so because of the bad visibility.  Tragically the Norseman crashed just west of the tower on Hillcombe Farm, South Brewham killing the five Americans on board.

I spent a peaceful and relaxing two hours under a clear blue sky strolling around the tower and the surrounding woods.  During that time I came across only a dozen or so people, half of them walking their dogs, all were pleasant and no one disturbed the calm – even the dogs were silent!

For the drive home I decided to head west from the car park rather than return the way I came.  It was an interesting, to say the least, drive down Kingsettle Hill.  The road was steep and narrow, and even more badly potholed than before.  Several times I had to squeeze into bank or hedgerow on the approach of oncoming traffic, but the going was firm and everyone was being considerate – and careful.  Unfortunately I could not take in much of the wonderful scenery as the twists and turns in the narrow country lanes meant concentrating on what might be around the next corner!  

Back on the B3081, heading for Wincanton and the A303, I came upon Wincanton Racecourse.  It was a race day.  If I had started my day out a little earlier I could have spent the afternoon at the races! 

A field of rapeseed near The Seavingtons in South Somerset.

I thought this bright yellow field of rapeseed under a clear blue afternoon sky made for a pleasing photo.  I came across it on the 15th of May while driving home from a visit to King Alfred's Tower on the Stourhead Estate.

A field of rapeseed near The Seavingtons in South Somerset.

Road tunnel plan to hide Stonehenge from those travelling on the A303 "severely flawed".

It seems that not everyone is as enthusiastic about the proposed £1.6 billion A303 road tunnel at Stonehenge as the National Trust, English Heritage and Historic England, the agencies which care for the ancient site.  According to the Museums Association, Peter Marsden chairman of the International Council on Monuments and Sites UK has suggested the project should be put on hold as it is “severely flawed”.*

Sir Simon Jenkins, former chairman of the National Trust, has also criticised the 1.8 mile tunnel in a letter to The Times.  He, quite rightly in my opinion, questions why those travelling on the A303 should be deprived of an appreciative glimpse of the stones.  Below is his letter which I came across in the May 5 edition of The Week. 

    

Don’t hide Stonehenge.

To The Times

There seems to be an assumption that Stonehenge belongs to archaeologists and English Heritage.  Most people who enjoy the stones do so from vehicles on the A303.  The stones look magnificent from this distance.  They have no need of close inspection.  They can be appreciated at a glimpse, without need of visitor centres, car parks and multi-million pound tunnels. 

Why should the overwhelming majority of those who enjoy Stonehenge be deprived of this pleasure at vast public expense to satisfy a profession and a quango?

Sir Simon Jenkins, National Trust chairman, 2008-2014.

* https://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/news/02052018-icomos-uk-stonehenge-road-tunnel-criticised

A creditable result for David Allen the English Democrats' candidate in the election for Mayor of Sheffield City Region.

David Allen of the English Democrats stood as a candidate in the recent election for Mayor of the Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield Combined Authority, otherwise known as Sheffield City Region.

Mr Allen received 14,547 votes in total.  In Barnsley he polled more votes than the Green Party.  In Rotherham he polled higher than the both the Greens and Liberal Democrats while in Doncaster he was again ahead of the Greens and Liberal Democrats, and only 2,034 votes behind the Conservatives – a very creditable performance.

Labour MP Dan Jarvis won the election beating Ian Walker, the Conservative candidate, after second preference votes were counted.

The King William IV in Curry Rivel, South Somerset. Another pub set to disappear?

A few days ago I happened to be passing an estate agents window when my attention was drawn to a photo advertising the sale of The King William IV public house in the South Somerset village of Curry Rivel. This village of some two thousand souls which sprawls along the A378 a mile or two south west of Langport now has only one pub, The Firehouse, when not so long ago it had three; the Bell Hotel closed some years ago and is now being redeveloped for residential use.  According to the estate agent it seems the same fate may befall The King William IV!

The King William IV pub in the village of Curry Rivel in South Somerset. Photographed on 3rd May 2018.

A little research reveals that pubs, an intrinsic part of England’s culture and heritage, have closed at the rate of 2 per day over the last year, not quite as bad as the rate in 2014 when 29 were closing each week.*  

While on the subject of closures I read that Royal Bank of Scotland is closing another 162 branches across England and Wales.  According to a report in the Mirror, since 2015 the banks have closed 1,944 branches with another 642 to close this year.**  Furthermore, today I came across a YouTube webcast by Anne Marie Waters, leader of The For Britain Movement, in which she deplores the collapse of another 1,500 high street stores due to soaring business rates as reported in the Daily Express.*** 

It appears that the retail and social infrastructure of our towns and villages are slowly fading away while it seems Lib/Lab/Con politicians at national and local level shrug their shoulders, turn their backs, and walk away.

*https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2018/02/rate-of-uk-pub-closures-has-slowed-to-two-per-day/

**https://www.mirror.co.uk/money/more-519-bank-branch-closures-12460452

***https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/952659/High-street-shops-closing-figures-report