Sunset and swifts over South Somerset.

Swifts hurtling around the rooftops  always make me smile.  Three of them are in this photo I took of the sunset over South Somerset on 28th June.  I had not realised they were in the frame until I had a close look!

Three swifts are in this picture, hurtling around the rooftops as the sun went down over South Somerset on 28th June.

No English Democrats candidate in the recent Lewisham East parliamentary by-election. Robin Tilbrook gives reasons why.

In a recent article on his blog Robin Tilbrook, Chairman of the English Democrats, reflects on why there was no English Democrats candidate in the recent Lewisham East parliamentary by-election.  He notes the Lewisham East electorate’s lack of enthusiasm to identify as “British” let alone “English”. 

Here is part of Mr Tilbrook’s article: 

      

“When I was aware that the Labour MP, Heidi Alexander, was stepping down and causing a by-election in the Lewisham East constituency, I was immediately very doubtful as to whether it was worth the English Democrats standing there.  Although I should say that I would never discourage any of our members from standing even in the most unpromising areas if they really want to do so and have the necessary resources to do so.  Even in the most discouraging constituencies there may be some potential converts to the Cause of England!

Lewisham East is certainly such a seat.  Looking at the 2011 Census results Lewisham is a place where relatively few people identified as being “English” and surprisingly few even identified as being in any sense multi-cultural “British”.  

Since 2011 the misleadingly named “Conservative” Party (which actually is led by “Liberal” zealots) has continued with the unrestricted, uncontrolled mass immigration of New Labour and so every single year since then half a million or more immigrants have come to England, many of them settling in places like Lewisham.  That together with “white flight” or the continuing movement of English people out of such places, has led to a near total population displacement where the indigenous English population is largely absent.”

Given the circumstances described in the article I suggest there was little point in the English Democrats accepting the almost certain loss of a £500 deposit in a valiant attempt to garner the votes of the few English patriots who might be found in the constituency.

Robin Tilbrook also commented on the performance of UKIP, the Democrats and Veterans Party and Anne Marie Waters’ For Britain Movement.  The entire article can be found here:

http://robintilbrook.blogspot.com/2018/06/right-wing-woes-in-lewisham-east.html

     

A stroll along the bank of the River Parrett at Langport in Somerset.

The River Parrett at Langport in Somerset.

It was a nice summer’s afternoon with a gentle breeze so my wife and I decided to drive up to Langport and have stroll along the bank of the River Parrett.  The “Curry Road” was closed for roadworks so a detour up the A358 to the A378 was required.  Nevertheless, it was a very pleasant drive as the road gently twisted and turned up and down toward Wrantage, past Swell Wood and on through Curry Rivel.

In Langport we left the car in the spacious car park just off Bow Street, a very convenient place to stop if you are taking a walk alongside the Parrett or exploring the town.  A few steps took us to the riverside footpath where there are numerous benches for those who wish to just sit and enjoy a view of the river and low-lying fields on the far bank.  Swallows or Martins were skilfully swooping low over the water, but as we strolled along something a lot more sinister passed overhead; a RAF Tornado with its landing gear down - presumably heading for nearby RNAS Yeovilton. 

A Royal Air Force Tornado, with landing gear down, above the River Parrett at Langport in Somerset. 

As we continued along the riverbank my wife spotted the tower of All Saints Church rising above the treetops and suggested it would make a pleasant photo set against the clear blue sky.

The tower of All Saints Church in Langport, Somerset.  Viewed from the footpath alongside the River Parrett.

The River Parrett enters Bridgwater Bay at Burnham-on-Sea 37 miles from its source which is 4 miles southeast of Crewkerne in Somerset near the Dorsetshire village of Chedington.  Today the Parrett is peaceful and undisturbed yet in the mid-nineteenth century, when waterborne trade was at its peak, Langport’s quays and warehouses dealt with 55,000 tons of cargo annually.  Barges and canal boats of 15 to 20 tons capacity carried their loads to Langport where they were either transhipped to smaller barges of 5 to 10 tons to carry those cargoes continuing upriver, or stored for distribution by packhorse or wagon.

The town’s fifteenth century Great Bow Bridge, with its low arches, also restricted the size of vessels proceeding to the narrower upper reaches of the Parrett and its tributaries.  In 1840 the bridge was replaced thus facilitating an increase in trade and prosperity, but the coming of the railway in the form of the Taunton to Yeovil branch line, which opened in 1853, began the inevitable decline of river-borne cargoes.  

A view across the River Parrett, near Westover Pumping Station, at Langport in Somerset.

   

Now that the quays and warehouses are no more, an apt description of Langport is given by Ralph Whitlock in his Somerset (B. T. Batsford Ltd., 1975).  He compares the town to an elderly man who, after an exciting and eventful life, has settled down to a humdrum retirement in a terraced house.  Unfortunately for his peace it is too near a busy main road.

Be that as it may, once we had negotiated the confines of Bow Street and parked the car my wife and I enjoyed our stroll along the bank of the River Parrett.  No doubt we will return to explore Langport further.

The Church of All Saints in the village of Wrington, North Somerset. Final resting place of playwright, poet and social reformer Hannah More, and her four sisters.

The village of Wrington and its church of All Saints is hidden away along narrow twisting roads and charming country lanes a few miles west of Redhill on the A38 in North Somerset. 

Arthur Mee beautifully describes Wrington and its church in his The King’s England, Somerset (Hodder and Stoughton Ltd., 1968):

“Nature made it a fair place, in this lovely country of the Yeo, with a river and a vale and two lines of hills; and the fifteenth century left it fairer still, endowing it with a church crowned by one of Somerset’s noblest towers.”

The Church of All Saints in the village of Wrington, North Somerset.

The family grave of Hannah More and her four sisters in the churchyard of All Saints in Wrington, North Somerset.

Born in Fishponds, Bristol, Hannah More (1745-1833), poet, playwright, and advocate of social reform and the abolition of slavery was one of the most significant women of her times. 

She lived a considerable part of her life, with her sisters, in the vicinity of Wrington; firstly at Cowslip Green where she had a cottage built in 1784, and then at Barley Wood where she had a house built in 1801.  She stayed at Barley Wood until 1828 when, having outlived her sisters and in failing health, she was persuaded by friends to move to Clifton in Bristol.  Upon her death she was buried alongside her sisters in the churchyard of All Saints. 

The modern plaque by the family grave of Hannah More and her sisters.  The words on the gravestone have eroded over time and are difficult to distinguish.  

Tintinhull Garden, near Yeovil, in South Somerset.

The National Trust’s Tintinhull Garden is east of Yeovil and just a mile or so south of the A303 in Somerset.  Tintinhull is well signposted and the Garden is easy to find just off the centre of the village; its small, but adequate car park only a few yards beyond the Crown and Victoria pub.

The National Trust's Tintinhull House, near Yeovil, in South Somerset.

Cedar Court in Tintinhull Garden, South Somerset.

I visited on a very warm Monday lunchtime in June and found the gardens tranquil and uncrowded. As I explored, at any one time I found only two or three other people in each of the seven gardens – ideal for taking photos.

The 17th century house and garden was bought by Phyllis Reiss and Captain Reiss in 1933.  Over the years Phyllis designed and created the Arts and Craft style garden, and upon her death in 1961 left the house and its grounds to the National Trust.  The gardens were further developed by Penelope Hobhouse and her husband Professor Malins when they took over the tenancy twenty years after Phyllis Reiss’s death. 

The vegetable garden at Tintinhull.

The Pool Garden at Tintinhull.

The Pool Garden was designed by Phyllis Reiss as a poignant tribute to her nephew, Sub-Lieutenant (A) John Michael Lucas, (RNVR), a Fleet Air Arm fighter pilot.  At the age of 21 he was killed in action while flying from the aircraft carrier HMS INDOMITABLE on 12th August 1942 during operation Pedestal, the hard fought five day convoy battle which successfully relieved the siege of Malta. 

The memorial plaque in the Pool Garden at Tintinhull remembering John Michael Lucas, Sub-Lieutenant (A), (RNVR).

Before leaving Tintinhull, which is mentioned in the Domesday Book, I took an enjoyable stroll back to the centre of the village.  Paul Newman in his Somerset Villages (Robert Hale – London, 1986) describes it as: “. . . yet another bright star in the galaxy of Hamstone havens.  The quarried blocks have weathered so beautifully here that many of the buildings might have been composed of chunks of tarnished gold.”  Newman’s evocative word picture of Tintinhull has certainly stood the test of time.

The Normandy Stone in Vivary Park, Taunton, Somerset.

In a secluded corner of Vivary Park in the centre of Taunton stands the Normandy Stone.  It commemorates those who took part in the campaign which began with the Normandy Landings on 6th June 1944 and ended on the 20th August when German efforts to thwart the invasion finally collapsed into a rout.

The Normandy Stone in Vivary Park, Taunton, Somerset.

The Normandy Stone stands in a secluded corner of Vivary Park, Taunton, Somerset.  The three trees represent the D-Day landing beaches of Sword, Juno and Gold.

As the keep of Jellalabad Barracks, once the depot of the Somerset Light Infantry, still towers over Vivary Park I think it is appropriate to remember the role played by the SLI in the Normandy Campaign.  Two battalions of the regiment, the 4th and 7th, were part of the 43rd Wessex Division which, although not involved in the D-Day landings, had completed its assembly in Normandy by June 24th and entered combat the next day.

As well as those from the SLI, the Division included battalions from the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, the Glosters, the Royal Hampshires, the Dorsets, the Wiltshires, the Worcesters and the Middlesex Regiment.

During the entire north-west Europe campaign, which ended on May 5th 1945, the 43rd Wessex Division fought with great courage and distinction from Normandy to Bremerhaven.  Sadly, this victorious crusade cost the Division 12,484 casualties, of which 1,587 were killed.  The Somerset Light Infantry suffered 2,493 casualties, of which 468 were killed.  

"English patriotism is strengthening", claims Robin Tilbrook Chairman of the English Democrats.

A shaft of sunlight illuminates the Cross of St. George against the backdrop of a menacing thundercloud. 

A recent poll on English identity, questioning just over 20,000 adults, conducted by YouGov for the BBC produced some interesting results.

In general the poll suggested to me that the further away from London you go the greater the sense of being English becomes.  In London over a third of those questioned did not feel English at all or not very strongly – disappointing, but hardly surprising given the pattern of recent mass immigration.  In the rest of England the percentage of those identifying strongly as English was approaching a very satisfactory 85 per cent!  

As for the creation of an English Parliament, 41 per cent were in favour with 24 per cent against.

Robin Tilbrook, Chairman of the English Democrats, commented:

“The English Democrats are delighted to hear that the BBC's latest Poll, due to be published on Monday 4th June, finds more and more English people being proud to be English and wanting England to have our own national Parliament and our own Government. 

Could this be not only the product of the 40m leaflets the English Democrats have now distributed, but also from watching our Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish neighbours getting unfairly favourable treatment from the British Government and from the growing realisation that the UK and Westminster system often operates against the interests of the English Nation and that therefore we need our own English Government to look after our nation's interests?

The latest research shows that English patriotism is strengthening!"

Here is a link the BBC report:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-44142843

A picturesque late afternoon sky over South Somerset.

I thought today's late afternoon sky over South Somerset made for a pleasing photo.  These particular cirrus clouds suggest there is little wind at high altitude.

Cirrus clouds in a late afternoon sky over South Somerset on 2nd June.